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After taking delivery of my D4D in mid Sept I had my first opportunity to take the thing off road on and onto the beach at North Straddie on the weekend.
I packed the family up and took a run along Flinders beach from the Amity end and after stopping for the kids to have a paddle we exited up near the camping ground at the Point Lookout end.
As the tide was rushing in we decided to take a run along Main Beach before it got to late. We entered the beach at the Point Lookout (northern) end - after watching the Ranger tow a bloke and his four passengers in a Subaru Forrester (or similar) out of the soft sand.
We got about half way down Main Beach before making the tactical decision to get off before we got stuck as the tide was racing in and forcing us up on to the soft sand.
It was about this time my son asked me if we were going to get bogged and I replied 'It'd take a lot to get this baby bogged' as I brimmed with pride driving down the beach. First mistake.
I then saw the local ambo in a landcruiser in the distance stop reverse back towards the surf and then gun it up the beach at the exit which takes you up to the road that runs across the Island back to Dunwich (past Blue and Brown Lakes).
Figuring anything the Ambo did I could also do I took a sweeping run up as I drove down the beach and headed for the exit. All was going well until I got about 5-10 m from the hard stuff and the Prado dropped onto it's belly and stopped (yes I had dropped the pressure in the tyres before getting on the beach). Second mistake.
Needless to say it was a little before 1pm, in a wind break formed by the dunes and bloody hot.
I spent the next 40 mins digging out the white powder like sand and with a little bit of a push from some friendly passers by we managed to get the Prado the last couple of metres up onto the dirt track.
I spoke to a couple of back packers who watched on in amusement and they told me that I was the 3rd or 4th person to do this in the last hour and a half. And funnily enough a fellow who tried the same thing as me (also in a Prado) about 5 mins after I got out also got stuck. Resulting in my having to help dig him out.
As you can imagine my wife takes great delight telling our friends of my confident call that it would take a lot to get the Prado bogged only minutes before.
Notwithstanding getting bogged, it was all good fun and we had a cracking day.
Just thought I'd mention this soft stuff in case others are planning a trip across to Straddie in the near future.
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I packed the family up and took a run along Flinders beach from the Amity end and after stopping for the kids to have a paddle we exited up near the camping ground at the Point Lookout end.
As the tide was rushing in we decided to take a run along Main Beach before it got to late. We entered the beach at the Point Lookout (northern) end - after watching the Ranger tow a bloke and his four passengers in a Subaru Forrester (or similar) out of the soft sand.
We got about half way down Main Beach before making the tactical decision to get off before we got stuck as the tide was racing in and forcing us up on to the soft sand.
It was about this time my son asked me if we were going to get bogged and I replied 'It'd take a lot to get this baby bogged' as I brimmed with pride driving down the beach. First mistake.
I then saw the local ambo in a landcruiser in the distance stop reverse back towards the surf and then gun it up the beach at the exit which takes you up to the road that runs across the Island back to Dunwich (past Blue and Brown Lakes).
Figuring anything the Ambo did I could also do I took a sweeping run up as I drove down the beach and headed for the exit. All was going well until I got about 5-10 m from the hard stuff and the Prado dropped onto it's belly and stopped (yes I had dropped the pressure in the tyres before getting on the beach). Second mistake.
Needless to say it was a little before 1pm, in a wind break formed by the dunes and bloody hot.
I spent the next 40 mins digging out the white powder like sand and with a little bit of a push from some friendly passers by we managed to get the Prado the last couple of metres up onto the dirt track.
I spoke to a couple of back packers who watched on in amusement and they told me that I was the 3rd or 4th person to do this in the last hour and a half. And funnily enough a fellow who tried the same thing as me (also in a Prado) about 5 mins after I got out also got stuck. Resulting in my having to help dig him out.
As you can imagine my wife takes great delight telling our friends of my confident call that it would take a lot to get the Prado bogged only minutes before.
Notwithstanding getting bogged, it was all good fun and we had a cracking day.
Just thought I'd mention this soft stuff in case others are planning a trip across to Straddie in the near future.
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