What a weekend!
Well, it was decided that a couple of us who were itching to get our 'toy' 4WDs a bit dirty and off the road, had to have a day doing so...
Well what an adventure we had... Firstly, there were 5 of us - Loki, Bubblez, Bunny, Enforcer and I...
After much messing about and driving around town, we found a place near the end of Marmion avenue to have some fun, hills and all. Both cars coped just fine, but we somehow managed to forget to take photos whilst messing about...
We then went further North and found some tracks outside of Two Rock....
Somehow, no matter how far Loki drove, the X-Trail just kept appearing ahead of him, even though it wasn't being driven! The others scratched their heads for a while, until this rare shot was taken, showing me actually dirtying up my X-Trail...
After some fun off the road, we parked the cars and headed bush, until I fell into a hole...
Bubblez laughed at me...
Kenny and I went meh, and then showed the rest what was in the hole...
Yes, we had discovered a cave and it was certainly an experience climbing into it, and experiencing the darkness and dampness of it. It was certainly even more surreal coming back out into the light and hot air.
We then proceeded North to the Moore River area to do some scouting.... we finally found access to the beach. I wimped out and decided to leave the X-Trail in the car park, whilst Loki loaded us all into his Feroza and we pushed ahead. He drove it superbly along the beach until we found an uphill section, and with the tide coming in, we decided we should turn around...
Loki turns to me and asks me to drive instead as (in his own words) "I'm a better driver than him". At this point I laughed and said "I'm going to bog it good you know". Anyways, I turned it around, loaded everyone up and proceeded to follow what I thought was at the time other 4WD tracks (Bubblez pointed out later they were Quad tracks...).
True to my word (I'm always honest), I bogged it damn good!
With the water approaching fast to the bogged vehicle, Loki decided to panic and prey to the gods...
Luckily for Loki, devine intervention wasn't required, instead we had an X-Trail full of recovery goodies. Exhaust jacks and shovels were called for... Bubblez particularly enjoying digging a trench in a futile attempt to stop the incoming tide. We tried a few times to move it, having made it at least travel 5 metres, before it become bogged again. At this point, it was decided we should seek help. I ran up and asked some guys who were driving a Navara, but they were worried about getting bogged too.
So, I decided to place my own vehicle on the line, and reversed the X-Trail up the beach over 50 metres to get close enough to the troubled Feroza. Finding plenty of towing lines and hook up equipment, we got the two vehicles connected and off we went! What an experience! I felt almost nothing in the X-Trail as it effortlessly pulled the stuck Feroza out (with Loki driving the Feroza out at the same time too). Loki on the other hand was having the time of his life!!! He was being dragged along the beach by me, whilst his Feroza was going sideways, most of the time on two wheels threatening to fall over. We were all too scared/laughing/working/being an idiot to worry about taking photos, but a whole heap of Japanese tourists turned their cameras towards us to record an absolutely amazing site - you'll see us on funniest home videos one day!
To his credit, he drove the last 10 metres out, and we finally arrived out of the beach
As the sun set, we had time to reflect on the fun we all just had...
The tracks we had travelled...
The bogs we had pulled a Feroza from...
And just plain relax... (and let Loki clean out his pants)
After all that adventure, we next headed towards the observatory in the dark, only to find it closed. It seems those funny people in the white lab coats want to keep star gazing to themselves...
It was time to head home, but enough time to stop and marvel at a house decorated in christmas lights in the middles of nowhere...
Finished off the day by having some chow at Maccas, and then a very comfortable bed for us all....
Overall, an absolutely fabulous day, and I absolutely enjoyed it. I'm looking very forward to our next adventure, which I am sure will be as fun filled as this one!