How not to drive on sand

Well, that’s it, we are finally on our way. Although the first stint is likely to pretty short – only 3 or 4 days - as we are expected in Toronto (Australia, not Canada) to see long lost Douglas relatives.

For our first trip we decided to go to Barrington Tops, a national park several hours drive north of Sydney. Despite our two forays on our own we must of course still be considered amateurs at this sort of thing – a fact which will become blindingly obvious, not to mention highly embarrassing, as events unfold.

Our first misadventure came when we stopped to take on provisions at a supermarket on the way. Our vehicle, now fully laden with tents, beds, chairs, bedding etc – most of it on the roof, was now about one metre higher than a “normal” car. Unfortunately most supermarket car parks in Australia seem to have a height restriction, usually in the form of a metal bar hanging above the entrance indicating the maximum height for vehicles. Unfortunately I now know NOT to attempt entry to any car parks with the maximum height of 2.2 metres !!!! I blame the fact it was metric whereas I still operate in feet and inches.

A similar problem faced us with getting to Barrington Tops – it was more kilometres away than we had daylight – I’m sure our trip would have been accomplished if we had worked in good, old-fashioned miles. Realising we probably wouldn’t have made it in time, and with the advantage of having flexibility totally on our side, we changed plan and ended up on the shores of Myall Lakes. We found an idyllic spot to camp at the waters edge and we sat there with Sandra repeating, almost mantra-like, “It’s beautiful, just beautiful” as we drank our wine and watched the sun going down. There was little to indicate the disasters that were to strike the following day.

A fabulous sunrise, bacon rolls for breakfast, then off exploring. A few miles (kilometres!) away a sign said Lighthouse Beach and off we went. A further sign indicated a car park for two wheel drive vehicles, we of course treated this with disdain – we had a four wheel drive – and headed on down the track, where of course disaster struck.

“I have many things to learn about 4WD driving on sand” was the thought that ran through my head as I realised that the vehicle was no longer going forward but going down! We were stuck – up to the axles – in sand. However, I was prepared (or so I thought) as I had bought a spade and started to dig us out. Sandra too was busy and had found (of all things) a pillow which she said if I put it under a wheel it would give traction. All came to naught and we were, to some extent, rescued by a local whose path off the beach we were blocking and who gave us some critical (in the two senses of the word) advice. One – the front wheel hubs have to be locked and, two – it helps to have four wheel drive engaged!!!

We then found ourselves on the beach when things got worse – critical even. I still didn’t feel we had enough traction and decided to get off the soft sand and move down closer to the sea where the sand seemed a bit firmer. When we got stuck Sandra got out – I’m not sure why, possibly to watch or perhaps to push – and I had the amazing sight of her sinking. As I revved the engine the wheels sank deeper and suddenly I was looking up at her instead of down! We tried the digging out trick to no avail and when the pillow was put under a wheel (any wheel) it merely flew out backwards at a rate of knots.

Normally I wouldn’t have been too worried, however the beach was deserted and, somehow inevitably, the tide, only a few yards (or metres) away, was coming in. At this point Sandra announced that her blood pressure was rising dramatically, although as events subsequently proved, it wasn’t BP but sunburn as she had no sunblock on. My frantic digging was proving ineffective and, with the incoming tide, I thought our Australia adventure was about to reach a premature and watery end.

Enter Trevor and Fiona – our saviours.

My third big mistake with sand driving was that I had not reduced the tyre pressure sufficiently. I think Trevor would have left us to the waves but Fiona persuaded him to help and, whilst she and her mum spoke to Sandra about Edinburgh, Trevor got my tyre pressure down to 15 psi – and we were away!

Away that is back to the 2 WD car park – Sandra couldn’t get off that beach quick enough – although we did walk down and have a really go day on the beach. Unfortunately neither Sandra or I had the presence of mind to get the camera out to record us stuck in the sand so the best we can do is to show some of the tracks taken several hours later.

All for now – I am in a McDonalds near Newcastle.