Aust Day in
Submitted: Monday, Jan 29, 2007 at 08:51
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PradoTrev
Hi all
Got back from last night and what a great weekend of sand hills and beach driving. The part of the caravan park I was in I counted about 1 road vehicle to 10 off road vehicles.
Friday
the beach was packed with over 400 vehicles. And the amount of mexicans who did not let the tyres down was amazing. Do you guys read any of the articles in the mags out there regarding tyre pressures and sand driving. (that my did at the vics done) but seriously the amount of people who enter
the beach areas under prepared was amazing.
But it was great to catch up with so many different groups and clubs. and some of the mods were good t look at too.
One thing that did manage to get under my skin was the bikes who blatantly disregarded the regeneration fences and hit areas that the greenies would have gone ape at the damage the bikes do to the vegetation. It is this disregard that closes tracks and
beach access. I saw 1 group of about 4 bikes tackling a dune and their chosen starting point was next to the
sign that said "Beach Port Conservation Park" behaving the fence put in to keep that area clear of traffic. I did notice that there were no greenies out protecting it wasn't the start of duck season was it.
We went for a night run on the Sunday night and i was hoping to follow the tyre tracks on
the beach so we could pick the turn off in the dark. Guess what? the tracks were blown out with in two hours of having tea and coming back. So tell me again what damage is done when we stick to the marked tracks in the dunes and stay high (or low) on
the beach. Even the tyre tracks were blown out on the dunes at the buggy club.
So any way thanks to all those groups who pulled over to let us pass thanks to all groups who guided us away from bogged "territory's and the like" It was good to be part of a much wider fraternity who all I saw, conducted themselves in a way that would get us invited back again.
See ya all on the tracks
Trevor
Reply By: Member - Phil G (SA) - Monday, Jan 29, 2007 at 09:37
Monday, Jan 29, 2007 at 09:37
Gday Trevor,
We were down at Beachport/
Robe as
well, so I guess we probably passed you somewhere....
Re underprepared: we helped some guy with an Adventurer - just let the air out of his tyres and drove it out. He was pretty scared - didn't want to gte back in the car - thought he was about to lose it. Of course he didn't have an ounce of recovery gear, and his vehicle had absolutely zero recovery points at the front.
Another guy was about to snatch his son-in-laws Jackaroo, and we noticed he had the strap over each towball. So went for a little look. He also had 2 straps joined by an unrated D-shackle. So we sorted him out and they were grateful.
We also did the
Beachport to Nora Criena run on the Saturday night - always a bit scary. Had to pull back a couple of our vehicles that slipped off the track in
places, but it was good experience.
Considering how many vehicles were in the area, I thought pretty much everyone was kind, courteous and patient. There was no problem with people getting off tracks to let others pass. Our only hassle was a
young jerk getting on our channel and screaming obscenities while we were doing the night run - idiots.
I'm not a fan of beach driving, but it was a good chance to catch up with a lot of people I hadn't seen for a while.
Cheers
phil
AnswerID:
218313
Reply By: Zig-n-Zag - Monday, Jan 29, 2007 at 13:55
Monday, Jan 29, 2007 at 13:55
Trevor
Was certainly a very busy area over the weekend.
I was in a group of 15 vehicles (Victorian group and several of our club members) and did the
Beachport to
Robe run on Saturday.
I was pleasing from our clubs perspective to see minimal damage on that track however we still see people who have no idea that sand is softer than bitumen.
We had stopped at one point and a guy, on his own coming from
Robe direction had a chat and said he had been bogged sevral times. When asked what pressure he had in the tyres, the response was 30psi! Duh?##!! Have a guess why you are getting bogged. He did not seem to want to listen to our members advice.
Closer to
Beachport our group came across another group heading south and they indicated that they had a sick child in there group and could we clear the track to allow them to pass. We did however the fool who had the sick child on board thought he would take a short cut along one of the beaches, wrong move as it is one of those that the locals stay off, being too soft. The other group then proceeded to block the entire track whilst they observed the recovery. The bogged vehicle was right along the water line however they were duly dragged out before becoming another reef. As they passed us we found out this other group had members of another local 4wd club and the member who got stuck is a known "cowboy" type who would push his vehicle as hard as possible. By the way the child looked like he was car sick, probably from dads driving!
In talking to the local Parks
ranger do not be suprised if over this twelve months that there will be a couple of more blitzes on unregistered and unlicensed bikes and vehicles as
well as fining people off the recognised tracks.
The biggest damage to the fences is from wind damage covering or exposing he posts. We regularly go along the track and replace the posts. This past twelve months has seen an improvement in the lack of damage to posts and les inappropriate driving off the tracks as
well as less damage to the vegetation.
The section that goes through the Sand Buggy Park is being considered for realignment closer to the coast as there has been conflicts with vehicle use through this section. The DEH is agreeable to our club exploring this issue in conjunction with the buggy club. If this goes ahead the maps that we have created will be modified.
Cheers
And come back at
Easter, although it will be as busy ou in the dunes.
AnswerID:
218369