TR: Robe/Beachport 4wd Easter Sunday

[El_Freddo]

Over the easter weekend my fiance and I headed over to Robe for some 4wd’n since Ruby Scoo is now lifted. We left late morning on Saturday, taking our time to cruise over.





We were able to organise accommodation at Beachport in one of the caravan parks. It was packed!



Ruby Scoo made it over easily on one tank - 57 litres when we filled up in Robe on Sunday morning (Bendigo-St Arnaud-Horsham-Naracoorte-Robe-Beachport-Robe). I’d placed some threads asking if others were interested in coming with us, as I’d prefer to travel on sand with two cars. Bboypebs (Adam) expressed some interest and managed to come out on the changed date of Easter Sunday. To put it simply, we had a ball!



We “cut a lap” of Little Dip NP from Hermitage Rd up to the first camp site’s road, we ran into a surf competition where there were loads of 4wds coming in with only one single lane track to use. We shared a park space to let some cars through, Adam managed to get stuck, and I was no help as I’d been boxed in by him. Eventually a 4wd gently snatched him out:



After this we headed into Robe, hit up Long Beach, found a dead seal When we finally got to the end of Long Beach we stopped for some lunch and thought about heading further north along the next beach:

[El_Freddo]

It was decided that we’d drop in on the beach below the surf comp in the Little Dip NP near where we started, but head south this time. So we took Twin Gum track back to the beach, we had to wait a little bit for a stuck 4wd to sort itself out - at one stage it wasn’t looking good as it was starting to slide down the side of a dune. They got out ok, told us it was pretty hairy ahead and that we’d probably not make it. We cruised up without a problem



These are some of the “big boys” we found along the way. One’s bogged up to the rear axle, another sounded like it had a tractor’s engine under the bonnet:



This is one of the rocky outcrops that are along the track:



This beach was VERY soft - the ranger’s warning stated that the beaches were soft in condition but this one was noticeably softer than the rest earlier encountered. Adam’s brumby bogged down in a soft patch so a snatch was needed. At this point I was worried about getting the two subis bogged. I’d just passed two other 4bys that had bogged down, both got out in the end. Here’s the two subis getting ready for the snatch:



From here we departed from the beach for a little bit before dropping back onto it at Stinky Bay. Here Adam was kind of running out of time so we thought we’d have a go at the next section then head off the sand for Adam to head home.

We found some dunes, then found out on the map that we weren’t allowed in there, even though the buggy club was nearby and the place was covered in their tracks:

[El_Freddo]

Adam’s mighty Brumby. It did very well during the day, only stuck twice, once was ‘for real’. I think Adam was surprised too - he left way after the time he wanted to! By choice though:



Ruby Scoo’s pic:



What ended up happening was the two subis got us to Beachport just after dusk. It got a bit epic in the end as we couldn’t stop to have a look at interesting places, rather I jotted them down for the next trip - we were keen to see if we could make it all the way in half a day. We did pass another L series owner, stopped for a chat and found out you can camp on the beach...

Overall a full on day, but great fun! I’d like to thank Adam for joining Kez and I on the day as without him there I would not have attempted half the things on my own that we did! Cheers mate

And here’s the ‘money shot’ of the trip: Long Beach, Robe:

]

Cheers

Bennie


[El_Freddo]

Ok, so a few images to sort out... Give me some time

Cheers

Bennie

[guyph_01]

Wow nice trip, go subbies:) That soft sand sure does look scary with that ute, looks like its sinking with the guy kneeled down looking up at you hehe.
That little brumby looks so much like my bro's, not for long tho:)
Also where did you get that 4WD pole for your flag? I want a long one like that:)

Anyway cool pics:)

[subarooster]

Ahh looks like oh so much fun!

[ScubyRoo]

Also where did you get that 4WD pole for your flag? I want a long one like that:)

Looks like plastic tube from the hardware store... same as what cables get run through underground?

Great pics bennie, you should put some video up

[AlpineRaven]

sounds like you had a great weekend away!! awesome...
how many kms and overall litres did you use with EJ22?
Cheers
AP

[El_Freddo]

Thanks everyone, it was a great time out - can't wait to get back there! I'm still wondering why we left in the first place...

Guyph, the flag pole is super expensive and hard to make. Go to the hardware store, buy some 20mm OD conduit. Then decide what height you want. I originally used the whole 4 metres but it was way too high. So I cut it down to three metres. Its cable tied to the front bar, and the joint in the pole is the same...

As for the fuel/distance thing AP. I've got it all written down in the car. But the short is that I filled up three times on the trip. Used 1/4 to 1/3rd of a tank for the 91km of sand driving we did.

Cheers

Bennie

[BBoypebs]

Was a great day to play in the dunes, well worth it.
Had an absolute ball.
The brumby did well as stock, but I recomend at least a 2inch lift and possible a locked diff. The big boy's made a mess of the track.

[El_Freddo]

Was a great day to play in the dunes, well worth it.
Had an absolute ball.
The brumby did well as stock, but I recomend at least a 2inch lift and possible a locked diff. The big boy's made a mess of the track.

Yeah good times! Over all we did well, the brumby was surprising with its performance without lift or OS'd tyres...

Thanks again Adam!

Can't wait til the September trip. Hope you can make it

Cheers

Bennie

[El_Freddo]

One of a few videos of the trip. I'd probably rate this one as the best - Snatching Adam in the soft sands of Eddington's Beach:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr-ySwfTVps



Cheers

Bennie