For those who live in Australia, a hugely diverse country, we are spoilt for choice. We're able to enjoy tropical weather in the northern parts of the country at the same time of year someone else is snow skiing in the south or south east. We can visit huge vibrant and cosmopolitan cities like Melbourne and Sydney, or relax in the outback, or some ancient and remote place hundreds of kilometres away from the nearest civilisation; Thousands of kilometres away from anywhere if you’re game enough.
It’s an amazing country full of many varied experiences, welcoming people and spectacular sights and I’ve enjoyed my fair share of it all having travelled around the country extensively.
I’m outdoorsy; Not a mountain-man, or a live-off-the-land-eat-camel-shit-Bear-Grylls type, although I’ve got outdoorsy skills and ability. I enjoy the outdoors, remote places and engage with it, a lot. I feel comfortable when away from other people in remote areas, and I know what to do, and when. Having the skills to travel remotely and be safe and confident have come through years of actively doing it.
I kayak, fish, hunt, hike, off-road, camp...You know, that sort of outdoorsy stuff. I am also lucky to have a partner who joins me in most of these hobbies. She doesn’t like the hunting part, and places a hex on me each time I go in the hope I don't shoot anything; It works sometimes. Generally though, we enjoy the outdoors together and can often be found a long way from civilisation; It's where we feel most happy.
Faith in Nightcap National Park, New South Wales.
Getting to these places can be easy, or hard, depending on the location. It’s actually amazing just how simple it is to go to the most spectacular places in a two wheel drive car, via a bitumen road.
Of course, the truly special places are reserved for the 4x4 enthusiast, and are more challenging to get to. Sure, you can get to some amazing spots on a bus tour for instance, but when the bus parks and disgorges 167 people...Well, let’s just say I prefer a little more solitude than that as a couple hundred tourists can sure destroy the mood of a place.
So people like me, the ones who want to experience something a little more natural, and private, go off-road.
It’s called four-wheeling, four-wheel driving and a myriad of other things but essentially, for us, it is simply getting into our 4x4 and heading off the blacktop in pursuit of a little adventure in a place where no one else is.
Whatever you choose to call it there’s a plethora of things a person needs: A decent dual-range 4x4 vehicle of course, first aid kit, driver and vehicle-recovery training, recovery equipment, deflation and inflation equipment,tyre puncture repair kit, protection equipment for the vehicle, vehicle spares, mechanical understanding and tools, proper tyres, communications...You get the idea.
The actual list is far longer than that of course, but I don’t want to bore you. I’ll do a post on my own 4x4 sometime which has somewhere in the vicinity of $25,000 (AUD) of additional accessories over the vehicle purchase price, but that’s a post for later on.
Nightcap National Park, New South Wales.
Sometimes when we go off-road we get stuck. Bogged. It happens sometimes and when bogged in a four wheel drive one is often really bogged as the vehicle has the ability to drive itself deeper into trouble by nature. In these case a vehicle recovery is required.
Recently I read that a guy was killed during a vehicle recovery when a winch cable snapped under load and the D-shackle caught him in the head. A recovery is the process of extricating a vehicle from a situation in which it is no longer mobile: Stuck in sand, mud, on a boulder or rocks, in a creek, river or the sea, middle of a water-logged paddock etc. It was a death that could have been avoided, or at least almost totally mitigated.
Above I listed some the items you’ll require to safely and effectively go off-road, the first being the vehicle. Did you note what the second and third was? That’s right: First aid kit, driver and vehicle recovery training.
Too many people have been critically injured or killed simply through lack of understanding, ability, training around vehicle recovery, and a decent first aid kit. Stupidity plays a large part also of course. And because most vehicle recoveries happen in remote places there's often no one to assist when things go wrong.
Attempt to cross a watercourse without walking it first or maybe ascending or descending steep inclines or side-slopes without the proper assessment or preparation...Well, it’s potentially going to end badly without the correct equipment, preparation and skill. The best you could hope for is a destroyed vehicle. The worst, injury or death. There’s so many ways for things to go wrong during off-road driving and recovery; Issues that multiply in a recovery situation, winch or snatch strap recovery especially, due to the extreme forces involved.
Flinders Ranges, South Australia.
Having the right skills is vitally important, as is having a vehicle sufficiently equipped for extreme work and they don't come like that from the factory despite what the commercials suggest. Even the best four wheel drive vehicle needs to be equipped, over and above factory specification, to go off-road.
Accessorising a 4x4 correctly for off-road work is a costly and complicated process. By accessorising I don’t mean matching interior trim with external paint colour either...I mean adding systems that will ensure the occupants are safe, and the vehicle is protected from the harsh treatment and terrain offered by getting off established bitumen roads. Did I say costly? Yep, it’s that's for sure.
In the weeks to come I'll do a post about some of the concepts around accessorising one of my off-road vehicles, my Ford Ranger, introducing some of the bits and pieces, the need for them, their purpose and why I chose those particular ones. At the time I worked in the off-road industry for one of the worlds largest and most prolific off-road accessory companies so building up my vehicle was easy and much cheaper than normal retail pricing. I also had access directly to suppliers and manufacturers rather than having to rely on sales people...That made a huge difference.
Anyway, look out for it if you're interested.
Coming to see Australia is achievable for most and I'd recommend it of course, however for most tourists getting to the places we can reach with a fully-kitted-out off-road vehicle is not easy. There's many tour-operators of course, and they will show a tourist the highlights, but most tourists are time or funds limited and so never really understand the true spirit of the place. I guess it's no different to me heading to Europe as a tourist.
As an Aussie local, born and bread in this big-old amazing land, I get to have these places largely to myself because I off-road and have the skills and vehicle to go beyond the blacktop.
Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default - Tomorrow isn't promised.
Be well
Discord: galenkp#9209
This is a #showcase-sunday post, as initiated by #nonameslefttouse - Reworked from the original post.