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ByfieldFeb23 |
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Having just
taken delivery of a Brand NEW |
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Toyota PRADO,
we thought we'd better give |
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it a
"thorough workout" and become familiar |
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with ALL it's
great features, before doing a |
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major 4wd trip.
Having previously owned a |
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Nissan
Pathfinder, Beach Buggy and a Jeep |
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Wrangler, Parj
was pretty experienced in 4wd |
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in soft sand
and steep hills and difficult terrain. |
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We were curious
how the PRADO compared |
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to previous
vehicles. The PRADO had MANY |
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extra features
such as :- Diff Locks, Snorkel, |
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and MANY more,
so we expected GREAT |
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results in
"Steep soft sand and difficult terrain". |
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In Byfield Nat.
Park, going towards 5 Rocks |
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there is a VERY
STEEP sand hill called BIG |
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SANDY. This has
caused some problems in |
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the past, as it
is as difficult as "BIG RED" near |
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Birdsville, at
the start of the Simpson desert. |
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This caused us
NO problems, and had NO |
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NEED to use
Diff Locks, centre or rear. |
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VERY happy with
the performance and space |
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in the PRADO,
compared to prev. vehicles. |
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Now let the
photos tell the storey. |
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Home, Gold
Coast to Yeppoon, via direct good roads, was about 765 km, easy going in 1
day. |
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We stayed at
the "Bayview Towers", Yeppoon, with fabulous views from the TOP or
8 th floor. |
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Packed and
ready to depart, Gold Coast. |
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The Bayview Towers, great motel & views |
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It was raining
steadily when we departed Yeppoon for Byfield Nat Park and 5 Rocks, and we
were |
unsure if we
could cross the causeway on the way in or return. Even though we had a
Snorkel, it |
could be
dangerous crossing a "fast flowing creek, over 600 mm deep". The
danger was that we could |
FLOAT and be
swept into the creek. NO problems on the way in, see photos of return !! |
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Excellent room
and facilities. Parking was tight. |
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What a view to wake up to, Eh ? |
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It was raining
as we left for Byfield, 30 km |
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Good breakfast at Byfield shop. Were told |
away. Not sure
if we could do BIG Sandy ? |
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safe to cross causeway and do BIG Sandy. |
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Road into
Byfield Nat Park…still raining. |
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Water on the track, but NO problems so far. |
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Doing BIG SANDY easy. Hard to take photos |
Parj letting
tyres down, from 30 to 20 psi. |
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as car was bouncing around and PAM had to |
Sand was wet so
20 psi was quite OK. |
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hang on the GRAB handles. Dash Dog helped ! |
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On TOP of BIG
SANDY, easy for PRADO. |
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Pam & Parj on 5 Rocks lookout. Finally got |
Didn't need any
Diff locks or much speed. |
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the "self timer" on camera working. |
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Great view of 5
Rocks. |
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Approaching FLOODED causeway on return. |
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There was a
CROWD of spectators on the |
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Looking downstream near far exit. About 2 ft. |
opposite bank,
with about 20 to 30 cars, too |
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fast flowing water, never looked like floating. |
scared to make
this crossing. Parj gave them |
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The crowd on the far bank, were too scared |
a bit of cheek
and called them "woosses". |
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to cross, even some with Prado's ?? |
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Having
confirmed that the PRADO was capable of ANYTHING we will ever dish out to it
(and more) we |
took a
leisurely drive home via Agnes Water, Wreck Rock, Hervey Bay overnite, then
home to Gold Coast. |
It was too
rough to swim at Wreck Rock, so we just took some photos. Pam wanted to
overnite at |
Hervey Bay,
having not been there for some years. The place has grown massively into a
large town. |
We found a nice
resort, at Urangan, called "Quarterdeck Retreat", which was nice
but far from shops. |
Before
departure, had a nice breaky on the Esplanade, with water views, then HOME. |
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Pam at Wreck
Rock, Deepwater Nat Park. |
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Booking in at Quarterdeck, Urangan. Near |
Good 4wd track,
in DEEP sand & ruts. |
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Hervey Bay, nice but far from facilities. |
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Many swimmers
in Yeppoon, from our room |
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Pam holding on to hat on Esplanade, Hervey |
on 8th floor.
Hard to see them in photo. |
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Bay. Place has grown enormously lately. |
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CONCLUSIONS |
It was a VERY instructive "Learning
Trip" with the new PRADO. It exceeded our |
expectations
and were VERY happy with it. It handled the SOFT SAND and steep hills and
rough going |
better than we
could have hoped, and we look forward to testing its limits in our next major
trip, to |
BROOME, via
Birdsville, The Simpson Desert including BIG RED, Alice Springs then Tanami
track to |
Halls Creek.
Then an easy drive to Broome for a rest/clean up. Return via Gibb River Road,
then Darwin, |
South to
Borroloola, Normanton, Cairns then HOME. Have planned about 4 weeks away,
hard Eh ? |
We are planning
to depart about mid April 23, and have ALL the gear, for 3-4 camping stops,
where |
nothing ELSE is
available, a good ENGEL fridge, and sufficient recovery gear. We will camp in
comfort, |
using :- Fast
erect stand up tent, camp beds and chairs, NO COOKING. Eat prepared food for
the 3-4 |
nites,
when we camp, otherwise eat in
Roadhouses/Motels. It’s a TOUGH life, Eh ? |
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Map of our NEXT
trip, Mid April 2023. Bloody GREY NOMADS, becoming a menace on the ROADS. |
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======================================================================END HOME |
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