Last year, we decided that doing a 4WD course would be very benefical.
While we were participating in a tag-along fossicking tour out of Sapphire, we travelled along a dirt track, which became rough and rocky, I ended up stalling the Navara about 3 times trying to drive over a small rise, before I made it. It never entered my head to use 4WD.
On the return trip, I used 4WD Low and the Navara did it with ease. While driving back to camp, we decided that doing a basic 4WD course would be very helpful.
Nothing happened until mid January, when we invited 'Shorty' and Ann over to our place to discuss our fiver, as they had ordered a Trailblazer 5th Wheeler, similair to ours. During the course of the afternoon, Shorty told me that they had booked into a 4WD course at METEC. The next day I rang METEC and booked in for the 30th January. As it turned out there were only 2 entries, Shorty and me, METEC keeps this course to maximum of 2 4WDs.
The big day arrived, Marg and I left home for Kilysth at 7:15am, as we had to sign in by 8:15am for a 8:30am start. Shorty and Ann arrived just after we did.
Steve was our instructor, we spent about 3 hours in the classroom, doing the theory side of things, then just before lunch, we hit the slopes. We walked the track
and I was a bit apprenhensive about some of the hills that we were walking up and down. They were short and steep. After a walk around the track, we got into our cars and Steve sat in the passenger seat beside me and Marg was in the back.
We started off by driving along a bumpy track with deep wheel ruts, a couple of times the car 'bottomed out' but we got through, then we drove up a hill and stopped at the top. As we started to crawl down the other side of the hill, I was asked to stall, so we could do a 'key start'.
The 'key start' is so unnatural to me. Here we are in the car pointing down a slope with the engine off, foot and hand brakes on, after slowly releasing the brakes so that the gearbox takes all the strain, you then start the engine and it starts to crawl down the hill, a very weird feeling. We did forward and reverse 'key starts'.Later on, we drove over a rocky section, mud section, bloody big trench section, I was not happy doing the trench section, check out the photos.
I was rapt that we did the course, it really shows what the Navara can do, it can handle much more than I can handle.
In future, when we go fossicking, we now know what the Navara can do. Shorty and Ann have a brand new Mazda BT-50 and there was no difference between our Navara
and the Mazda, both handled all these conditions, without raising a sweat. I recommend that if you want to go off road during your trips, that doing a 4WD course would be benefical.
At present, our next adventure starts on Wednesday 7th April, when we head back to the Gold Coast, via Perth.
All photos were taken by Shorty. thank you.
*METEC
Metropolitan Traffic Education Centre
112 Colchester Rd
Bayswater North, Vic, 3153.
03 9725 4758
METEC website.
