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It started off as a coast-to-coast four-wheel-drive odyssey across Australia's top end.

4WD Odyssey

Nickjenkins
2003-11-20 16:52:02

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possibility Point Ann could end up just a little toasty. Phlegmatically we accepted this and packed up all our gear and headed out on the road.

It soon became apparent that the red glow on the horizon was not the sun, which had set half an hour earlier. As we crested a hill we could see the bright, flickering flames along the base of the fire front which filled about a third of the horizon. At this point we realised that this was a bit more serious than we had thought and I became acutely aware of the interesting complications that might occur if I failed to take one of the twisty gravel corners correctly and, say, punctured a tyre. Not stopping to even take a photo we headed out of the park as quickly as possible to stay the night in a motel at Bremer Bay. This had the advantage of real(ish) beds and a hot shower.

From Bremer we went inland again heading for the Stirling Mountains north of Albany where the weather was so disappointing that we lounged around the camp for most of the day. To pass the time I experimented with making damper on the gas barbecue. Not as easy as you might imagine when you have neither a camp stove nor a camp fire. Still I did a passable version of a fruit scone which Richard and I scoffed with alacrity.

That night my ad-hoc swag failed its water resistance test and even Richard's more expensive version suffered a bit of leakage. Although it was fairly minor the threat of a damp sleeping bag sent me packing to the car for an uncomfortable night in the passenger's seat. At this point I nearly had a sense of humour failure. Being continually chased out of national parks by fires, denied the beautiful beaches of the south west by shoddy weather and having had a bad nights sleep I was getting a trifle annoyed. Richard, being the perceptive sort, spotted the steam rising from my brow in the morning and gently enquired what I would like to do. We discussed the options and agreed that if the sun wasn't in evidence when we headed out of the mountains then we would pack it in and head for home.

The sun was definitely not in evidence, it might have been in Barbados but it definitely wasn't in evidence, in Albany, in any way. Grey clouds rolled from horizon to horizon and the outlook was pretty grim. So we returned the curry wagon, collected Richard's Subaru and headed for home with 2000km of lizards, intermittent sunshine, beaches and national parks under our belts. (And I'm happy to say that while I sit here writing this in lovely 32ºC Perth sunshine, it is 18ºC and raining in Albany).

As for the whole 4WD experience, well it left me distinctly underwhelmed. While there was no doubt we reached a couple of places we couldn't otherwise have gone, most of where we went was accessible with an ordinary two wheel drive car. If I was living in the wilds I'd probably have a different view on the matter but I think having a four-wheel-drive in the suburbs for weekend use has limited appeal. The high price, uncomfortable handling, shocking fuel consumption and low tech approach of four wheel drives is too much of a compromise. I think I'll restrict my involvement to holidays only.

My travels