Virgin Wedgies

Sunday saw W and I 4wd'ing up North with the Subaru 4wd club here in Perth. A one day trip to Wedge Island.

As already mentioned, we spent last weekend kitting out ready for our offroad adventures. Of course not being the too adventurous types, we've opted for comfort over compact. This was made clear on Saturday as I started deciding what to take...

In goes the esky - a huge 85 liter cool storage box which pretty much filled the boot of the Forester. I decided to put the 2nd car battery in place, even though we were not going overnight, I thought at least it would be handy for pumping up the tyres - so the battery box is now stapped securely (but not really conveniently) to the cage in the back, along with the fire extinguisher which is mounted high so it's always accessible.



Filling what little room was left were our two comfy foldout chairs. They are bigger (when folded) than typical chairs, but it's worth it when opened out, for the extra padding (not forgetting they need the strength for my weight!!).

That pretty much did it for the boot. We didn't want to defeat the purpose of the cage by loading up the back seat with projectiles, so the only thing there was the securely strapped down tyre pump. This is needed to re-inflate after any soft sand driving, which requires low pressure tyres to ensure good traction.

The final addition was the UHF radio (squeezed conveniently between the passenger seat and the centre console) – along with it’s aerial, mounted high at the back.



Back to Sunday…

We set off early to meet up at Wanneroo Shopping Centre (about an hour North drive for us). Luckily our clocks went back an hour on Sunday morning, so it didn’t seem too early for us. Unfortunately that also spells the end of the lovely light evenings. It's back now to getting home as it goes dark, and no more walks for Bingley with enough light to trust him off the lead.

We all meet up – and we’ve got ourselves a convoy – 8 cars in all…

The first stop was at Lancelin, where the bitumen runs out. Constant radio chatter keeps us all together, and helps let us pass others, and others pass us. The radio really appeared to be one of the most vital things needed to make the trip a success.
A couple of Km further on, and it’s time to reduce tyre pressure. The first time for us, so a little help was sought to ensure we got the ideal pressure.



I suspect the route wasn’t exactly as originally planned, although all paths appeared to lead in the direction we were heading. We stopped a couple of times to check directions (and take a few photographs) - Oh, and to check the army weren't weapons testing in the area. It wasn’t long before we hit the beach, and had a very pleasant run though to the island.

We couldn’t actually drive over to the Island – the spit wasn’t built up enough, and we'd need a boat for a crossing! However it was walkable, in very warm water. So we stopped for an hour, had a swim, some lunch – and even got to use the new chairs (very comfy). Whilst the huge esky was overkill for a day trip – filling it with ice made for very cool drinks and food – which was great for such a warm day.

The next stop was the dunes…

W had her first spin – she loved it. The kids aren’t running in fear – honest…

I did most of the driving - mainly because I make a terrible passenger. However I suspect W wouldn't have been too happy driving on some of the track on the return trip.



We were just about to set off, when it’s discovered someone had managed to get lost, and then well and truly bogged – with stories ranging from ‘it was nothing’ to ‘they flew through the air, and hit nose first. The latter being more believable since the car managed to go in nose first, with sand up over the bonnet. Luckily (or was that just forward planning) they had very little damage thanks to a custom fitted roo-bar, protecting the front of the vehicle. – Anyway, thanks to a tow from some big 4wd’s from the 4wd club (and I imagine much inter club embarrassment) they were soon out, and guided back to the group.

Still – it gave the kids lots of time to play in the pristine dunes.

What followed was a very bumpy track back to Lancelin, up and over the dune tracks – The beauty of the convoy (and not being at the front) being that we knew in advance about any bad dips and rocks, plus the speed was pre-moderated to the state of the track. Like the car in-front of us, we managed one good bottom scrape over a rather large rock – but no damage done – W did worry about her poor baby though (i.e. the car).

At Lancelin we followed the cars in front of us to a rest room, and were surprised to find they had left without us before we came out. We’d heard on the radio that the next stop was an ice-cream break – but not knowing Lancelin, we had no idea where they’d all gone – and of course the radio was no use, since they’d all left their cars to go to the shop. A quick cruise around, and we found the rest – this was the last stop anyway, as we all headed home – with just enough light left to clean the car (or was I dreaming that bit!).

Heres a link to all the photos from the day.


Thanks to the Tony Richards, and the club for arranging a very enjoyable day out – we look forward to the next!

[From 4WD days Out of Perth] “Wedge Island is a crayfishing village where squatters have been permitted to enter into lease agreements with the local government. The island itself is descriptively named, appearing like a wedge of cake lying on its side at the end of a sand spit. At times, the spit builds up to such an extent that it extends all the way out to the island, allowing you to drive to the rocky perimeter of the wedge.”