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About a week or so before Easter we decided to head down to Pemberton for the weekend as my son Chris wanted to test his new Hilux in the dunes. We initially planned to camp at one of the many National Park camp sites in the area, but after visiting a few when we arrived at about 8.30am on Friday morning and finding them all full, we decided to try the Pemberton Caravan park and were lucky enough to get a spot in their overflow area. Once we had set up camp we headed off to the D’Entrecasteaux National Park for a bit of an exploration trip. After signing in at the park entrance we followed the track to the Yeargarup Dunes only to find that the first dune climb was blocked by a Rodeo that had become bogged. Whilst waiting, I had the opportunity to chat to a few locals who had extensive knowledge of the area and the info I got from them was invaluable as I have not had much sand driving experience.
We stopped at the top of the first dune to admire the view.
This is what we were looking at.
On Saturday we decided to head back to the beach to try a bit of fishing. By now the tracks had become very soft and once on the dunes we had to reduce tyre pressure to 8Psi. Some of the ascents took a couple of attempts but it is all a learning curve for both Chris in his hilux and myself.
The Warren River mouth
Trying to tempt the Salmon
Saturday afternoon we decided to take a trip to Lake Jasper. Once again it was very busy and we struggled to find a parking so we decided to drive around and explore some of the tracks in the area.
Crossing the Donnely River
One of the many tracks we found
On Sunday we took a leasurely drive south to Windy Harbour and Salmon Beach. Again after chatting to a local we decided to take his advice and travel back to camp along the beach and then cut back to the main track using the dreaded Calcup Hill. As we were about to get onto the beach we came across a German couple who had become bogged in their 70 series campervan. Neither of them could speak English so after a bit of sign language I checked the tyre pressure and nearly fell over when I read 50 psi on the guage. By now we had a traffic jam behind us and a Police ute arrived as well. Even they could not believe the tyre pressures when I told them. After 10 minutes and a bit of an explanation they were on their way again and very relieved.
Point D’Entrecasteaux
Salmon Beach
Calcup Hill was a bit of a mission to get up. The first section took 3 attempts. The 2nd section was impossible so I decided to take the chicken route and the 3rd section was done after 2 attempts. Unfortunatley I did not get any pics of the hill. Once over the hill the drive back was very easy and scenery through the National Park was fantactic.
We had a fantastic weekend and learnt a huge amount whilst driving around the area. Chris was amazed at the difference between his Hilux and the Surf he recently sold and is now a true 4x4 nut and happy he can now keep up with the Prado.
Cheers
Wayne
We stopped at the top of the first dune to admire the view.
This is what we were looking at.
On Saturday we decided to head back to the beach to try a bit of fishing. By now the tracks had become very soft and once on the dunes we had to reduce tyre pressure to 8Psi. Some of the ascents took a couple of attempts but it is all a learning curve for both Chris in his hilux and myself.
The Warren River mouth
Trying to tempt the Salmon
Saturday afternoon we decided to take a trip to Lake Jasper. Once again it was very busy and we struggled to find a parking so we decided to drive around and explore some of the tracks in the area.
Crossing the Donnely River
One of the many tracks we found
On Sunday we took a leasurely drive south to Windy Harbour and Salmon Beach. Again after chatting to a local we decided to take his advice and travel back to camp along the beach and then cut back to the main track using the dreaded Calcup Hill. As we were about to get onto the beach we came across a German couple who had become bogged in their 70 series campervan. Neither of them could speak English so after a bit of sign language I checked the tyre pressure and nearly fell over when I read 50 psi on the guage. By now we had a traffic jam behind us and a Police ute arrived as well. Even they could not believe the tyre pressures when I told them. After 10 minutes and a bit of an explanation they were on their way again and very relieved.
Point D’Entrecasteaux
Salmon Beach
Calcup Hill was a bit of a mission to get up. The first section took 3 attempts. The 2nd section was impossible so I decided to take the chicken route and the 3rd section was done after 2 attempts. Unfortunatley I did not get any pics of the hill. Once over the hill the drive back was very easy and scenery through the National Park was fantactic.
We had a fantastic weekend and learnt a huge amount whilst driving around the area. Chris was amazed at the difference between his Hilux and the Surf he recently sold and is now a true 4x4 nut and happy he can now keep up with the Prado.
Cheers
Wayne
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