[Redline Shooter]

Thanks for sharing such lovely photographs and content. I must say I loved the shade of brown(correct me if I am wrong) on your car.

[Samba]

I love mountains but exotic beaches like this attract me a lot.

This place looks beautiful with a mix of deep blue / sea green water color, light yellow sand and blue sky. You got the perfect sunny weather.
The beach looks super clean and that's what we expect from any responsible visitor.

The icing on the cake was, you were able to drive your suv on this desolate beach.

Loved every snap on this travelogue.

Rated 5*.

[benbsb29]

Originally Posted by Nitish.arnold

That's the one thing that caught my eye too,
No litter, cleanliness everywhere.

@Benbsp29, a great thread, eagerly waiting for your next adventure.

p.s. These "GODZILLA" lizards are there in my sector too, in Greater Noida, Imagine my agony (I am afraid of reptiles)

Thanks Nitish. I must admit that we have become so accustomed to seeing litter around that any place sans it amazes us.

As for lizards, Australia is known for some rather interesting reptiles.

Originally Posted by basilmabraham

Nice one Benny. Any plans to drive South during school holidays?

My parents would be visiting during the holidays, so there is a strong chance we would drive down. Shall let you know closer to date.

Originally Posted by fine69

There just isn't a better country to own a 4x4 in than Australia!

Great to see you have fun with a capable vehicle. Have you added sand ladders to your recovery gear? With decent 4 wheeling experience and sand ladders you could easily do trails like this yourself (that is of course when you just can't get a second vehicle to accompany you).

I, in fact, went dune bashing in the Thar desert on my own with just sand ladders and shovel. You'd be surprised that in those 2 days of dune bashing, I got stuck 3 times and one time it was super hard to get out but sand ladders and shovel turned out to be perfect for solo 4 wheeling.

When can we see the Fraser Island travelogue though?

Thanks a lot for your comments. The variety of terrain, as well as the expanse of country does indeed make Australia an ideal country to own a 4x4.

By sand ladder, are you referring to something like Maxtrax?



If so, i did think of them when starting out, but they are pricey to add to my collection at the moment. So, shall see down the line. I do have a shovel though.

Nice to see you know about Fraser island! It's definitely a place i want to visit, but that is one place that is more enjoyable with extra company. Will need to try and round up some friends to join in.

Originally Posted by scwagh

Thanks for sharing a glimpse of your wonderful day at the beach! The soft sand approach road to the beach was particularly very interesting. Must be so much fun to work up your way to the beach. Loved the Pajero clicks, unstoppable

Thanks scwagh. The entry and exit to the beach are always the most difficult bits. I suppose it could be owing to getting chopped up by all the vehicles entering and leaving.

Originally Posted by Redline Shooter

Thanks for sharing such lovely photographs and content. I must say I loved the shade of brown(correct me if I am wrong) on your car.

Glad you liked the pics. That shade of brown is called Iron Bark by Mitsubishi, and is quite a popular color. Sadly, they have discontinued it on the newer models. Meanwhile, here is one of my recent favourites.

Originally Posted by Samba

I love mountains but exotic beaches like this attract me a lot.

This place looks beautiful with a mix of deep blue / sea green water color, light yellow sand and blue sky. You got the perfect sunny weather.
The beach looks super clean and that's what we expect from any responsible visitor.

The icing on the cake was, you were able to drive your suv on this desolate beach.

Loved every snap on this travelogue.

Rated 5*.

Thanks a lot, Samba. I too enjoy mountains, more so if there is a mix of fog and mist. That aside, a 4WD trip to the beach is quite an enjoyable experience too.

[basilmabraham]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

My parents would be visiting during the holidays, so there is a strong chance we would drive down. Shall let you know closer to date.

My parents are visiting us too. Let us see if we can make our calendars meet.

Love the pic with the Jacaranda flowers, finely contrasts with the colour of the car. They are everywhere, including our backyard, and my son calls it the Aussie Cherry Blossom.

[ARAY]

Woow, what an epic trip. Australian beachlines and outbacks are 4wd owners paradise.
Don't get me wrong but the Pajero looks so much like the new Safari storme.

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Thanks Thermodynamics.

The rule of thumb i follow is to deflate the tyres to about 20-25 psi. Too low means you run the risk of ripping the tyres off the wheel when taking turns. If you do get stuck, and cannot free yourself without the help of another vehicle or any other aids, carefully drop the psi even further, somewhere around 15 psi or so. Make sure you only drive straight at this point to get yourself out.

Have you considered beadlock wheels in such scenario ?
I follow Ronnie Dahl and had seen him do the Bribie island trail and the moment I saw those ruins in your post it was easy to relate again. Thanks for sharing the experience with us. Keep travelling and writing such fabulous threads.

[benbsb29]

Originally Posted by basilmabraham

My parents are visiting us too. Let us see if we can make our calendars meet.

Love the pic with the Jacaranda flowers, finely contrasts with the colour of the car. They are everywhere, including our backyard, and my son calls it the Aussie Cherry Blossom.

The Jacarandas are indeed quite beautiful, and makes for quite a spectacle to see streets lined with them during spring.

Originally Posted by ARAY

Woow, what an epic trip. Australian beachlines and outbacks are 4wd owners paradise.
Don't get me wrong but the Pajero looks so much like the new Safari storme.

Thanks Aray.

The Pajero and Storme may have similarities owing to both of them being boxy shaped SUVs, and more so the fact that even the Storme was released with a shade of brown which kinda resembles the one on my car.

Originally Posted by ARAY

Have you considered beadlock wheels in such scenario ?

While that is an option, I haven't felt the absolute need for that so far. As I mentioned earlier, my car sees a bit of the rough, but never extreme situations, as this is my primary vehicle and 0 downtime is critical.

Originally Posted by ARAY

I follow Ronnie Dahl and had seen him do the Bribie island trail and the moment I saw those ruins in your post it was easy to relate again. Thanks for sharing the experience with us. Keep travelling and writing such fabulous threads.

That's great to know. I see his car pics come up on Instagram, and the occasional youtube video. Quite an enviable series of journeys.

Meanwhile, if you haven't come across my other threads, listing them here for easy reference:
Outback 1 (Our venture at exploring the Australian Outback)
Outback 2 (Our second venture at exploring the Australian Outback)
Brisbane Chronicles (The Brisbane Chronicles EDIT : Team-BHP Meet/Drive)
NSW in a Pajero (Exploring New South Wales in a Pajero)

[ShreyasM8]

Crisp and beautiful travelogue! The pictures indeed spoke your words, by looking at the pictures my inner voice was narrating the story in your own words. What a looker the Pajero is in the beach backgrounds. I wish we had more drive in beaches here in India and less people who discourage me from driving along the beach.

[QuilonSpitfire]

What a nice article. Happy to see someone use the pajero to its potential. Such a great car, a true off-road legend.

Originally Posted by benbsb29

As much as I was inexperienced on the soft sand, I knew the basics of off-roading, Steady throttle, and choosing the right tracks on the sand meant I was doing quite well...

Once we got to the beach, it was relatively smooth. Driving along the more compact sand, it was almost like driving on tarmac.

[benbsb29]

Originally Posted by ShreyasM8

Crisp and beautiful travelogue! The pictures indeed spoke your words, by looking at the pictures my inner voice was narrating the story in your own words. What a looker the Pajero is in the beach backgrounds. I wish we had more drive in beaches here in India and less people who discourage me from driving along the beach.

Thanks ShreyasM8.
Drive-in beaches are fun, provided one sticks to common sense, and also respects other users of the beach.

Originally Posted by QuilonSpitfire

What a nice article. Happy to see someone use the pajero to its potential. Such a great car, a true off-road legend.

Thanks a lot QuilonSpitfire. To be truthful, I don't really use it to its potential. It is definitely a great vehicle, and the VFM it offers compared to its peers is unrivalled. It's a pity that Mitsubishi doesn't have any concrete long term plans for it at the moment. Signs of the changing times, I guess.

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Thanks ShreyasM8.
Drive-in beaches are fun, provided one sticks to common sense, and also respects other users of the beach.



Thanks a lot QuilonSpitfire. To be truthful, I don't really use it to its potential. It is definitely a great vehicle, and the VFM it offers compared to its peers is unrivalled. It's a pity that Mitsubishi doesn't have any concrete long term plans for it at the moment. Signs of the changing times, I guess.

I am thinking about buying an SUV for precisely this because my Infiniti is pretty much useless for all the fun stuff that you can do in Australia. I am looking at either Pajero or Pajero Sport. Any pointers as to which I should for for? I am leaning towards Pajero Sport purely because it is newer, is lighter and smaller, has 8 speed gearbox vs 5 for the big daddy and safety extra such as blind spot assist, adaptive cruise etc etc. Towing is almost same for both around 3000 kgs.

[benbsb29]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

I am thinking about buying an SUV for precisely this because my Infiniti is pretty much useless for all the fun stuff that you can do in Australia. I am looking at either Pajero or Pajero Sport. Any pointers as to which I should for for? I am leaning towards Pajero Sport purely because it is newer, is lighter and smaller, has 8 speed gearbox vs 5 for the big daddy and safety extra such as blind spot assist, adaptive cruise etc etc. Towing is almost same for both around 3000 kgs.

Between the Pajero and the Pajero Sport, I would personally go for the Pajero. The added space as well as greater power on offer tips it for me.

That said, the Pajero Sport has found great acceptance in Australia and along with the MUX make up for most of the sales in that segment, leaving the Fortuner way behind. The new 8 speed gearbox, as well as technology on offer by way of being a more modern vehicle surely presents a case for itself.

I have two colleagues who own the Pajero Sport, and also spoke to one of the families on the beach (pictured in my writeup) who came in a Pajero Sport. All of them seemed to respect the Pajero over their own rides. One of the most common complaints about the Pajero Sport was the plastic guards below the engine and underbody, which was quite flimsy and ended up easily damaged even in simple beach offroading. Almost all of them upgraded those to better metallic bash plates. With that done, the vehicle was deemed a whole lot more capable in close to stock form.

To help you decide, read this beautiful comparo of the Pajero vs the Pajero Sport. I can pretty much relate to what's mentioned on there.



Comparo

If towing is your primary requirement, this comparo would be of help. Although rated to similar specs, there is difference in the actual details of what's allowed and what's not. Since towing was never something I was interested in, I never read up much on those.
Towing

[peterjim13]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Thanks for reading, and looking forward to the next trip.

Great pics benbsb - I can really feel the beauty of beaches in Australia through the pics.

Your post reminded me of the beach and sand dunes fun we had last year at Lancelin, WA. Sharing some pics I had saved on my phone.

This was my cousins Pajero we drove all the way


KAKADU posing to show the beauty of the super white beach sand, and the super blue sky



The line ups for the customary shots

[benbsb29]

Originally Posted by peterjim13

Great pics benbsb - I can really feel the beauty of beaches in Australia through the pics.

Your post reminded me of the beach and sand dunes fun we had last year at Lancelin, WA. Sharing some pics I had saved on my phone.

This was my cousins Pajero we drove all the way
Attachment 1821378

Thanks peterjim13. Looks like you guys had a great trip. Good lineup of cars too, and each one comes with its own strengths.

[comfortablynumb]

Brilliant pics, Benny! Some of these pics are so soothing to the eye, can't imagine how beautiful the beaches would be in reality.

This thread reminded me of one of the most haunting novels I've read - On the beach, by Nevil Shute.

Cheers,
Vikram

[Sheel]

The itch to visit a beach this winters and gorge on seafood has grown multi-folds thanks to this thread.

What tire specs are on this Montero [let me call it that].