[benbsb29]

Bribie Island, located off the coast of Brisbane, has always been one of my favourite off-roading spots around. I’ve been here so many times over the past few years that I have lost count. I have taken along friends in my Pajero - helping them experience sand off-roading, accompanied a friend who just bought a pre-owned Prado and wanted to off-road for the first time in his life, and so on. Another friend who had never been off-road in his life also had his first lessons at this place under my guidance. In fact, when a colleague of mine bought a new Ford Ranger Raptor and wanted to do the run-in, an off-roading trip to Bribie is what we both agreed upon as a great option.



From my initial nervousness around tyre pressures and momentum, I had developed confidence to call off-roading at Bribie as something I know like the back of my hand. In fact, DBHPian kiku007 refers to Bribie Island as my extended backyard and is no longer surprised when I tell him I am off there for the weekend.

Travelogue from our previous adventures:
Link (Exploring new frontiers : Trip to the Bribie Sand Island, off Brisbane)


As we all know, there is always a fine line between being confident and crossing over. A few weekends ago, during one such trip it happened. I got bogged. Not once. Twice. In the same day.



Read on to find out.

[benbsb29]

I answered a call from the state Pajero group to join in for an off-roading adventure at Bribie Island. The meet was open to all car makes, owing to which I also invited my mate who owns the Ford Ranger Raptor. As there would be a convoy of cars involved, I also procured a 5W handheld radio to use on such outings. On the day of the meet, I met the others at the designated meeting area, and paperwork completed, set off to the island in a convoy.

All cars met at the entry to the 4WD track to air down, and basic briefings. Cars were split into 5 groups of 4-5 cars each, making it easier to keep track, as well as help if someone were to get stuck. Being a regular, I aired down to a tyre pressure I was comfortable with, and set on.

There are 2 tracks to get to the beach, one of which is the shorter and more frequently accessed Woorim beach track, and the other being the island inland track, which is much more longer, and much more challenging. As there were newbies in the group, the plan was to go via the easier Woorim track.

Some snaps of the convoy at the beach




Group near one of the lagoons






Beautiful blue skies and golden sand made for the perfect setting



To explore the island some more, some of us as a group drove down along the beach to get the final point of the island to which 4x4s are allowed. Cars are not allowed beyond this point.

Don't miss the 4WD Nissan X-Trail in the mix. It struggled to even make it along the easy track hindered by the lack of ground clearance.




This area has some forts of historical significance that were used during the World War which are worth a visit.



At the farthest driveable point along the beach



Once done with these, the rest of the group kinda dispersed to pursue their own interests such as laze by the lagoon, or just drive up and down the beach and so on. They preferred to return via the same track they came in. My mate and I however decided we needed more excitement and so would choose the inland track to head back. Having done this track together when the Raptor was brand new, it wasn’t new to us, and would be a good change. However, the sand had other ideas.

[benbsb29]

More often than not, it’s always the entry/exit points to the beach that are the most churned up. Sensing this, my mate with the Raptor drove out, took a long run-up and powered his way up the exit. I called him out for being over enthusiastic, and tried to make my way out gracefully. As they say, there is a time and place to be graceful and this wasn’t it. Soon enough I found the car losing traction, and we were going nowhere. I was officially #bogged.



You know what they say about how when it rains, it pours? This one was a good example.

To add to the misfortune and embarrassment of being bogged, it also happened at a point of high visibility. The narrow entry/exit point which looked fairly quiet earlier, happened to get the maximum number of folks trying to enter as well as exit at that very point in time. Needless to say, nobody was going anywhere with the path blocked.

Soon enough there was a traffic jam, and a good number of spectators. The positive was the sheer number of folks who came to help out. People came and helped with digging to free the car, some lent their Maxtrax boards so the car could gain traction, and others tried to help pushing. However, none of these really mattered as the car sat there beached and spinning its wheels away to glory. The only option was to get snatched out.

Thankfully I had my recovery gear on me, and never having to use this earlier, this was its moment of beckoning. We were short of one D Shackle, so someone lent us theirs, as well as an equaliser strap to use. The Raptor was nominated as the vehicle to snatch out the Paj. The process was quick and smooth, and I was out.

Took the effort to apologize to all the folks waiting as I drove out onto a more levelled area to catch our breath. Digging in the sand was tiring.

[benbsb29]

As we took a break, it gave me a moment to introspect on what happened. Clearly, not carrying enough momentum into the climb did me in, and also the fact that the sand was now quite hot and this too possibly caused the air in the tyres to expand further meaning I wasn’t at the pressure I had earlier aired down to. Lack of rains for ages meant the sand was really soft and powdery, unlike the more compact sand I usually find on the island. Thinking about it, most of the times I had come here, it was around a couple of days after some good rain.



Anyway, I put this behind me and we continued along the inland track. It was now quite obvious the sand at many places was really soft and there was more than enough evidence of people who had struggled their way through there. However, consistent on the throttle and I made my way through most of these challenges.

The inland track continued to throw challenges, and it almost felt never-ending. Frankly, I don’t recall it being this hard before to drive through. As we got to one section, we saw a Triton which was bogged, and the person was digging to try and make his way out. There wasn’t company around and I slowed down to check. Big mistake. Seriously, big mistake!
My mate meanwhile had powered his way up ahead, and had stopped on the side, on harder ground. I however, once again experienced the sinking feeling of wheels digging their way in, while going nowhere. There! It happened again. I was #bogged. Again. For the second time in the same day.

[benbsb29]

The process now was ever-so-familiar. It's amazing how quickly we learn during a pressure situation.



Dig, dig.. try to get some sand out of the way.. someone lent their recovery boards, which were then placed before the wheels.



“Give it a go,” someone said.

Nopes, we weren’t going anywhere.

Infact, I somehow managed to get whole dollops of sand onto the car’s dashboard via the side window which was rolled down. I remember sending a pic of that to vid6639 saying this is the stuff his nightmares are made of. Despite all our efforts the car refused to make its way out.



Yet again, it had to be snatched out. This time, it was a Nissan Patrol all donned in hero gear that did the honours. Once we got on to firmer section of sand by the side, we parked and took a break. This was tiring stuff. The hot day didn’t help either. Further up ahead, the sand looked treacherous as ever, and there were 2 RAM trucks and a Jeep Grand Cherokee that appeared bogged. There was no way we would be able to get past without getting stuck again, so we decided to wait.

I think it was atleast 30-35 mins before the other convoy of bogged vehicles cleared out. My mate in his Raptor decided to go on ahead and would let us know over the radio on how to proceed. After being bogged twice in the same day, I was in no mood to debate or counter the teasing. LOL

Rest of the trip was uneventful, and we made it back to the exit and general assembly area without much drama. Finally it was time to air up, and hit the road.



Great trip, lots of learnings and a really dirty car to tend to.

Now to wait for the next opportunity to exorcise the ghosts of the inland track. Time will tell.

[benbsb29]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line section to Travelogues.

Thanks for reading.

[BlackPearl]

Breathtakingly beautiful place and stunning pictures. I get really jealous when I see such landscape. Needing a 4WD to go there is added bonus. I have to go to Australia once in this lifetime.

Getting stuck is a big part of the fun as long as there are people to help!

[Amrik Singh]

Beautiful terrain. What was the ambient temperature like ?
During my off-roading stints in Dubai, I felt Pajero to be heavy in relation to its Power. So, it was good where momentum was of advantage. For us, it used to be the best vehicle for snatch recovery.
Nissan X-Trail is a compact SUV and has low ground clearance. Over-sized Tyres on it are helpful as the SUV itself is light weight.

[kiku007]

4WD on the beach. The quintessential Australian thing to do. I suppose you just need to add fishing to your trips and you'll be complete. Now that you have broken the ice on being bogged.

The sand can be so deceiving and it is quite natural to under estimate the terrain/over estimate our capability.

It is tough work to extract a bogged truck but what is incredible is how people swarm like honey bees to help out. I was almost bogged at the Fraser Island but people guided me to hard surface with the right guidance. Like the 4WD rental place told us, "Look after each other out there and you'll be fine."

[RedTerrano]

Absolutely mind blowing pics. Especially the water. Totally loved them as well as your narration.
Reminded my of the time when we were absolutely stupid enough to drive a Premier Padmini onto the sands at Alibag. Predictably it got stuck.

Having never driven a 4WD in my life, I always thought, with the proper gear selection and sufficient torque, the vehicle can drive over just about anything. Having read the adventure above, I learnt how wrong I was.

[moralfibre]

There is so much of character with that Pajero! Only if Mitsubishi knew how to sell cars in other geographies.

Nice read Benny.

[benbsb29]

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

Breathtakingly beautiful place and stunning pictures. I get really jealous when I see such landscape. Needing a 4WD to go there is added bonus. I have to go to Australia once in this lifetime.

Getting stuck is a big part of the fun as long as there are people to help!

Thanks BlackPearl. Grass is always greener on the other side, and the water is always blue-er on the other island. Howzzat for a slogan i just coined?

Totally agree with what you said. Lots of folks to help has been a regular thing in these places. I believe this stands true of most excursions in the 4x4 space.

When you do visit Australia, feel free to come over and we can do some off-roading and exploring.

Originally Posted by Amrik Singh

Beautiful terrain. What was the ambient temperature like ?

The temperatures on the day would have been in the early 30s, but the sand was definitely quite hot. We didn't have any rains for months and Queensland known for being the sunny state, sand temperatures were quite high. I underestimated how soft the sand could get on some of these tracks.

Originally Posted by Amrik Singh

During my off-roading stints in Dubai, I felt Pajero to be heavy in relation to its Power. So, it was good where momentum was of advantage. For us, it used to be the best vehicle for snatch recovery.

Did you guys have rated recovery points fitted to those Pajeros when using them for snatching? The points at the front are ok to get tugged out using an equaliser strap, but otherwise the monocoque construction of the Gen3 and 4 adds an additional complexity.

Originally Posted by Amrik Singh

Nissan X-Trail is a compact SUV and has low ground clearance. Over-sized Tyres on it are helpful as the SUV itself is light weight.

In this particular instance, the X-Trail was driven by a young couple, and the parents who owned the car weren't aware where the car was being taken to.

Originally Posted by kiku007

4WD on the beach. The quintessential Australian thing to do. I suppose you just need to add fishing to your trips and you'll be complete. Now that you have broken the ice on being bogged.

The sand can be so deceiving and it is quite natural to under estimate the terrain/over estimate our capability.

It is tough work to extract a bogged truck but what is incredible is how people swarm like honey bees to help out. I was almost bogged at the Fraser Island but people guided me to hard surface with the right guidance. Like the 4WD rental place told us, "Look after each other out there and you'll be fine."

Totally agree. I admit i was over confident going on this trip, and it showed.
I now have a new nickname at work, thanks to my colleague who snatched me out on the first occasion.

As for fishing, hasn't caught my fancy as yet, but watch this space.

[dragracer567]

I've tried a little bit of sand offroading in a friend's Prado in Dubai but didn't turn out as well

Love the amazing pictures & scenery! Also, the Ranger Raptor looks huge in relation to the Pajero, but I wonder if it did any better than the Pajero in the sand.

Also, Queensland, Australia is certainly on my bucketlist!

[benbsb29]

Originally Posted by RedTerrano

Absolutely mind blowing pics. Especially the water. Totally loved them as well as your narration.
Reminded my of the time when we were absolutely stupid enough to drive a Premier Padmini onto the sands at Alibag. Predictably it got stuck.

Thanks RedTerrano. Adventure awaits, even if it means we take a Premier Padmini to a beach. As long we ensure no danger to life or property, such experiences are what we will recall over a catchup with friends, or even as we get older.

Originally Posted by RedTerrano

Having never driven a 4WD in my life, I always thought, with the proper gear selection and sufficient torque, the vehicle can drive over just about anything. Having read the adventure above, I learnt how wrong I was.

This is a misconception all of us have, having been fed on ads that make anything look possible, as well as the josh of youth. There is a reason there is a whole industry dedicated to making these vehicles do more than what it can in stock format.

Originally Posted by moralfibre

There is so much of character with that Pajero! Only if Mitsubishi knew how to sell cars in other geographies.

Nice read Benny.

Thanks KC. Did you notice the other Pajero, dark blue? It's been lifted and upsized tyres too. Quite a few other mods on it as well.

Originally Posted by dragracer567

I've tried a little bit of sand offroading in a friend's Prado in Dubai but didn't turn out as well

Love the amazing pictures & scenery! Also, the Ranger Raptor looks huge in relation to the Pajero, but I wonder if it did any better than the Pajero in the sand.

Also, Queensland, Australia is certainly on my bucketlist!

For sand, it's all about tyre pressure and momentum. See how easily i can preach here.

The Ranger Raptor does indeed look and feel imposing. It never got stuck during our trip. But then again, the last time i did a trip here with the same car, neither of us got stuck. This just happened to be my day! LOL

[peterjim13]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Great trip, lots of learnings and a really dirty car to tend to.

Now to wait for the next opportunity to exorcise the ghosts of the inland track. Time will tell.

Wow! Great machines and picturesque landscape that the country is blessed with.

The whole thing reminded of my trip to Perth, WA and our drive at Lancelin Sand Dunes. Had a similar set of wheels, but all in stock tyres & suspension - except for the Nissan Patrol in our group.

Throwback 2017


The customary line up before taking on the shining sand


Landscape on the easier side of the dunes


My cousins Pajero, where I had most of the fun. Obviously my inexperience did not give much of the time behind the steering, but I did get short drives on most of the cars in group.


And this is what I managed to do. There were very few Manual Transmission cars in the group and this Discovery (Pre 1998 i guess) was one of them. The Ford Ranger was also manual.


Closing for fellowship and some barbeque