Thought I’d ask.
I’ve just spent the last couple of Saturdays being passengered around some of the local 4wd forest tracks in my car, driven by my wife. She is doing a beginners basic proficiency course with the local 4wd club in a couple more weeks time, something she had planned to do last year, but a couple of knee operations put paid to that. So with the course coming up we decided that she should at least familiarise herself with the car, it being much larger & with totally different driving characteristics to her little buzz bomb go cart (Mitsubishi Mirage). That way there’s a much better chance I’ll get my car back from the course in one piece!
She was anxious to start with, understandable but not helpful. Pulling off the bitumen was up a greasy, off camber clay track with a couple of washed out ruts to straddle, all the more daunting because one of them was deeper than our 2” lifted Patrol would manage. Failure to line herself up adequately saw the inevitable result of the back end slewing around into the deep rut. No harm done though & I was able to back the car out, albeit with a bit of wheelspin. Not the most auspicious of starts, & with hindsight not the best spot for me to take a total newbie to 4wd’ing first up.
But I stayed calm & reassuring & from then on it was onward & upward. Her confidence grew with each new obstacle conquered. We stopped & discussed lines to take each time. I’m sure what she managed might be considered easy by many here, but if I were driving they would be at around 7/10th’s for me. She did stall & key starts, both forward & reverse & we followed any number of tracks on a variety of surfaces many of which were tight necessitating good vehicle placement to avoid damage, plus a number of steep & washed out hills, & sitting water needing checking for depth before entering.
I reckon she managed it all like a champ, but when I told her that her response was to congratulate me on the courage I’d shown sitting in the car whilst she was doing it. Ha ha.
Today we tried a few of the same tracks in light rain & many others new to both of us. Only twice did we need to turn back, once when a track turned into a motorcycle only track & once when the way forward was seriously hardcore (as in if we try that we’ll wreck the car, ourselves or both).
The aim is preparation for our future travels into remote areas by ourselves where it obviously makes sense that we are both able to drive. I have no doubt that she will pass the proficiency course, she’s already managed more than the course will throw at her. (I did it 18 months ago). Previously we had thought that she would be my ‘backup’ in remote areas in case I became incapacitated & couldn’t drive, but both hers & my confidence has grown quickly seeing how she has adapted to the vehicle size & picked up a few skills & I’m now looking forward to sharing the driving with her on a regular basis when we get away. Unfortunately she has reminded me that if/when this happens it means I’ll also have to share the cooking.
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....... I'm a lucky bugger! I've got 2 of em!
Originally Posted by Rogue Dung Beetle
