Today I had my first experience of beach driving.

I was on the beach between Tuncurry & Hallidays Point - 10.5 km long.

I aired down to 14 psi, and drove mostly in the wheel tracks of other vehicles. The sand was a mixture of soft & harder below the high tide mark. I was in 4 hi, driving at about 25km/h, and all seemed well. I was concentrating more on the waves and the tide than my instruments, until I got a warning & found I was overheating, after about 8 km on the sand.

My water temp was 134 degrees, so I stopped & waiting until I cooled down (after getting up higher on the beach in case re-starting was a problem). I then went to 4 Lo, and the temp climbed a little (from 110 degrees to about 115), but this got me to the end and off the beach onto some dirt tracks.

I presume that in 4 hi, the soft sand was causing the engine to work too hard, causing the overheating. Is that normal - should I have been in 4 Lo from the start?

On the plus side, once I got into the bush, we saw a 2+ metre snake, big kangaroos, and echidna (never seen one in the wild before), & black cockatoos.

So as a novice, I look forward to getting advice on beach driving from those with experience.

Greg