Monday, December 6, 2010

MY WORLD ~ A Little Adventure


Last week we had a 26 hour holiday. We drove down to Goolwa
on the coast where the Murray river flows into the sea.

The sign said the beach was open to drive to the mouth, so of
course we took the opportunity.

It is fun driving along the beach, watching the birds foraging
on the retreating tide.


The dunes on one side and the ocean on the other, no other cars,
we were in our element enjoying the day . . .


when the sand below our wheels got a bit soft and I noticed
that the tide had turned . . . oops


yep, we got securely bogged even before we turned back!
Now what do you do when you have made no provision for
driving on sand? You use emergency measures . . . working
against the incoming tide we took the mats out of our newly
cleaned car and used them under the wheels to get a grip.
Two rotations of mats under wheels, digging them out and
repeating the process, and we were heading back along the
beach holding to the allowed speed limit of 40km all the way
as the sea came tumbling in and the strip of beach narrowed
and got wetter.


The waves were starting to lap at the tyre tracks as we finally
made it back to the safety of the car park.
So much for trusting signs!


After all the excitement, we had deserved the best fish and
chips on the planet which we indulged ourselves with on the
riverbank with the golden glow from the setting sun.



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26 comments:

  1. Very exciting! I'm sure it got the adrenalin pumping. Fish and chips as a reward sounds excellent. Lovely photos and well worth the adventure :-)

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  2. What an adventure, Arija! Reminds me of the time when we were marooned by flash floods in a tiger reserve forest!

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  3. What an adventure indeed!! Terrific photos though!! And I'll take fish and chips any time! Hope you have a "safe" week, Arija!! Enjoy!

    Sylvia

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  4. I could not get blogger to load this one:

    Spiritartartist has left a new comment on your post "Heading for adventure":

    As always, simply magical Arija! Thanks . . . :-D

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  5. Thanks for sharing your adventure.The last picture is so rich and beautiful.
    Blessings,Ruth

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  6. My goodness Arija, aren't you are dare devil!!! we see this quite often on our beaches.. no one ever thinks the tide will rise that high or that fast.. sand is quite the stuff to get stuck in...

    Glad you made it out fine.. fish and chips.. that sounds perfect .

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  7. I'm glad you were able to get out of the sand. That sounds like something we'd do although our common place to get stuck is in the mud in the mountains on back roads. Our beaches are too developed for being able to drive on the sand. Beautiful shots from your adventure.

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  8. Wow, a close escape! Yup, fish 'n' chips makes it all better. :)

    My love to you. xxoo

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  9. WHAT an adventure! Think I would have indulged in a double order of fish & chips after that one. whew. Talk about cutting it close. Best use of car mats I've heard of in a long time - glad you all were safe & could enjoy that gorgeous golden light...

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  10. We once had a similar experience but in our case it was a desert dune area after rains. There was no surf coming at us but we were a long way from anywhere and no one else around.
    That beach is beautiful and I’m sure glad you got out before the ocean claimed your car.

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  11. Belle immagini.
    Relax e pace...
    Buona serata :)
    Myriam

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  12. Oh … what an adventure you had. Good thinking about the mats. The sunlight bathing the trees and path creates an exquisite mood! I'm glad you shared this wonderful photo. :)

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  13. I've enjoyed a few drives on the beach, and a couple times found myself in a similar predicament. Another lesson learned and here we are to tell the tale. Just glad you're safe.

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  14. Amei as fotos e o texto! Você passou toda emoção da aventura do passeio! A foto das árvores é espetacular! Parabéns!

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  15. That was quite an adventure! Bogging down is sand is no fun, kind of like snow but more difficult to move.

    Thanks for your comment on my blue jay post. Feeding wildlife is viewed differently is different places. Here in the US feeding birds is widely accepted and is a huge business however more and more states & locals are banning the feeding of other wildlife. Feeding certainly does help getting close-up photographs.

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  16. Quite an adventure! Probably a lot more fun in retrospect than it was at the time. Some quick thinking saved your car!

    I've heard that people let some air out of their tires before driving on sand. But I don't have experience with it myself.

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  17. An exciting day at the beach which could have resulted in the loss of your vehicle, only quick thinking saved the day.
    I just bet those fish and chips tasted good after that. And what a beautiful place under the trees, a nice place to eat your chips from the paper parcel and remember the adventure.
    When I lived at a beach we often had to help tow people out of similar circumstances before the tide came in! You were lucky the floor mats worked for you.

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  18. What an adventure! And such golden photos you took at the end of the day. Glad everything turned out OK.

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  19. Wow...what an adventure! Beautiful shots though!

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  20. You certainly had an exciting adventure! The fish and chips sounds like a perfect treat after your escape, but I would have had to add a decadent dessert too!

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  21. Thanks for sharing about your little adventure in this post.

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  22. great idea about the mats. glad everything is well now. wonderful captures but the last shot is especially magical.

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  23. What an ordeal! Fortunately you made it! My daughters were in the same situation. They were stuck in the sand for an afternoon and a night on one of the Queensland beaches. They had three of the four children with them. I was out fishing with the partners of my daughters and one grandchild. They returned the next morning. They had rescued themselves by letting some air out of the car tyres. With flattened tyres they could leave the sand easier. We had been awfully worried and the boys had been searching for them all night.

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  24. LOL. I had the same problem on the same beach. The secret is to let your tyres down to about 18psi, and keep the revs up. Great story though!

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  25. Gorgeous photos. You have me hungry for the beach!

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