Adventure 4WD

The last of my far-west adventure for 2024 was in the wilds of the Victoria Desert at the fabulous community of Oak Valley in the Maralinga lands. Such great hospitality extended to me and with keen participants willing to learn some new skills it was a truly productive couple of days.

Ceduna is an amazing location perched as it is at the head of Eyre Peninsula, God’s best bit of natural wonder. On the back of an enthralling SSV course on Monday, I ran a two-day 4WD program to a happy bunch of Vegemites from a mixed bag of agencies servicing the local community. Always good to visit Ceduna and thanks to the gang for your hospitality.

My favourite 4WD course and delivered at my favourite location, Big Dune Dreaming again. Thanks to the attending crew for your hospitality and plenty of laughs, some good learning done today.

Golden finish to the day. Hello Ceduna once more.

What’s at 15351 Eyre Highway you ask? The Big Galah of course, halfway across the continent and a must-see, must-stop stretch of the legs. Not far now. Oh and one for Hamish Whyte

The far-west calls and so too an empty tummy so a stop at Harry's Fruit & Veg, Homemade Gourmet Jams & Pickles, Pizza & Hot Food at Nelshaby is in order and a Hoover-up of a delicious camel burger hits the spot once more. Next stop, the Big Galah, then that gateway to the Bight, Ceduna, a lazy 800kms on a Sunday. Oh and some very curious confectionery on the counter???

More Mildura meandering. Two days with a great bunch of learners. The Mallee around Mildura is stunning, apart from the man-made viticulture and farming aesthetic, the rolling red sands and often blue skies are the making of great pictures. Excellent hospitality too!

A jaunt across the border to a sun-drenched Mildura and 20C makes a pleasant change in the middle of a chilly winter.

Week two of celebrating exceptional service at dealership service and spare parts desks at Isuzu Ute Australia dealerships.

Rewarding exceptional service in Isuzu Ute Australia service and spare parts divisions right around the country.

A couple of weeks back we were in the Flinders Ranges for our good friends Isuzu UTE Australia and I-Venture Club with a travelling entourage of journalists and customers in the assembled D-MAXs and MU-Xs they brought along. We had an astounding time in and around Blinman and Wilpena on a mix of trails that were captivating and a real challenge. Finally, the film has dropped and I invite you to sit back and be spellbound by one of God's best bits of natural wonder!

I-Venture Club – Flinders Ranges, SA, May 2024 | Isuzu UTE Australia Revisiting the ancient landforms where the I-Venture Club first visited close to a decade ago, the Isuzu owner exclusive 4WD and towing training program retu...

Here was something to celebrate this last Sunday. It was 10 years to the day when I-Venture Club hosted its first training session, to prove the worth of the program to an eager gang drawn from dealerships in the Brisbane area. We selected Bribie Island, as it was conveniently located near Brisbane and had most of the elements we needed to deliver a sand-based course. From this proof-of-concept success we chose all our early locations around the country and drew up plans for the full-scale release of IVC nationally, commencing again in Brisbane on Moreton Island, this time in March of 2015, with four days for media, fleet customers and then owners just like you. I’d like to say thanks to Isuzu UTE Australia for having the courage to take the project on and more importantly, stay with it all these years, as it is an expense that accountants in big business would normally want to remove from their bottom line. I’d also like to say thanks to all of the gang who’ve been involved in its delivery, I’ve enjoyed all your company, the many many laughs we’ve shared and the beautiful places we’ve visited and the fabulous attendees we’ve served. IVC has been one of my career highlights in helping design it and deliver it and one that has engaged all of the Wilson family in a training or support role and it’s pretty safe to say it’s in our DNA now. We’ve just signed on for another two years and Rose and I look forward to exploring the new locations we’ve got planned for you that’ll expand the appeal of what is the BEST 4WD customer retention program in the country and amongst the best in the world and the envy of others. HBD IVC!

Pics from 2014 and today on day three of IVC in Eagle View in SA.

The third and final day was back to the rocks after the fun in the sands we enjoyed yesterday.

Heading out the back of Blinman we used a trail we haven’t been on for twenty years or more and it’s a beauty with spectacular views all round.

Here’s a picture gallery of what we got up to on this instalment of Isuzu’s I-Venture Club celebrating the release of the MY2024 D-MAX and thanks to Isuzu UTE Australia

Day two was going to be a little different from the rocks of the day before, with a session in the sands on the western side of the ranges.

Bright red desert sand is something special in the colour department up against a vivid blue sky and that’s what we got in Thursday.

We forged a trail for the crew to follow and we had a hoot learning the art of rolling with the folds in the sands.

Here’s some pictorial goodness and the other thing worth mentioning is the tummy goodness found at lunchtime at the Prairie Hotel at Parachilna.

What’s not to love about the Flinders Ranges?

This stunningly beautiful landscape of some of the world’s oldest mountains, is a 4WDing wonderland.

We’re reprising our Isuzu I-Venture Club visit from October 2016 with a list of new trails to put to the test our new MY2024 D-MAX.

With our usual mix of Isuzu owners and some of the country’s best auto journalists, we’ll be confirming the improvements in the new truck in a landscape that’s unforgiving for pretenders.

Day one commenced in Hawker at Flinders Food Co. with a ripper lunch before heading up to Merna Mora Station and the Wowee Track.

Here are some pics from day one and thanks to Isuzu UTE Australia and I-Venture Club.

That puts this week to bed, another two-dayer with a twist and a bunch of happy Vegemites. A sum total of four Hiluxes, a Ranger, a new 300 and a 70 wagon and we brought them all home unscathed. Lucky with the weather too!

Here’s some pics from a neat couple of days.

Another riveting day on the tools up at Adventure 4WD HQ with another team from Electranet. As this was a refresher program for experienced crew it was a bit of a mixup of challenges I threw their way - rocks and sand and a few things in between.

Here’s some more pictorial goodness!

Meanwhile, back on the tools in Adelaide, I had the pleasure of sharing some skills with our good friends at Electranet.

Spent under fabulous skies and perfect temps, we learnt a bunch of stuff about their fleet of Prados and Hilux and we celebrated everything good about 4WDs both on and off-road.

Thanks folks for spending the last two days with us and the many laughs we shared, it was good fun.

Last week not only did we find ourselves in NSW and on the beaches and dunes at Stockton, but right on the back of that was a quick flit to Brisbane to celebrate the reveal, to a group of national motoring journalists, of the newly updated MY24 Isuzu D-MAX.

There are plenty of talking points to discuss about the vehicle and we’ll get to that next week when the embargo is lifted, but in the meantime here are a bunch of pics of the fleet of D-MAXs and MU-Xs we had at our disposal.

The keen eye will see some change. What do you reckon?

If only I could have crammed that Bar Crusher into my overhead locker for the ride home 🤔

Travel, it broadens the mind and always means fun. So it was that Rose and I headed over to NSW late last week (yes, when all that rain fell out of the sky) and lobbed in Newcastle for our regular Isuzu UTE Australia I-Venture Club event at Stockton Beach. Luckily the weather Gods played ball and both Saturday and Sunday were gorgeous days. Many thanks to the attendees for their interest and keenness to try every sandy escapade we could throw their way. Always good working with Corey Prior and Simone Buchanan. Here’s some pictorial evidence.

You’ll all remember trainer Drew Symonds who was with us for fifteen years and very handy with the tools. Well I hope I don’t jinx him because he’s currently in India and about to start a massive challenge, travelling the length of the sub-continent via Tuk-Tuk. Today he picked his steed up in Shillong and after some preparation he’ll be on his way on the Rickshaw Run 2024. Happy travels Drew!

We've seen plenty of Suzuki's new JB74 on our courses since their release in 2019 and they are an amazing vehicle, so much so we put one in the family last year and in Jungle Green. The build on our Jim has only recently begun and the first thing to fix was the tyres... and there's a lesson for anyone buying a new 4WD. OEM rubber is crap, but not these!

Introducing new Toyo Tyres Australia R/T (that's Rugged Terrain) for Jimny in the stock size of 195/80R15, a perfect match and preserving the gearing, something vitally important when you've got only 130Nm at your disposal.

Have a read of this little yarn I penned recently...

Suzuki Jimny and Toyo Open Country R/T (that’s Rugged Terrain) | Toyo Tires Australia David Wilson is a veteran 4WDer, and has explored off-road using almost every tyre in the Open Country range. His extensive experience with our tyres, and his passion for the Australian outback, made him the perfect candidate to test our new Open Country R/T 2-ply.