Prado Summer 2024: Tackle the beach
Toyota New Zealand loaned writer Tim Warren a smoky blue 2024 Toyota Prado Adventure to go and have a good Kiwi summer. He did that and we are publishing Tim’s exploits progressively. Read on and enjoy!
Patchy and wet dawns the day. I’m unperturbed, because today is a ‘beach in a four wheel drive’ mission and with this 4×4 I’m pretty confident I can get just about anywhere I want. There’s plenty of load space, so I don’t worry too much about efficient packing. In goes the chilly bin/esky/cooler, barbecue, gas bottle, a suitcase of bits and pieces I take when I’m photographing a car, towel, a beach mat and more. I pack a tow rope, which I’m hoping not to need, although it could be fun. A rope, of course, is only good if you’re near someone who can tow you. So my friend is coming along with his own ride.
An E-type Jag pulls up next to me at the lights. A sensational looking car with spoke wheels and center point fixings. It’s a series one stunner from 1966. Yet I know that we are going to very different places; our cars could hardly be more different. I’m seated in the brand new 2024 Toyota Prado Adventure, designed for rugged off roading, and he’s in a low slung roadster.
I sometimes forget where my friend lives, but I use the built In navigation to get there, and it’s very easy. I drive past several fuel stations with almost as much glee as an EV owner, because this hybrid diesel has an enormous range. We pass some of the worst traffic I’ve seen going into town, the pre-xmas rush. Arriving at Murawai we take the beach access road, remembering to register our vehicles. Stopping at the beachhead, we lower tire pressures for the beach drive. It’s probably not strictly necessary, but just makes us that much safer. I’ve got the choice of many modes, I select ‘Multi Terrain’ and move to Sand (Murawai being a beach and all), though auto setting would probably do the job.
Another 10 or so vehicles are about to enter, but it’s a 50 kilometer long beach, so we’re not exactly going to be crowded. The access is through soft sand, and as you hit the deep parts it’s a slightly alarming swimming feel at first, but the car eats it up. Things settle down once you get down to the hard sand close to the water.
The ride is reassuring, no floating here, it feels like a road. It’s a stunning run up the coast on the black sand with a little entertainment on the way. The first is a rusted wreck of a vehicle that didn’t beat the tide. Everything was gone, apart from the hard metal bits. A few K’s up the beach, we stopped to investigate a popping sound. It turned out the beach was littered with blue bottle jellyfish. We find another abandoned sea-eaten car. It’s a nicer color. 1992. It’s two door.
About halfway up, the beach is devoid of others. save for the occasional 4×4 making the same trip. The Toyota to non-Toyota ratio gets higher and higher as we progress.
This might be a large vehicle, but visibility is very good. The door sills have been made especially low, to enhance visibility which is very functional. This means that when you are navigating sand, dunes and rocks and through dense bush, you can see very much where the edges of the vehicle are. This is important. Once I was in Malaysia, in jungle so dense, when I made the mistake of opening my window, the jungle leapt into the car and could not be removed. Ultimately the rental car couldn’t make it, I wish I’d had a Prado. But that’s a story for another day.
The beach exit is roughly 10 km from the very top of South head on the Kaipara Harbour.
Finding the exit trail is not easy. It’s not even on a lot of maps including Google (was on Apple though) so make sure if you do this trip that you locate it before driving up the beach. Also, there’s no cell reception here so make sure you download offline maps. It’s rather convenient having a choice of navigation options between Google, Apple, and the car’s built in maps. The latter were especially useful when I was out of phone range. Great for finding otherwise unmarked off road tracks. As we got close there were a couple of tracks heading over a sandbar but no sign.
The beach exit, roughly 10 km from the top of South Head on Kaipara Harbour, is hard to find and not on many maps, including Google Maps (Apple worked). I located it before the trip, as cell reception is unreliable. I download offline maps and also had the car’s built-in navigation as backup. As you approach, look for possible tracks over a sandbar, but note there are no signs.
Leaving the beach was non trivial due to the large soft sand bar. Relatively few cars carve a path through here. I engaged the low range and rear differential lock and found an angle and speed that worked. With some fanfare and revving of the engine we made it across the sandbar to the rough exit path. It’s an entertaining track that winds through Woodhill Forest and along a lagoon. We only encountered a couple of vehicles coming the other way and thankfully it was near the fairly rare sections that had room to pass another vehicle. When going is really tight the visibility package comes to the fore and you can sneak past a tree or another vehicle with just millimetres to spare. We stopped in the forest for lunch, with the vehicles parked high up on the bank. With the forest tinder-dry, we decided against using the BBQ.
On leaving the off-road section we reached a gravel road and were able to hit a good speed. Promptly the Prado reminded me that I need to pump up the tires again. Handy and accurate reminder. And we did just that – yes we travelled with a tire pump.
Off-roading is fun. And more so with a friend who’s got their own vehicle. I tried pretty hard, but I was never able to get the Prado stuck. This vehicle has the ability to turn rugged terrain into something flatter, more comfortable and smoother. Every time I drive this car, it builds confidence.
So sand and forest are all good! What’s next?