When we visited TravelStar in Knysna to see how the warthog was coming along, Dickie Jurgens asked if we’d like to test an Iveco while we were there. What a question! Of course we would! So off we went, Dickie, Nige, me and Ken (resident Plett friend) – in a double-cab Iveco with a water tank on the back to give it some stability.
Off to Sedgefield, where there’s a 4×4 track. This also happens to be where the paragliders jump off the dunes to fly. We passed the point where it said ‘4×4 Only!’ and parked on the sand dune. Only one other vehicle had ventured down this far. Most people parked in the parking lot and walked over the dune to the launch pad.
Next step: let air out of the tyres. Lots of air. We were letting air out, and the paragliders were hoping for air … not enough wind to get lift-off. Once Dickie was happy with the tyre pressure, we hopped back in, and off we drove … the sand didn’t pose a problem at all.
Then into the 4×4 tracks, where the Iveco seemed perfectly at home. No issues whatsoever. Then we reached ‘Fugly’ – a very large sand-dune that looks close to impossible to drive over. On this day, with very hot and soft sand , Fugly did beat us. We got very close to the top, and could have spent the next half-an-hour inching our way over, but we opted for trying out other bits of the track. The Iveco has driven up there … check this link for some impressive performance.
Nige took a turn at the wheel and announced himself ‘impressed’. Not easy to impress an actuary, but there you have it.
Many thanks to Dickie for taking time out of his weekend not only to show us the progress, but also for taking us all the way out to Sedgefield for a test drive.