4wd Weekenders
 

Thinking of doing a drive to Cervantes/The Pinnacles/Jurien Bay this weekend.

Plan on taking the Indian Ocean Dve up the coast.

I am taking our petrol Jackaroo so I can venture onto a beach/track if need be.

Have done a little beach/sand driving and she is pretty stock with some better AT rubber.

Anyone done this trip? tips? advice? places to see/stop? fuel stops along the way?

Toni

You shouldn't need fuel on the way up. There is a BP and Caltex in Jurien. Access onto the beach in jurien is easy, just make sure you let your tyres down (18-15psi) We tend to go up to Sandy Cape. Some of the beaches there are hard enough you can drive a 2wd comfortably on them. There's not an awful lot to see up there, but take some shade, bathers, and pray for good weather and it can be a relaxing trip and great way to spend a weekend!

We stayed in Cervantes this weekend just gone. If you havent been to The Pinnacles before its a good drive through. $11 per car to get in.

Was wet and blowing its guts out. Still the kids had fun fishing off the jetty. Cought 3 big gardies with a shag chasing every catch.

There is a lake and a few lookouts if you turn off the roading leading into Cervantes.

Have a good weekend.

The beach up there is pretty hard at the moment (was up there last week), so lowering all the way to 15psi is probably unneccesary to be honest. 18 would be plenty.

In terms of things to do, not a massive amount to do up that way but relax, soak up some sun, and do a bit of fishing/swimming! Hit the Pinnacles up if you've never been there before (or you want to show the kids)

Stay clear of the Jurien Bay Tav (shithole, owned by some grumpy old bastards), terrible food and service...

Jurien Bay Marina is beautiful for fishing/swimming etc even if its windy as it provides plenty of shelter from the wind.

Most of all have fun!

I did pinnacles to lancelin in 42 minutes. Best part of the trip.

x2 for Jurien Bay Tav, what a shithole.

are you going by yourself? if so other than compressor to pump up your tyres take a shovel + maxtrax if you have just in case. Should be good this time of the year though.

The track behind the lancelin dunes will lead you through the army training grounds (if the gate is locked you can drive around it at your own risk...i do every time) If there the army are in full training mode there will be a guard there anyway. This track will lead you all the way to Wedge...better way to travel than the beach IMO (as beach gets boring after a while). Good run, always lots of cars on the weekend.Enjoy

Did the drive to Jurien yesterday along Indian Ocean Dve
1.5 hours to The Pinnacles.
another 20 minutes to Cervantes.
another 30 minutes to Jurien.

We spent an hour at The Pinnacles doing the 4km drive and stopping to check out some of the more interesting shapes. Has a gift shop and information centre and toilets. To some, it may be a bunch of rocks, but you can see many things if you use your imagination. It is also amazing to see crisp white sand contrasting with golden yellow around the pinnacles and the green scrub in the area. We took the Jackaroo and the track through the Pinnacles can be a little tight for bigger vehicles. Can be done in a regular car, but you would want some clearance. No dogs allowed and $11 per car for entry.

Cervantes felt very sleepy. A general store and small shopping village. There is a Liberty petrol station in town too. We stopped at Lake Thetis to see the stromatolites and it was a little underwhelming. Look like lumps of limestone.

Jurien had a festival for the blessing of the fleet on the foreshore. A nice festival atmosphere. BP petrol station in town and also a Caltex. We hit the beach north of the harbour. The water was beautiful, but the winds were all wrong so no chnace to wet a line. Very easy 4wding.

Stopped through Moore river on the way home, Beautiful as always. The contrast of the brown river and blue ocean was amazing. The level of the river was down and there was heaps of weed.

It was a very pleasant day of driving and exploring. No heavy traffic on the roads and a few places to stop and enjoy the view. Despite the name, Indian Ocean Drive does not take you directly along the coast. You get glimpses along the way.

Difinitely will do this again though as there was a few places that I would like to explore and fish.

if you have the chance go to Drover's Cave. It's in ,well, Drover's Cave national park but the cave itself is not advertised. If you look up google maps the cave is in the middle of the park in an apparent dead end track. Very scratchy narrow track to get in but worth the explore as it is not developed i.e no tourists. Bring good torches as it goes quite deep and watch out for swarms of beehives at the entrance

I'm hoping to get a weekend with the new Series 8 Patrol (with lockable rear diff & VDC) when we get our 1st car in Dec/Jan... Might have to have a run to Jurien & Cervantes ! Sounds like fun.