Best 4WD Treck Ever
Trip Start
Apr 04, 2008
1
20
21
Trip End
Apr 22, 2008
'Eua Island, Tongatapu, Tonga
Monday, April 21, 2008
We started out the trip going from one house to another and of course we started to wonder if we were combining his errands with our adventure. Finally we headed out into the forest though down one improbable road after another and finally ended up at a locked gate. When he pulled out the wire cutters we finally realized what all the other stops were about..... the key! Well, his "key" worked just as well and on to the no doubt private property we went.
We saw magnificent views of unspoiled beaches and then headed into the deeper forest. Several times we were stuck and our driver magically got us out. Then we went into the deepest mud soup ever and we thought we were done. Back and forth we rocked for what must have been 15 minutes. Finally, our driver turned off the car and got out. So we did too.
The tires looked like they had no treads, but that was just because their was so much mud on them. Our Toyota Hilux was sunk about 12" into the road and their was steam coming from the engine. It was totally overheated! We all gave up our water bottles to resupply the water in the radiator, but that wasn't enough. Our driver had to refill the bottles from the mud puddles all around us.
After a bit, our driver got back in and started driving forward and back, over and over and over and unbelievably he got truck out. We were off again, but not for long. Stuck again. We got out and the driver started backing up. We thought for sure that he had given up, but noooo, he just turned and went straight thru the forest instead.
Repeat the above scenario over and over again and that pretty much sums up the day. Too much fun! We saw a gravestone of a NZ soldier who had been killed their just after WWII and saw on of the oldest banyan trees probably on earth. It was amazing to see.
3 1/2 hours later we were back at the Hideaway, covered in mud, but we definitely didn't mind. You should have seen the Hilux!
