GORV - Digital Magazine Issue #63 | Page 52

Yardie Creek is a tidal river ; therefore , the crossing is not always accessible .
Moreover , there is another option available to access the Ningaloo Coast campground : entering from the north via Cape Range National Park . This way , however , requires crossing Yardie Creek which , as a tidal river , isn ’ t always accessible , and when it is , it ’ s strictly 4WDonly and for those who are confident with sand-driving . We ’ d taken the van down some tough tracks before , but this would likely be our most challenging yet .
CROSSING YARDIE CREEK
The day before , we went down to Yardie Creek to check out the track and make a plan of attack . Despite a small drop-off to get down into the creek bed , the rest looked relatively easy to navigate since the creek was completely dry . So the next day we got to the carpark , aired down our tyres , took a deep breath , and got ready to go : Marc behind the wheel , Sandy outside on the handheld radio spotting .
With bedroom views like this , you can forget all about the rough road to get here .
We navigated the drop-off easily enough , thanks to the extra clearance of our offroad van and by taking it slow , but as soon as we hit the sandy creek bed , we were bogged . Thankfully , there were a few cars around , and one quickly came over to give us a snatch out . However , as Marc got back in the car to prepare for the recovery , he looked down and , to his dismay , saw that he had neglected the number one rule when you get bogged – check that you ’ re in 4WD !
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