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Looking for advice please.....


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Wanna go cockling at Goolwa this weekend, but am suss about my Holden Adventra's AWD ability making that stretch from the carpark to the beach. The wagon sits reasonably high off the ground, but as I'm not into 4WD I'm thinking lack of gear ratios etc. could put me in trouble, not to mention any poor buggers that may get caught behind me. Would greatly appreciate any advice anyone has to offer........ eg.tyre pressures, what gear to use OR just don't risk it and and walk from the carpark, thank you.Wazza

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It's just that short stretch from the carpark to the beach which is the issue, and the Adventra is an all wheel drive, not a 4wd designed for this type of thing.I was there a few weeks back and it's really soft.Instead of the Pajero which eats it up, I took the Suzuki Grand Vitara which IS a 4WD, although it has bugger all ground clearance, and I got it bogged by slowing and trying to slowly get around someone else like yourself who tried taking an all wheel drive through there and didn't make it. For me it was no problem, as I just needed to dig out a little sand from behind my wheels, get a push from a couple of helpful bystanders to reverse up a few feet, then take a decent run at it once the bogged vehicle was towed out of the way.If you're gonna attempt it, lower your tyre pressures right down, get a head of momentum up, and keep that momentum going at all costs..........as soon as you stop, you'll be buggered, you wont be going forwards or backwards, and it'll be time to start digging and seeking a tow. Might pay to also have a spotter out, just in case a vehicle is coming the other way as you make your barge through, coz your tyres aren't designed for low pressures like 4wd tyres, you'll have bugger all steering in the soft sand, and you have to keep your front wheels straight to prevent sand piling up in front of them when you turn the steering wheel.It'd pay to have a chat with another 4WD owner who has a snatch strap to get you out, before you head through.Be careful of ground clearance, but if you see tyre ruts, it'd be best that you position your wheels in them and just go for it.Once you cover that 50m, you're on the beach and you'll be fine until time to get out again.The call is yours alone! Any damage though, insurance wont cover you for going off road!Me personally, if it were my Adventra, I'd be leaving it in the carpark.If you're heading down there for cockles, there is another alternative though.Everyone hits the beach from that carpark and heads south.Instead, take the Goolwa back streets, before you turn to the Goolwa Beach car park, coz just north of there is another road that ends in a cul-de-sac (look it up on google maps). You can park in that cul-de-sac on the bitumen, walk over a small dune, and you're on the beach a few hundred metres north of the carpark.....plenty of cockles there too, coz everyone is further south!Now don't go telling everyone.....instead, let's just keep this between you and me! And if ya get plenty, keep in mind that Ranger enjoys a good feed of cockles! ;) Also, if you're gonna eat them, take plenty of salt water to purge them. Leave them in cool saltwater for at least 18-24 hours, preferably suspended, so that when they spit out all the sand it can fall to the bottom, without them sitting in it. If you're gonna leave them longer you'll need a change of salt water, as it will go stagnant and kill the cockles.In regard to Goolwa beach, plenty of 4WD's also get stuck there, coz the drivers don't know what they're doing. They try to get through with fully inflated tyres, and in low range 4WD.Instead, they should be reducing tyre pressure, leaving the thing in HIGH range 4WD, and getting a head of steam up to push through....then they'd find little to no issues.

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REALLY appreciate your detailed response Ranger, thanks a lot. I'd prefer to avoid any possible dramas so might pick you alternative location, thanks for the tip. We got our quota earlier in the season and tried purging by suspending them in a bucket (shaking occasionally) of salt water, but they still seemed to retain a bit of sand. With my Italian wife loving the seafood, the cockles are a much cheaper alternative to the Vongole we got from Samtass last week @ $27/kilo. There must be something we're missing in the purging procedure....... but dunno what.Thanks for your advice.Wazza

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.... tried purging by suspending them in a bucket (shaking occasionally) of salt water' date=' but they still seemed to retain a bit of sand. [/quote']Ideally, to purge them properly you need a source of clean and fast flowing saltwater.Naturally, we cant practically set up pumps to have fast moving circulating water, so we just do the best we can, knowing that our cockles will never be purged as well as those we will find in restaurants which have been purged correctly.Try to keep the cockles suspended on a flat tray, so that they're not piled deeply on top of each other.I use a wire mesh vegetable straining tray designed to sit in the kitchen sink when you wash vegetables, and this luckily fits nicely into my esky.Others use onion bags or any other bag suspended by a stick.....not quite as effective as all the cockles are piled on top of each other.Shaking the cockles every couple of hours will help, although naturally when you move them they will close up, and they will take time to re-open and begin purging again.You'll be left with a little grit in them, just grin and bear it, coz the alternative is costly! ;)
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last time I cooked up some cockles, I had only purged them overnight using the suspended onion bag method... was like eating handfuls of sand :(previously I have purged them over about 24hrs and they were fine.what kind of timeframe do you suggest purging over Ranger? and do you use some kind of air pump to keep the water oxygenated? coz if you end up with a heap of dead ones, they really stink and I think start to kill the others.

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I've tried a few different timeframes and find 18-24 works well.Any shorter and you will chew sand.Any longer, as you've suggested, without a pump and circulating water it will quickly go stagnant, they start dying, and they'll stink up the place.If you leave them longer than 24 hours, change to fresh saltwater, and as long as you keep them cool they'll be fine.Alternatively, purge for 24 hours, stick em into a container in the fridge without water, and cover them with a damp towel.....they'll stay alive until you cook them.

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I concure with ranger ,now i must admit i havent been down this year but the last time i did the person in front of me in a landcruiser didnt let there tyres down and got bogged before they even got to the hill ,i let my tyres down in the carpark to 18psi and just floated over the sand i also carry a snatch strap, shackles and a broad mouth shovel just in case and in the future i will get some max trax ,also if people see that you are prepared they are more likely to help and say just bad luck ,wheras people who just charge across with no recovery gear deserve what they get ,i was there when the murray mouth opened again and the ammount of so called 4wd ers who came down was amazing not to many let there tyers down and it chews the shit out of the sand as they power through it ,in your case i would either leive the car in the carpark and walk or go north young man anyway your call good hunting.

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wazzaI've previously had luck cockling at Middleton (haven't tried this year, I must add). There's a carpark on Surfers Parade across from Bondi Place. Park your Adventra there and it's only a short walk to the beach. I found I had to dig a little deeper than I usually do at Goolwa, but there were plenty there and of good size.Cheersaf

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You dont need to go as far as goolwa beach. Go to Middleton head towards goolwa, take the rd down to the esplanade head upp towards the second car park. walk down the beach and they are everywhere. I usullay pick up a few after a surf and we got our quota in about 30mins

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I was down there at Christmas and parked.in the carport.We walked onto the beach (which way is North south lol?) we turned right and walked only like 200m and twisted our feet in the wash. Billions of cockles mate!Was down on Saturday too. I took my triton and drove to the mouth. I've done a lot of 4wding before, but never ever driven to the mouth so was very wary. I put the tyres right down to 15psi like I used to do with the old 110 landrovers in the super soft.As we prepared for decent, a Patrol got bogged like 40m away. Mrs freaked out but I just thought bugger it and drove past them. If you stop in that soft stuff you won't be going anywhere in a hurry.After doing it in the triton, I wouldn't recommend going all the way to the mouth in your adventura, there were a few messy bits about three quarters along.My biggest worry with your truck would be ground clearance especially if you pile sand up at the front of the car.Also, if your car isn't manual, it would be a good idea to leave the shift in 2nd gear, cos you want your revs nice and high.Momentum up, revs up and wheels straight ;)

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  • 1 month later...

Ranger/Archerfish/Damo, finally got down to that way this morning, mainly to help a good mate that has never been Cockling. Went to the area you guys suggested and it was thick with cockles, not big ones but 99% legal size. We got our limit in no time, my mate was surprised how easy it was. Really appreciate your tips on the alternative location. Cheers.

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