50 DAYS WITH A BT 50

WE ASK A READER TO SPEND SOME TIME BEHIND THE WHEEL OF A BT-50 THUNDER, TO GIVE US HIS REAL-WORLD IMPRESSIONS. HIS ONLY BEING AN QUALIFICATIONS AVID OFF-ROADER AND 4X4 AUSTRALIA READER

- DOMINIC WISEMAN

LLOYD Mather spends more time exploring remote places in pursuit of the perfect wave than staring at bright city lights - he's also an avid reader of 4X4 Australia - so he was the perfect choice to saddle up in a top-spec Thunder variant as part of our '50 Days with a BT-50' series.

This gives Lloyd the opportunity to steer a BT-50 for - you guessed it - 50 days, with his off-roading nous and experience enabling him to seriously put the vehicle through its paces to explore its functionality.

OFF-ROAD

WHEN the keys arrived we were in the Mazda BT-50 with Lloyd, initially preparing to show him what the 4x4 could do. As an avid off-roader, he had other ideas, deciding to show us his favourite stretch of track in northern NSW. I suspect it was due to his love of surfing that his favourite track happened to lead straight to the quiet north end of a beach. Sadly, on this day, the weather was hardly favourable for a wave.

It is hard not to be impressed with the BT-50 as we passed through forest trails and dipped down towards the coast in to sandy, muddy tracks behind one of the most stunning locations on the mid-north coast. The rocks and mud quickly gave way to sand, dirt and plenty of puddles, courtesy of the East Coast low that affected so many during early March. We were running along the back of the beach at Hungry Head, south of Coffs Harbour, and the bush was so thick in places you wouldn't believe you were only a stone's throw from the beach.

The rain was relentless, and as we made our way over several hundred kilometres from the muddy and rocky tracks to the west of Kempsey, we were thwarted at almost every attempt to cross some of the lower bridges in the area. It truly was a sight to see, but made the driving on this trip a challenge.