I -Venture Club To Stockton Beach

Our d-max gets sand on its tyres for the first time, with the Isuzu I-venture club.

- Evan Spence

I STILL remember clearly my first time driving on the sands of Stockton Beach. I would have been 14 years old, and my dad had just bought a Range Rover Classic. He had always wanted one and, as I was entering my troubled teenage years, it was something we could bond over. But we had no idea what we were doing. The smart call was to join the Range Rover Club and attend its beginner sand-driving course at Stockton Beach in NSW.

Within the first five minutes of driving down Lavis Lane towards the beach, my old man barked: “What the hell have you gotten me into?” Not what you want to hear at the start of the day. We nearly threw in the towel and headed home. Thankfully, by leaning on club members who had experience, he had a smile on his face pretty soon. By the end of the day, we were cruising up and down dunes like experts, and still enjoy sand driving to this day.

So, what does all this have to do with anything? Well, I was recently invited out on a training drive-day with the Isuzu I-Venture Club to Stockton Beach. To say it brought back many happy memories, would be an understatement. While I’ve personally done loads of sand driving over the years, it was my first time on sand in our recently modified 4X4 Australia D-Max. And it was also a brilliant opportunity to see a group of Isuzu enthusiasts learning new skills, and gain confidence along the way.

The day started with a driver briefing at a nearby hotel where lead trainer David Wilson engaged with the punters on everything from how to engage 4WD to convoy etiquette. This set the scene for the day, if at any stage someone wasn’t confident with an obstacle, there was a team of people available who could help.