For Tanunda brothers, Nick and Mark Wiseman, off-roading is a way of life.
Even when they’re not away exploring some of the most remote and beautiful parts of Australia, they’re working on their custom four wheel drives in preparation for it, or editing videos from their latest trip to share online with the world.
“There’s a lot worse things you could be into than this,” said 30 year old Nick, a carpenter by trade who readily admits his early enjoyment of throwing a swag in the back of the car and heading off with mates for the weekend has developed into a fully fledged obsession for off-road adventure.
“The ultimate goal would be to travel the world doing this because there’s so much of the world that isn’t charted by vehicle.”
To date the brothers have covered thousands of kilometres around Australia, including trips to Tasmania, the Kimberley, Victoria’s High Country, Flinders Ranges and Eyre Peninsula, always in pursuit of ground less travelled.
“It’s about trying to see Australia’s most beautiful destinations, whether it’s a waterfall, or those kind of hidden gems that are scattered throughout Australia,” said older brother, Mark, 32, a cellar supervisor.
“Obviously we do prefer to get into the harder stuff... but it’s about getting off the highway really.”
In 2016 Mark and Nick tackled their first “big” trip to Cape York, a five week journey planned down to the hour.
“It was way too scheduled, and we learnt from that trip, massively,” said Nick.
“We did Cape York again more recently and it was head and shoulders better than the first, because we didn’t bite off too much, we didn’t plan at all, it was just, this is the destination if we get there, happy days, if we don’t, we don’t.”
Now with multiple trips and plenty of experience under their belt, the pair put their effort into continually improving and customising their vehicles, a 2002 Nissan Patrol and 2013 Jeep Wrangler, during just about every spare moment around their full-time jobs.
“We try and do one big trip per year, that’s our plan,” said Nick.
“As we’re driving home from one trip, we’re talking about where to next.”
The brothers had planned to travel to Western Australia next month for this year’s “big” one, but with that destination in jeopardy due to COVID-19 border restrictions, they will tackle areas closer to home.
But their favourite destination for off-roading in the country is Tasmania, a place which they say offers some of the least travelled terrain.
“Tassie’s really picturesque, but it’s also, I would say, the toughest tracks in Australia,” said Nick.
“And it’s super close for us. Eight hours to Melbourne, you sleep on the boat and you wake up there, compared to driving 3,500 kilometres to get to something with tougher tracks.”
While Nick and Mark are driven by a serious passion and pursuit of their “hobby on a hobby” of producing off-roading videos for online followers, they say it really doesn’t take too much for anyone to get out and experience the great outdoors.
“People think you need a seriously capable four wheel drive, but you can buy an old Hilux and put a fridge in it and you can go camping anywhere. You don’t need a flash vehicle,” said Nick.
“Just do it, don’t over-think it,”added Mark.
“Don’t worry about if you don’t have enough knowledge or money, particularly now with the roads getting better in remote places.”
And while things do go wrong on the road from time to time, like the Jeep’s engine blowing up on the first day of a five week trek to the Kimberleys in 2017, or being towed 700 kilometres to reach help, the brothers believe it’s just all part of the adventure.
“If everything went to plan, no one would watch our videos,” laughed Nick.
“It’s all part of the story.”
