Marina stunt’s not ‘wheelie’ clever
Doing wheelies on the beach at Port Taranaki in mum’s car has proved to be a costly mistake for two men.
The duo used the boat ramp at the lee breakwater to get on to the beach at low tide about 2.30am yesterday and were doing skids when their fun came to an abrupt end after their vehicle got bogged down.
Unable to winch the ute free from the wet sand the men were forced to abandon it as the tide came in.
Police attended about 4am and Acting Sergeant David Lee told the men they were responsible for removing the vehicle.
It wasn’t until late afternoon that help arrived in the shape of a tractor and work began to pull the vehicle out.
Dave Chadfield, of Chaddy’s Charters, who lives right beside the beach, said he had got up to go to the toilet when he heard the commotion.
‘‘I heard them revving away, they sounded like they were intoxicated,’’ Chadfield said.
‘‘They were just doing big wheelies and then they came down here and bang it went down and just got bogged.
‘‘I heard screaming, yelling and swearing and saw two guys walk ashore.’’
He said the pair grabbed a wooden chair from outside Manou’s Cafe & Restaurant to try and get some traction and free the ute from the wet sand but it didn’t work.
‘‘It would just continue to skid.’’ After again attempting to winch the vehicle free from the muddy mess, up Chadfield’s boat ramp, the men tied it to an old anchor block and left it.
It wasn’t the first time Chadfield had seen a vehicle get bogged on the beach. He said it had happened only last year.
Chadfield joked the unfortunate pair might have been going fishing.
‘‘Perhaps they thought that the fish were in close. I almost expected to see hand lines come out of the windows.’’