We took a full van load of walkers who were late doing the 80th Anniversary Stinton Walk, against the advice of my guides down the notorious Duck Creek Road which was never been in such a bad way with huge holes, exposed rocks, deep ruts etc.

All I can say is that the Bus 4×4 AWD Conversion Kit of the Hiace Commuter was fantastic. Even with a full load, the van did not bottom out even once and in a few tight parts had only 3 wheels on the dirt. Yet it tracked well and essentially was a well behaved 4WD. Ben Southwell, the well known videographer who recently drove his 1986 Defender all over Asia was one of the passengers who was totally impressed. Since then, we have purchased more 4×4 tour buses from Bus 4×4.

Murray Offroad Adventures is located in the semi arid landscapes of NW Victoria. We finalised Bus 4×4 for our AWD Conversion Kit to suit Toyota Commuter after prolonged research including confirming that the conversion of a new vehicle did not void the new vehicle warranty.

The bus has lived up to our expectations. The interior upgrade with mine specification standard gives us the reassurance of a strong, safe, durable vehicle. The extras which include safety equipment, storage, bull bar, snorkel, tow bar, curtains for light and heat and the built in TV/DVD with connection to the latest communication allows facilities of an office while touring the bush.

I was a major skeptic of the abilities of the Bus 4×4 conversions but and when the head engineer told me to drive a newly hired Coaster for our Adventure Tour, I did it with apprehension. I drove the bus down to Inskip Point for my first soft sand challenge, stopping just before the really soft sand to lock it into low range. To my surprise, without changing gears, I was able to get the Coaster out of the soft sand onto the hard wet sand before the barge without any issues.

There was nothing that seemed to worry this bus, it drove through everything the island threw at us in normally dry boggy testing conditions in sand. I would not hesitate to buy one!