Quick & Quirky LARC! Facts

• LARC stands for: Lighter Amphibious Resupply Cargo - vessel

• Our LARCs are named in honour of Sir Joseph Banks & Dr Daniel Carl Solander – the two botanists who accompanied Lieutenant James Cook when he explored the east coast of Australia

•  Owned and operated by Neil & Katherine Mergard, two beautiful kids and a small team of dedicated staff, the 1770 LARC! Tours family will be celebrating its 18^th Birthday in May 2012!

•  Our two LARCs are original US Army LARCs, built in 1965 & 1966.

• The LARC!s are hot pink like so many of the beautiful sunsets we see here, it stands out and looks fabulous against the blue sky and yellow sand AND Pink is the new Black!

• The wheels have nothing to do with pushing the LARC through the water; however the front wheels do turn simultaneously with the rudder assisting to some degree with the steering of the vessel.

• On tour, the LARCs are always driven below the high tide mark, so that the tracks are washed away with the next tide.  This also ensures our tour doesn’t interfere with nesting seabirds or turtles.

• The LARC’s are self-righting like a yacht.  That means if they are knocked over by a large wave they go all the way around and pop back up the right way.  It’s okay - this has never happened in a tour situation, we learnt this fact from the Army!

• They will climb a 60% incline, which is an extremely steep gradient.  An average 4 wheel drive will do a maximum of 45%.

•  We love playing with LARC lingo, it’s LARCtastic & LARCalicious.  We have LARCability! When we go Marketing, we call it LARCeting.  We call our mechanic a LARCanic and searching the countryside for LARC parts is LARCeology!

• The LARCs are completely built of aluminium - even the gearbox and diff-housing and travel on huge balloon tyres with a ground pressure of 10-12psi - lighter than the average 4WD.

• Bustard Head Lighthouse was Queensland’s first coastal lighthouse, standing 16 metres tall, it was built in 1868 and automated in 1986.

• Whether it’s organizing a wedding ceremony on a secluded sandbar via the LARC!, a bird watching tour in Bustard Bay, a cultural and heritage experience for a group of seniors to the Bustard Head Lighthouse, a shoreline and mangrove study for a school group or a Sandboarding Safari for the youth market…WE LOVE WHAT WE DO!  Join us LARCing about the Town of 1770 and experience the beauty of our backyard.