Underwater drive across Darwin Harbour in NT breaks world record
Thousands of Territorians witnessed history as a ‘brains trust’ of divers and engineers successfully broke the world record for the longest and deepest underwater drive
READING LEVEL: GREEN
Tears, laughter and cheers could be heard across Mindil Beach in the Northern Territory as a 1978 LandCruiser* dubbed "Mud Crab" drove onto the dry sands after a record-breaking* underwater drive.
Oceantec managing director Mathew Mitchell joined the project about a year ago and said it was “epic”* to see the team finally cross the finish line.
He said Mud Crab crew members made land just after 9pm Saturday and celebrated their newly-minted* status as record-holders until 3am.
Mr Mitchell said “thousands” of Territorians* were waiting on the beach for the team’s arrival.
He said he had anticipated* the car would get bogged* once or twice, but guessed the team got stuck about eight times in total.
“I think the car was a bit too heavy with all the batteries in it so we spent a lot of time getting out of bogs during the day.
“That was pretty much all that went wrong really, it’s the only thing that really slowed us down, was getting bogged.
“The car itself just kept going, it had no issues whatsoever.”
Mr Mitchell said the team had not yet decided what the car’s fate would be now that it had broken the world record.
About 30 divers steered the LandCruiser 7km from Mandorah to Mindil Beach – all from beneath the murky waves of Darwin Harbour – with the help of an engineering* “brains trust”*.
Onlooker Julie Pudney – who manages the I Love Darwin Facebook group – said she thought the team got bogged near a gas line in the first kilometre but was thrilled to watch the team overcome the obstacle* from the lifestream*.
From then on, she knew the team would make it through “such an impossible thing to do”.
“There were some people saying (the drive) would be four hours, some people saying it would be nine hours, but I don’t think anyone realised it would be over 12 hours,” Ms Pudney said.
Ms Pudney said she hoped the car would go to a museum “even for a short time”.
“It shows that we can do world records, it shows that even though we’re a small community, we certainly do it different,” she said.
Engineer Luke Purdy was in the passenger seat when the bright orange car – decked out with mudcrab themed decor – descended* into the depths.
“It’s a little bit surreal* to be fair. It’s been a long road, we kind of put this whole project together in about six months, which is pretty fast, I think, for the scope of what we’ve had to do,” he said before the drive.
“To actually be here after so much work and effort from so many people in the team, it’s a really good feeling.”
The team left Mandorah at 9am and arrived on Mindil Beach exhausted and exhilarated* about 12 hours later.
POLL
GLOSSARY
- LandCruiser: a large, four-wheel-drive vehicle designed for both on-road and off-road use
- record-breaking: doing something in a way that no one has ever done before, setting a new best performance
- epic: something very grand, impressive, or exciting
- newly-minted: something that is recently created, achieved
- Territorians: slang word to describe people from the Northern Territory
- anticipated: thought or expected something might happen in the future
- bogged: stuck in mud or a soft, wet area
- obstacle: something that stands in the way or makes it difficult to do something
- engineering: the process of designing and building things like machines, bridges, or cars
- brains trust: refers to a group of knowledgeable and experienced individuals who come together to provide expert advice, solutions
- lifestream: watching a video or event in real-time over the internet
- descended: going down, like when the car went underwater
- surreal: a strange or dreamlike way that feels unreal or disconnected from reality
- exhilarated: feeling extremely happy and excited
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QUICK QUIZ
- What kind of vehicle was used for the record-breaking underwater drive on Mindil Beach in the Northern Territory?
- Who joined the project about a year ago and described it as “epic” as the team crossed the finish line?
- What was the major issue the team faced during the underwater drive, causing them to get stuck multiple times?
- How many divers were involved in steering the LandCruiser during the underwater journey?
- What did the onlooker Julie Pudney hope would happen to the car now that it had broken the world record?
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CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Engineering feat
This "mud crab" themed Landcruiser needed a lot of science and engineering to break this world record. And they did it in a relatively short amount of time.
What are some of the science and engineering aspects this team must have worked on to ensure the vehicle could do the following things to break the record:
- Be waterproof
- Be electric
- Work at deep depths
- Have someone drive it
- Have tyres to get through the mud
- Ensure the components would work deep underwater
**Hint: You can read more about the science/engineering components of the car at https://cosmosmagazine.com/science/engineering/homemade-electric-4wd-breaks-world-records-underwater/
Did this team spend a lot of time and money on this project, do you think?
Time: allow 25 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Science, Mathematics, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking
2. Extension
What learning would this team have got from working together to break this world record of driving the longest and deepest underwater?
As adults, why is it important to challenge yourself and try new things?
Time: allow 15 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Science, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking
VCOP ACTIVITY
Describe it
Look at the main picture and make a list of five nouns that you see. Then describe those five nouns with five adjectives. Now add a preposition to those five nouns and adjectives.
Finally, choose your favourite bundle and put all the words together to make one descriptive sentence.
(For lower reading level articles, remove ‘add a preposition’)