Todays Trip Report

Today’s trip took us from the Kauri Coast Motor Camp at Whatoro down to the Redhill Camp near Dargaville. We traversed some main roads, some secondary roads and a lot of beach.

From the camp we made our way to by road to Manganui Bluff and the start of Ripiro beach which is the longest beach in New Zealand. After letting some air out of our tyres we trundled up the beach for a way then exited and made our way to Redhill Camp where we were to stay the night.

Looking out from the old Kaipara Harbour Poutu lighthouse

After setting up camp and lunching, we removed all unnecessary weight from our wagons and set off on our afternoon trip down to the famous sand dunes of Poutu. On reaching the end of the Poutu Peninsula we headed into the dunes looking for the track up to the lighthouse - OOPS! Wrong way, but a good play anyway! When we found the correct track we headed through the pine forest and finally across the dunes to the Poutu Lighthouse.

The lighthouse is the last to be made of wood in New Zealand. Built in the 1880s from local Kauri timber with an imported English mechanism, it first flashed in December 1884. The light stands 276 ft above sea level on what used to be Pouto Point, (now 2km away) and is 48 ft high .The Kaipara harbour back then was a very busy place with up to 200 bar crossings per day. Sailing ships carried Kauri timber and later Kauri gum all over the globe. As you can see the Kaipara harbour entrance is a treacherous one and a total of 87 ships were lost. The area in front of the harbour is known as the "Graveyard". The light was manned until 1947. Now the building is looked after (?) by the Historic Places Trust, but lately the Kauri Coast 4x4 club and a local tour operator have been undertaking some maintenance.

Kaipara Heads sand dunes

We all had a look at the lighthouse and posed for a group photo before heading off down the dunes to the beach - this was where the fun started with very challenging dunes to ascend and descend. It was also a great place for people to hone their recovery techniques as there were a few hair-raising stuck vehicles to practice on. This was also where the Purdie-mobile’s gearbox decided to expire, necessitating a long, slow tow back to Redhills Camp.

After everyone had had their fill of dunes, we made our way back to camp where the Kauri Coast 4WD Club had prepared a wonderful meal for us. After dinner it was time to collapse after our second full-on day.

Convoy on the beach

Distance covered: 183Km

---

Route Map

The map below shows the route followed the Challenge vehicles today.

 
Hutt Valley Nissan - Williams and Adams - Pudney and Lee Wormalds
Johnson, Lawrence & Elder

The North Island Four Wheel Drive Challenge has been put togeather by a small dedicated group of 4WD ENTHUSIASTS (all experienced club members) on a non-profit cost-recovery basis.