Todays Trip Report

Once again an early start. Most were striking camp while it was still dark. A bonus this morning however was a beautiful breakfast put on at 6am for us all to enjoy. A hurried 7am and we're all ready to start. Before long we're heading to Woodhill Forest.

As we entered the forest, the first stop was to check that we all had the obligatory spark arresters and wet sacks. Through the forest, we were able to explore a variety of tracks, some more challenging than others but all were able to be negotiated by the well prepared vehicles. Only one vehicle needed to be winched, possibly due to driver error.

After the forest run we headed into Auckland, certainly a challenge to equal anything we had encountered off-road. Traffic lights did their best to thwart any convoy procedure we had in place. Further compounding the difficulties keeping together, traffic jams and a significant number of drivers unfamiliar with the city meant that getting through Auckland and down to Papakura was indeed challenging.

Looking out from Tairua Forest

After lunch and a regrouping exercise to track down vehicles missing in action, we headed through the Hunuas. This section rewarded us with beautiful views of lush bush, valleys and reservoir lakes.

After the Hunuas, we ended up south of Kaiawa where we followed the Firth of Thames down to Kopu and its long one lane bridge.

From here, it was on across the Coromandel Peninsula to the Tairua Forest. Through the forrest we continued until we arrived on the Whangamata bypass road. Then it was south towards Waihi and on to Katikati eventually bringing us to picturesque Plummers Point where a hot pool and bed awaited.

Distance covered: 336Km

[Editors note: When all other fancy technology fails, thank goodness for fax machines! This and the following two reports arrived by fax early Sunday morning. You can blame any spelling or factual errors on my ability (or inability) to transcribe the original authors handwriting. Mark Wilson]

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Route Map

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

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

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

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