Todays Trip Report

Day 8’s report from Margaret the scribe starts with the tail end of Day 7…

Royal's Patrol followed by Wall's Landcruiser and Thompson's Landrover.

The last part of Day 7 was a farm trip consisting of 1½ hours of excellent 4 wheel drive terrain and lots of chances for participants to exercise their skills with some drivers getting stuck in streams and some in ruts. All supplemented by the excellent scenery out from Raurimu with the three National Park mountains looming through the clear air.

Back to Day 8. Left Ohakune Holiday Park 8:35am, not a good start as one of the team members had an accident. Vehicle was rolled over on a gravel road, but no serious injuries apart from a dislocated shoulder and some minor cuts and lots of bruises.

Travel over farmland

Carried on with the trip after a bit of a delay while people and goods were redistributed through other vehicles – yet another example of the wonderful generosity exhibited by participants helping each other when problems arise.

The trip proceeded through the lovely scenery of the central North Island with Leslie Tullochs kindly taking the day off and leading us through a number of farm properties. An excellent drive on some very high country with a few touchy patches, brilliant views of farming, new forestry and also looking back to the majestic Mount Ruapehu in the distance. At the top of the track you are able to see for miles. We certainly do have some beautiful country.

The old stagecoach route

Gavin Cooper from J Team had a problem with his clutch so set off for Wanganui after the farm. While there, Tony from J Team went up to the memorial and found out the hard way that there are 185 steps to the top!

From some places on the way south it was possible to see glimpses of the Ruahine Ranges in the distance – a reminder of home for those on the trip from the southern end of the island.

Now it’s Good Night from "M" in the J Team.

The next section of the trip report is from Barry, our representative from BF Goodrich…

Turakino Beach

Entering the beach section at the end of Turakino Beach Road, we crested a slight sand dune to almost dive headfirst into the high tide! After navigating a very sharp left-hand corner around the driftwood logs and heading South along the beach it was an extremely freaky experience with the waves breaking into the paths of the vehicles. Some less careful drivers did actually get their wheels wet in the sea – a certain trip leader also admitted to drenching his windscreen – we hope his Nissan won’t rust away overnight.

The sand was really soft most of the time, with the driftwood everywhere making constant obstacles for many kilometres. Due to the high tide we left the beach for a while and travelled through the Santoft Forest along the gas-line track. Then back onto the beach for more skill building. Simon from the H Team decided to play roulette with the waves or was he just surfing in his Range Rover!

All arrived safely at the Flock House camp where there was plenty of time for a swim and shower, then off to the team dinner where we are writing this from! A leisurely start tomorrow, fording the Rangitikei River then making our way through various properties down the coast to our next night, at Foxton Beach Motor Camp.

Distance covered:

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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 together by a small dedicated group of 4WD enthusiasts (all experienced club members) on a non-profit cost-recovery basis.

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