Thursday 18th
January 2001
Stage
Outline
On the beach at Castle Point.
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The forth day of our trip sees us continuing up the eastern coast of the North Island starting from Riversdale and finishing at Akitio Station. We all set off in convoy through Otahome Station to Castlepoint Station where the landowner leads us across the station.
After Castlepoint Station we continue on to Castlepoint where we refill our by now depleted fuel tanks – 3 minutes each for 61 vehicles means quite a wait, so while half the fleet refuel the other half has a look at the Castlepoint lighthouse.
From Castlepoint we cross Mataikona and Akitio stations ending up at the extremely well equipped Akitio Community Centre where the accommodation consists of canvas or bunkrooms. The name Akitio, said to be the name of a famous greenstone mere (club), means: aki – to smash; tio – piercing cold, perhaps a reference to the appearance of the greenstone.
Organisers Dave Jones and Alan Donaldson at the ready to give leaving
instructions at Riversdale
Trip Report Thursday 18 January 2001
Karl Nicholls, 15 years, Mainlander
Team D
The chronicles of the 4x4 Chapter 4 – locations, station and sheep.
The morning dawned bright and sunny, only to turn cloudy, only to turn sunny, then dark and stormy. Despite the colder weather, the day started off well with everyone having had a good nights sleep and the provided dinner and breakfast was excellent.
Tim’s tiny trolley trailer behind the 101 Land Rover became a popular attraction and many photos were taken before the convoy started. The jokes came fast (and thick) until being banned to the chit/chat channel, so Nigel the narrator could explain the history and management of Castlepoint Station as we wound our way in convoy to Castlepoint.
The snake of 4x4’s led by a parade of sheep took us to very varied views. An occasional vehicle got temporarily stuck (we won’t mention which ones).
Castlepoint at lunchtime was a refuelling stop for vehicles and people and gave those who had gone into Masterton to replace gear destroyed in the storm, time to rejoin us.
As we were ready to leave, our medical team had an unexpected training exercise, bravely rushing to the rescue of a fall victim. Although it was not serious and not one of our party, the response time was great.
In the afternoon a mislabelled gate caused some confusion.
Arriving in Akitio earlier than scheduled, we settled in quickly and are now awaiting tonight’s re-enactment of “dinner provided”.
SPECIAL MESSAGES
We are inviting trip participants to provide more personal messages to those of their families and friends who might be interested. Here is the first one.....
From Kacie and Demi – Marshall 2
We would like to say hello to their Aunties Robyn and Adrienne. Mum and Dad are doing fine. We hope you are watching from Upper Hutt and Sydney.
Convoy heading into Castle Point Station
The map below shows the route followed the Challenge vehicles today.
Map portions used with permission of Wises
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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