Page 1 of 1

Waikaia Bush Road / Old man range

Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2017 7:10 pm
by NJV6
Last weekend after going on one of our longest off road trips (140km off road) we got one hell of a surprise to see a digger on the Old Man Range doing work on the track.
For those that know this road it's very rough with deep water holes which often lead to vehicle recoveries, none more dramatic that the 14 vehicles in snow last winter that the media loved.

Anyway we have lost a challenging track close to home :cry: . If anyone wants to do this track but had been put off, do it now before the winter, a standard vehicle could do it with an a/t tyre so you don't get a puncture on a rock. The water holes are all drained and huge drains dug.

To be honest I'm not sure how I feel about it, I get so pissed off when I see evidenced of dickheads playing off the track in the moss swamp, the do-gooders tried to stop a dozer going up to rescue the vehicles last winter and the dozer did a tremendous job with only a few misplaced tussocks yet the council can go up with a 20 tonner and make huge mounds of dirt with no attempt to level it off.
Don't get me wrong, he has done a good job and will keep he track open for most people for another 20 years it just could have been done a lot more discreetly.

Both pictures are taken in spots I have been stuck.

Re: Waikaia Bush Road / Old man range

Posted: Sat Mar 04, 2017 6:41 pm
by wjw
I'd prefer it left the way it was, but even when I used to go up every other week (10+ years ago) there were people going off the track. its just got progressively worse

Re: Waikaia Bush Road / Old man range

Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2017 6:32 pm
by juz
Who did the work? Southland Council? Unreal, Once Doc took the land back I thought itd be left forever the way it was. I guess it now gives people that otherwise wouldn't get a chance to head over there a period of time to do so before its rooted again. Was alot more fun rough though!