Central Plateau in the Storm!!!!
Central Plateau in the Storm!!!!
So we were out and about this weekend goofing around looking at old railway viaducts, getting in trouble with the locals up Erua Rd and the usual pushing the limits of unformed legal roads.
We set off on Friday night as usual, all loaded up for four days off the beaten track, spare fuel, heaps of food and as much gear as you can squeeze into a 110.
Nothing out of the ordinary untill Sunday at lunch time. We were on our way back out of Erua Rd after the farmer got grumpy about us following the road and it started to snow. Big fat flakes. It wasn't lasting on the the ground long but was hanging in the trees.
It was about that time the trip took a more "adventurous" turn
One of our group left us just after mid day as they had to attend work on Monday. Now down to just two vehicles, we could cover more ground more quickly, so headed through Ratamire Rd, looked into another couple of places and finally ended in Waiouru. We loaded up with fuel and headed into the Desert Rd.
By this stage (6pm approx Sunday night) the road was still open but the snow was falling persistently and the temp was dropping rapidly!!!! It was dark, slippery and getting pretty grim.
As the storm was coming in from the SW, we decided that the intended destination which was right up on the plateau was quite possibly not the best option. We needed to get down into a valley to find a bit of shelter.
We arrived at camp and were set up and ready for worst by around 7:30 pm. As fast as we could set things up, the snow was settling on it, making awnings and shelters a mongrel to erect.
This is our little sheltered camp at about 8pm Sunday night
We even got the fire cranking, the fire wood stash was still dry!!!!!!
Zuki decided it was all a bit much and made himself a nest
Because we're idiots, as well as being slightly on edge about just how bad the storm was about to get, we were still crashing around the camp at 11:30pm, with a clear sky and a full moon. The snow covered trees and blanketed ground was quite spooky and surreal in the moon light! We took the opportunity to see how deep the snow drifts had got, and tried to imagine what it would be like right up on the tops. Down in the valley we had about a 2" base, with over 4" were it had drifted
I tried but couldn't capture the landscape in the full moon on my little camera, but got some spooky shots of vegetation
Monday morning dawned, and it was still snowing, REALLY snowing. At about 8:30am it started to ease a little, and we discovered that UBZ was stuck in his truck with the doors frozen shut We got him out, only to find all the buttons on the door handles on the 110 were frozen solid. I unstuck them, only for them on to freeze up again 10mins later!!!!!
Monday mornings awesomeness
As it was still snowing quite heavily, but more sporadically, we had to weigh the options up.
Based on the weather map from the previous day, we were convinced there was worse on its way. We had food, gear and fuel for about 4 days, so sitting tight wasn't going to be an issue.
A quick recce' up the track indicated the option for escape was still open if we wanted to use it, but it would have to be done in the next hour or two based on the rate of snow fall. The issue with attempting to head out from the valley was that we had a gnarly off camber approach to a creek crossing which could go bad if ice was present. We also had no idea how deep the snow and then the snow drifts were going to be once we got back up onto the tops, and then there was the 3 Sisters to contend with once we did get out.
So guess what option we chose
Heading out
Assessing the crossing:
Safely through
The weather cleared a bit briefly, giving us this shot:
A while later and we were back on the Desert Rd. Its not often you get to drive down SH1 with your tires at 15psi, in Low Range, Diff Lock engaged, punching through snow drifts!!!!!!!!
It took a few hours to get to the road closure gates, and was quite funny to see peoples expressions as we passed through. It must have been quite a site, two trucks that looked more like mobile blobs of snow emerging out of the cloud, cautiously coming down the hill in low range towards the gates
On the way we picked up these little hitch hikers. They were sitting out on the side of the road in the pelting snow way up on the plateau wondering why the boss hadn't picked them up yet. They were so weak they almost couldn't climb into the back of the truck Pig dogs make me nervous, but these little critters were absolutely wrecked!! Zuki and Chess gave them the last of their biscuits, and we dropped them at the Turangi SPCA, who suspected they had been in the bush since Thursday.
I have a cool vid uploading to youtube
We set off on Friday night as usual, all loaded up for four days off the beaten track, spare fuel, heaps of food and as much gear as you can squeeze into a 110.
Nothing out of the ordinary untill Sunday at lunch time. We were on our way back out of Erua Rd after the farmer got grumpy about us following the road and it started to snow. Big fat flakes. It wasn't lasting on the the ground long but was hanging in the trees.
It was about that time the trip took a more "adventurous" turn
One of our group left us just after mid day as they had to attend work on Monday. Now down to just two vehicles, we could cover more ground more quickly, so headed through Ratamire Rd, looked into another couple of places and finally ended in Waiouru. We loaded up with fuel and headed into the Desert Rd.
By this stage (6pm approx Sunday night) the road was still open but the snow was falling persistently and the temp was dropping rapidly!!!! It was dark, slippery and getting pretty grim.
As the storm was coming in from the SW, we decided that the intended destination which was right up on the plateau was quite possibly not the best option. We needed to get down into a valley to find a bit of shelter.
We arrived at camp and were set up and ready for worst by around 7:30 pm. As fast as we could set things up, the snow was settling on it, making awnings and shelters a mongrel to erect.
This is our little sheltered camp at about 8pm Sunday night
We even got the fire cranking, the fire wood stash was still dry!!!!!!
Zuki decided it was all a bit much and made himself a nest
Because we're idiots, as well as being slightly on edge about just how bad the storm was about to get, we were still crashing around the camp at 11:30pm, with a clear sky and a full moon. The snow covered trees and blanketed ground was quite spooky and surreal in the moon light! We took the opportunity to see how deep the snow drifts had got, and tried to imagine what it would be like right up on the tops. Down in the valley we had about a 2" base, with over 4" were it had drifted
I tried but couldn't capture the landscape in the full moon on my little camera, but got some spooky shots of vegetation
Monday morning dawned, and it was still snowing, REALLY snowing. At about 8:30am it started to ease a little, and we discovered that UBZ was stuck in his truck with the doors frozen shut We got him out, only to find all the buttons on the door handles on the 110 were frozen solid. I unstuck them, only for them on to freeze up again 10mins later!!!!!
Monday mornings awesomeness
As it was still snowing quite heavily, but more sporadically, we had to weigh the options up.
Based on the weather map from the previous day, we were convinced there was worse on its way. We had food, gear and fuel for about 4 days, so sitting tight wasn't going to be an issue.
A quick recce' up the track indicated the option for escape was still open if we wanted to use it, but it would have to be done in the next hour or two based on the rate of snow fall. The issue with attempting to head out from the valley was that we had a gnarly off camber approach to a creek crossing which could go bad if ice was present. We also had no idea how deep the snow and then the snow drifts were going to be once we got back up onto the tops, and then there was the 3 Sisters to contend with once we did get out.
So guess what option we chose
Heading out
Assessing the crossing:
Safely through
The weather cleared a bit briefly, giving us this shot:
A while later and we were back on the Desert Rd. Its not often you get to drive down SH1 with your tires at 15psi, in Low Range, Diff Lock engaged, punching through snow drifts!!!!!!!!
It took a few hours to get to the road closure gates, and was quite funny to see peoples expressions as we passed through. It must have been quite a site, two trucks that looked more like mobile blobs of snow emerging out of the cloud, cautiously coming down the hill in low range towards the gates
On the way we picked up these little hitch hikers. They were sitting out on the side of the road in the pelting snow way up on the plateau wondering why the boss hadn't picked them up yet. They were so weak they almost couldn't climb into the back of the truck Pig dogs make me nervous, but these little critters were absolutely wrecked!! Zuki and Chess gave them the last of their biscuits, and we dropped them at the Turangi SPCA, who suspected they had been in the bush since Thursday.
I have a cool vid uploading to youtube
Last edited by DieselBoy on Tue Aug 16, 2011 12:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
lax2wlg wrote:Is that like saying 'she's hot, for a crackwhore??
Re: Central Plateau in the Storm!!!!
Great report, good to see theres still some adventurous kiwi's out there doing it
91 HZJ73 Cruiser, 4.2 non turbo,33 x 12.5 kl71's,UHF radio, snorkle, diff breathers, Factory winch, Awesome club truck.
Re: Central Plateau in the Storm!!!!
Mean joe,fark you push things to the limits ,does poor little wobbly still have all his fingers and toes
- muddyhilux
- Hard Yaka
- Posts: 1307
- Joined: Wed Oct 04, 2006 12:00 pm
- Location: auckland
- Contact:
Re: Central Plateau in the Storm!!!!
now that's a bloody awesome trip
1990 surf 350 chevy jacked up and currently under construction again
Re: Central Plateau in the Storm!!!!
Great write up and pics of what looked like a epic adventure, good times
Re: Central Plateau in the Storm!!!!
Some more. goes down in the epic trip list
the Ford
Desert Road
Viaduct we found
Damm Doc legal road access to a "conservation area" (read hunting area) blocked off by boulders .was a perfectly good road with a perfectly good bridge.
the Ford
Desert Road
Viaduct we found
Damm Doc legal road access to a "conservation area" (read hunting area) blocked off by boulders .was a perfectly good road with a perfectly good bridge.
LR110 ..... LJ50 project
Chris.
Chris.
Re: Central Plateau in the Storm!!!!
Looks like a damn good trip
Re: Central Plateau in the Storm!!!!
mudslut wrote:does poor little wobbly still have all his fingers and toes
Hahaha, yeah, he has a snow suit which keeps him pretty toasty, plus a merino sleeping bag and a -5 sleeping bag, so yeah, he does pretty well for just over 5months old
Just a couple of pic's that look cool
I like the colours around the fire place, and yes, someone was nuts enough to sleep in a tent
I'm having windows movie maker issues, it won't publish the movie so haven't got it uploaded to youtube yet
lax2wlg wrote:Is that like saying 'she's hot, for a crackwhore??
Re: Central Plateau in the Storm!!!!
That boulder on the right looks like itd roll quite easily with a bit of gentle........
I mean a big gust of wind.
Awesome looking trip, thanks for the pics.
I mean a big gust of wind.
Awesome looking trip, thanks for the pics.
Re: Central Plateau in the Storm!!!!
any details on where that viaduct is? abandoned stuff is perhaps one of the most interesting things to me. There's a fair bit of it in the central north island too.
looks like an awesome trip, and yeah, did you get all obelix on that rock?
looks like an awesome trip, and yeah, did you get all obelix on that rock?
Re: Central Plateau in the Storm!!!!
LR110 ..... LJ50 project
Chris.
Chris.
Re: Central Plateau in the Storm!!!!
Wicked, and in a tent as well.
It doesn't get any better!
It doesn't get any better!
Re: Central Plateau in the Storm!!!!
cheers!!
- Landy Rover
- Hard Yaka
- Posts: 263
- Joined: Fri Dec 12, 2008 12:11 pm
- Location: Feilding
Re: Central Plateau in the Storm!!!!
Now thats a great story with great pics, love it, thanks
S3 Rover truck cab, injected 186, Sals rear,Toyota P/steer, Safari disc brakes front, R/Rover D/brakes rear, 9500 winch,twin optima batts, roll bar, Disco seats, 33" JTs, scene lamps, onboard air, Front ARB locker.
Re: Central Plateau in the Storm!!!!
I prolly would have waited it out, nothing like the excuse to the boss, "sorry was trapped in the snowstorm of the century"
To Boon or not to Boon.
Re: Central Plateau in the Storm!!!!
Thats some lucky doggies! Good effort, awesome pics and story to boot.
Re: Central Plateau in the Storm!!!!
It's threads like this that makes ORE worth looking at.
Cheers
Cheers
Re: Central Plateau in the Storm!!!!
smurf182 wrote:It's threads like this that makes ORE worth looking at.
Cheers
What he said great write up an pics
Didn't barbie drive a jeep??
Re: Central Plateau in the Storm!!!!
Fakey wrote:smurf182 wrote:It's threads like this that makes ORE worth looking at.
Cheers
What he said great write up an pics
x3
Re: Central Plateau in the Storm!!!!
best part a that story was rescueing them dogs, poor buggers, good effort
Re: Central Plateau in the Storm!!!!
x4mayday wrote:Fakey wrote:smurf182 wrote:It's threads like this that makes ORE worth looking at.
Cheers
What he said great write up an pics
x3
Gives us the motivation to get the family out and about for a bit of NZ sight-seeing
Thank you
Re: Central Plateau in the Storm!!!!
DieselBoy wrote:Monday morning dawned, and it was still snowing, REALLY snowing. At about 8:30am it started to ease a little, and we discovered that UBZ was stuck in his truck with the doors frozen shut We got him out, only to find all the buttons on the door handles on the 110 were frozen solid. I unstuck them, only for them on to freeze up again 10mins later!!!!!
Sounds like you had a good time I've had the truck doors frozen up twice this year in CHC, normally go out at 5:15 to start the truck, have had to pour hot water on the doors and on the locks. The door handles usually refreeze after about 5 minutes
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