2015 Westcoast Easter weekend trip.

Who wants to do what tracks

Shiny - Waipuna Tunnels, Big River, Easy part of no name (if that is still possible) plust ones I missed.
3
13%
Med - Greenland, cock eye creek, deniston, Nelson Creek??, Slab Hut Creek?? Mackley??
8
33%
Hard - Chasm
3
13%
I'm camping!
8
33%
I'm staying in accommodation.
2
8%
 
Total votes: 24
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imsohi
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Re: 2015 Westcoast Easter weekend trip.

Postby imsohi » Wed Mar 04, 2015 7:50 pm

Unfortunatly i wont be able to make it somehow got mixed up with our Aus Trip :roll:

But we were in the area on the weekend so have recce some of the tracks including Big River (A1 Mine a must see) Napoleons Hill/Caves, Waiuta Town. These were all good shiney trips and lots of gold mining stuff to see we did all 3 on saturday on sunday was a more club truck day (although we had a terrano on 29" ats) up around the Bicycle track then down petrol hill both tracks open and in good condition heres some Piccys for ya

Image

Image

Image

And here is a Vid of us in Petrol Hill

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDYJ-wc7yWM&list=UUGyUyZNTi-qMdpCp3tu7sQA

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Mattman
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Re: 2015 Westcoast Easter weekend trip.

Postby Mattman » Wed Mar 04, 2015 8:58 pm

Awesome video

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mike
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Re: 2015 Westcoast Easter weekend trip.

Postby mike » Wed Mar 18, 2015 9:23 pm

Right so getting closer now. Been a bit busy with painting the house (That floats) and working (employment is overated!).

So I know DB had some suggestions about camping and dates and so did smurf. You guys know the region quite well so I'm really easy when it comes to where we stop for the nights, so if you guys can agree, then I guess we all will be happy. Any ideas on the track order? I think an outline was put forward up there which sounded good to me.

Only three for the chasm so far, is this enough to go through? More would be better/safer for breakages etc. I'm also ok with not doing it as we have enough tracks to do and have travel back to welly which would suck with a breakage.

Things to do for me - tow hooks rear, remove winch off LR and put on surf, bash plate, mount new PRS aerial that Jerry got me 3 years ago. (still owe you money for that + hats n beanies n stuff :roll: )
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mike
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Re: 2015 Westcoast Easter weekend trip.

Postby mike » Mon Mar 30, 2015 9:23 pm

Been a bit busy with painting and work to get anything set in concrete so it's going to be who ever turns up and wants to go wheeling/camping kinda trip.

So we get off the ferry and drive to slab creek campsite Reefton and camp out late Thursday night.

[Friday] Morning get up at a semi respectable hour. Depending on what that hour is we might go nosy up and have a look at waipuna tunnels but the main track for that day is to go up and look at the gold mining up the Waitahu river. (Weather dependant due to river crossings). If the weather allows it we will stay the night in there and get up pretty early the next day head out down to Ross. Alternative maybe Denniston if that is still accessible/open.

[Saturday] From Reefton we head way down to Ross and around lunch time tackle Mount Greenland. We then head north and camp at hans bay campsite at lake kaniere. Looks pretty epic and I've never been there.

[Sunday] Cockeye creek, no name road then up the Taipo river valley to stay the night.

[Monday] Head home, for us via lake brunner.

Vehicles will need tow hooks front and rear, Prefer MT's but AT's are fine, just know your limitations. Snatch strap, PRS would be handy, SPADE! and have used it before, highlift if your vehicle has the points for it, camping equipment, food for a couple of days minimum, warm clothing, sturdy footwear, marshmellows for the campfire, torch and spare bits for your truck if it's one of those trucks that constantly needs them.

I'll be bringing an EPIRB.

I know I left it pretty late to get this finalised so if non one can make it, that's cool, I'll just take my e-reader :mrgreen:
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Smurf
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Re: 2015 Westcoast Easter weekend trip.

Postby Smurf » Mon Mar 30, 2015 9:29 pm

My plans have changed and a group of us are heading into Reefton for the weekend,
Looking to get into Green hut, Petrol Hill, Slab Hut etc. probably staying at Ikamatua or Nelson Creek.
I'll keep an eye out for you.
Blue/Grey Prado number plate ROKTOY if you want to keep an eye out.

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fisho
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Re: 2015 Westcoast Easter weekend trip.

Postby fisho » Tue Mar 31, 2015 6:19 pm

Just a reminder for any of you guys going into the seddonville or denniston areas at easter there was a large areal poison drop in these areas today, so if you take children or dogs into these places be very carefull as there may be 1080 baits near some of the tracks. be carefull and have a good time.

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mike
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Re: 2015 Westcoast Easter weekend trip.

Postby mike » Tue Mar 31, 2015 6:58 pm

Smurf wrote:My plans have changed and a group of us are heading into Reefton for the weekend,
Looking to get into Green hut, Petrol Hill, Slab Hut etc. probably staying at Ikamatua or Nelson Creek.
I'll keep an eye out for you.
Blue/Grey Prado number plate ROKTOY if you want to keep an eye out.


Will keep an eye out, should have the prs on channel 10 as well. What channel do you southern folk run these days?
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Smurf
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Re: 2015 Westcoast Easter weekend trip.

Postby Smurf » Tue Mar 31, 2015 7:17 pm

mike wrote:Will keep an eye out, should have the prs on channel 10 as well. What channel do you southern folk run these days?


We haunt channel 14, not sure what channels others run on

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Smurf
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Re: 2015 Westcoast Easter weekend trip.

Postby Smurf » Wed Apr 01, 2015 9:52 pm

We are camping at Nelson Creek late Thursday night. Were heading for Slab Hut campground but not allowed the dogs there now. :-(

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4x4man
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Re: 2015 Westcoast Easter weekend trip.

Postby 4x4man » Wed Apr 08, 2015 12:32 pm

how did the trip go ??
is there any pictures

thanks

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mike
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Re: 2015 Westcoast Easter weekend trip.

Postby mike » Wed Apr 08, 2015 12:44 pm

did a quick n dirty post on bookface but will write up a bit more here tonight.

Was an awesome relaxing time and met a few guys from ages ago which was really cool.
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Re: 2015 Westcoast Easter weekend trip.

Postby mike » Wed Apr 08, 2015 12:46 pm

just to tie you over till tonight.
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catalystracing
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Re: 2015 Westcoast Easter weekend trip.

Postby catalystracing » Wed Apr 08, 2015 3:31 pm

Just checking out things underneath aye.... :roll: :wink:

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4x4man
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Re: 2015 Westcoast Easter weekend trip.

Postby 4x4man » Wed Apr 08, 2015 5:32 pm

looks good
:D

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Re: 2015 Westcoast Easter weekend trip.

Postby mike » Sat Apr 11, 2015 12:31 am

Right so ended up heading down to the west coast with my wife Dani and a friend from yachting, all in the Surf and with no other vehicles.

We drove from the ferry through to Lyell near Inangahua and camped out at the site of the old town or near there. Pretty epic piece of history. Awoke to choppers ferrying in mountain bikers. First one was cool to see but then it got old pretty damned quick and we couldnt wait to get out of there.
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By chance I dropped into the Lyell creek and we drove a wee way up it, and as far as creeks/small rivers go it was pretty epic scenery. :mrgreen:
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We stopped off and read about the history in the local musem and that is one town that takes their gold mining history seriously with a whole building dedicated to it with full on information boards with maps, photos and books filled with locals stories and newspapers from the era. Very fascinating.

We drove straight to Denniston and went up to the top to the TV tower. So much scenery and the views were as far as the eye could see. The day was perfect. Spent a long time exploring the old mining ruins and reading about the history of the area. Was a crazy crazy place in its day.

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We camped out at westport holiday camp and caught up with nuts, andy and carl?? . So yeah andy asked if I had a winch and since I said yes he said I'd get through tailings! Hmm I thought, this is a self drive shiny trip down the west coast and the hidden implications of that sentence were endlessly going around in my head :?

The next day (Saturday) dawned and it was pouring down so we ruled out Mount Greenland and decided to nosey in and have a look at Tailings.

The track started off awesome, river wasn't in flood but there was plenty of water on the track with sections of it little rivers so to speak. First stream crossing was a walk in the park

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and then the first rocky section wasn't too bad, as long as I can turn around get back she'll be right. This is what I kept thinking to myself the whole way in.

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Next up was the big river crossing in the middle of the track. Clearly no one had been through since the last big down pours, as there were big branches (or small trees in wellington terms) blocking the exit and I had to scramble across and clear an exit before even attempting the crossing. Getting to the river was going to prove the biggest challenge as there were some very big rocks/boulders (pebbles to the rock guys) in the way. The surf is locked in the front so you have to take that into consideration when trying to turn sharply in tricky situations. Just off the front wheel was a nice big hole and without solid axle artic the surf will fall into it and not be in a very good position. It was slow going and thank god for auto and left foot braking!

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On exit of the river there was a small climb with a small wet rock face, and Murphy's law says if you don't get stuck in the river you will get stuck on the easy bit just after the river when you're feeling all confident and the like, and look like a complete dork! Had to winch!! First time for the winch. total 30cm :oops: Probably could have fanged it, but might have slid sideways further and ended up down that little bank knowing my luck.

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After the river we started to climb a long way up and it was awesome. We came across a slip and it was very narrow and I decided to dig it out further while the girls made lunch. I removed quite a bit and built up the drop off side and even lay my spade down as insurance. Back right wheel hit the end of the spade, so glad I put that there! I had visions of a recent facebook vid of a bus trying to negotiate a slip and disappearing over the side!!

At this point I still thought we could get back with out too much drama and decided to carry on. I for the life of me couldn't remember this track, and at this stage, if we had cell phone reception I would have tried to get hold of someone to ask if it loops back round or ends up coming out in oxford or something! Once we got to the top we started down hill and we almost came to grief in a hidden hole. The navi saw it and I didn't, and unfortunately the navi had been calling every bump in the track as a gaping crevasse up until now, so I didn't heed the warning and drove straight into it! Ouch! from now on, I'll educate my navi's. They have half the field of vision so they have half the responsibility :wink:

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The track started to get fairly overgrown and we were starting to wonder how many people come down this far. It was starting to get on in the day and from google maps it looked like we were heading to the mountains and not turning around anytime soon :shock: It was a real "where the hell are we going" sort of adventure. We were well setup for camping and it really wouldnt have mattered if we had to stay the night in there. Secretly I was wanting to stay as that would have added to the adventure and mystery of it all, sort of like the explorers of old.

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We came across a T-intersection and the road we had to turn out on to was a river! Track meets river/creek and no exit in sight. No option but to go bush searching. We located the exit and an old broken bridge for the track/road we are wheeling on and returned and grabbed the truck and headed off along the creek to rejoin the old road/track.

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We meandered along a ridge-line and then the track turned hard left which is the point where Dani and I both simultaneously remembered doing this track 2008ish. The rocky roller coaster ride from hell ! :shock:

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Essentially we were a train wreck out of control going down here. I managed to slightly dent the fuel tank, knocked the transfer case quite hard, probably more than once, and bash the lower front A-arm plate between the front wheels. I think it would have been smoother with no wheels and sliding down on the chassis rails! Dani was on the camera got such a fright at us heading for her she couldn't focus in time!

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We got ourselves together and then had a nosey around the corner only to find a nice big deep bog. Last time I drove straight through and it was pretty fun. That was 8 years ago, god knows what it was like now!

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I grabbed a stick and checked the depth, straight down and broke off, bugger I thought. Do I want to get another one and see how deep it actually is? Screw it, just drive it I thought. So I got in and chucked it in D and started off. Problem with low range auto is it sticks in L for ages. So we dropped in and slowly started forward and got just past the log and stopped. The bonnet disappeared under and I thought shit this is deep. Put it in reverse and nothing, crap I thought! and then it started to bite and away we went with my foot hard down. We go back out and I breathed a huge sigh of relief and checked out the water that started to fill in through the tunnel and doors (tailgate included).

No vehicles to tow, winch completely put away, recovery gear still in the back, that was dumb, real dumb! This time I got the winch remote out and hooked it up, got the gear ready, picked out a tree put it in high range dropped the front in and nailed it and climbed out the other side. Steam everywhere and muddy water in the vents.

There was no turning back now, we were going to complete this track whether it killed us or the surf! We headed on down to the river and got twisted up a couple of times, made our way across the river to the very impressive rock climb out. This climb out is impressive. Large rocks all the way up, quite steep and logs fallen across the track that had been cut away, cut away to fit a Suzuki through on 27" tyres. We walked up and built up some rocks that the surf would struggle against and figured we would have to stop at the fallen tree to check it anyway if we actually make it that far. Well the surf groaned, struggled and bounced (slowly) its way up to the tree and I actually had to stop before ripping the snorkel hat off.

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I was so impressed it got that far that I suspect it would have driven right out of the top. We hooked the winch up to give us control in getting past the fallen tree and cut outs without damage.

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Once we got to the top, we got on to a nice track and made our way back out to the state highway and headed for a camp ground at punakaiki. It was very unusual seeing normal cars on the road.

I had such a blast on this track that I didn't actually do any more wheeling and just did a little research and enjoyed the west coast for it's more normal activities. This leaves more time for wheeling in the next trip in November :mrgreen:
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Mattman
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Re: 2015 Westcoast Easter weekend trip.

Postby Mattman » Sat Apr 11, 2015 7:20 am

Awesome. Ballsy bobby on your own Mike.

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yeti
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Re: 2015 Westcoast Easter weekend trip.

Postby yeti » Sat Apr 11, 2015 7:39 am

nice write up mike ..thanks :D shes a cool track


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could well be the same wee um drop off few years back :lol: :lol:
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Taz
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Re: 2015 Westcoast Easter weekend trip.

Postby Taz » Sat Apr 11, 2015 11:51 am

What a recipe for disaster, which make for the best adventures and sense of accomplishment without fail haha. Love it.

Good effort man and great trip report, enjoyed the read.

Braeburn is a piece of cake and the Porika isn't half bad at the moment either, well worth a nose on the way back from your next trip.
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Re: 2015 Westcoast Easter weekend trip.

Postby 4x4man » Sat Apr 11, 2015 12:48 pm

hey sounded like a fun couple of days. just a bother no one else turned up for ya

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Re: 2015 Westcoast Easter weekend trip.

Postby nuts » Wed Apr 15, 2015 7:21 pm

good too catch up mike im sure a chainsaw will beat the bush back lol
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coxsy
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Re: 2015 Westcoast Easter weekend trip.

Postby coxsy » Wed Apr 15, 2015 9:05 pm

that s not the bit where that Suzi slipped off the track behind us when I was down there , think I was winching you big lwb backward nuts
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