Stayed in the Barracks on base which, to Rosie's surprise, were not an old corrugated iron shed with wire-wove beds & sacks for blankets
meals in the mess were pretty decent too. Saturday dawned clear but the forecast was not good as we lined up on the parade ground with about 44 other trucks.
There was a good selection of vehicles in the group with some well set up rigs.
Soon after leaving camp we diverted off the main track onto a neat track along a ridgeline with a few good ups & downs & views.
After not quite making one hero hillclimb I took the advice of a wise looking dude in a 40 series & dropped the tyre pressures some more. Seems the Simexs do need a few less psi than the old MT's. Fortunately there were a few options up the steep sections.
After a few more diversions we made it to Westlawn Hut for lunch then continued on out to the far Northeast corner of the training area.
We got to the end of the gravel & very quickly things got sticky with every option up an early hill proving to be a challenge. Nice spot to look at the scenery while waiting though.
On the way we passed the #2 group of less hardcore 4wds heading out.
Eventually after a good fun drive we got to Red Hut where the Hard/Crazy guys in the ATVs & UTV's group were trying to dry out a bit. I had to turn the heater up a notch just looking at them.
With the day getting on & the weather closing in we turned around & started back out the way we came only to find the #2 group still struggling with a long boggy rutty hill section. In our group we had a team from the Tararua Club who launched into action & soon there were winch lines going left right & centre to get everybody on their way. In the middle of this an unfortunate Jeep tried a slightly too ambitious line (or just didn't have much control on the slippery surface like all of us)...
When I tried that hill I did get further than the Jeep, but then also got a little on my side when I fell into a deep rut (that I thought I was clear of
)
A tow from the mighty Nissan of one of our guides got me out of that only for me to fall in another hole not far on
Good thing the Tararua crew were close at hand to extract me from that one. Thanks guys! Not many trees to winch off out here so teamwork is vital. In the next few km there was plenty of action with more tipped vehicles being righted & it was fully dark as I snatched a Landrover back onto the track not far from the safety of the gravel. With snow blowing around we rolled the 35ish km back to base where they had nicely kept the mess open past closing for us. It's not an adventure unless you're late for dinner they say 
Sunday morning there was a few inches of snow on the ground... enough to stop the days fun entirely someone decided... I thought messing around in snow was the whole idea? But apparently a bunch of snow, in the middle of winter, in Waiouru, was a bit unexpected?? So that was that & we went home.
Cheers
Clint
