Well, Dixie and I headed out to a farm near TePoi to explore a farm that had been kindly opened up to us. Under the guidance of the farm owner we headed in, Dix in his new VX and me riding shotgun to my wife in her Wrangler.
Terrain consisted of greasy clay climbs, which Dix, with the aid of lockers, struggled up, and then the Wrangler (being towed by a QUAD BIKE) also got to the top. (no doubt Dix has pics!!!!!)
Plenty of open 50 acre paddocks to traverse led to a seemingly simple uphill track starting with a left, going into an easy right, culminating in a hairpin. Dix blew it, no prob. The wrangler got crossed up across the track at the fist left. After some manuvering (sp) and on the verge of a possible roll.... My dear wife bailed.... we managed to get it into a position to back back down the bank/hill, where dix was called upon to first pull me back, and then to pull my nose foreward to aviod a slipperly slide down a hill and into ruin.
We then had another crack, which this time got as far as the hairpin. The back wheels of the Wrangler were not far from slipping off, but with arse-puckering skill, I got it around (blind bloody luck, but hey, i'll take it)
Dix then attempted the same hairpin, and wasnt that far from tipping over either, so, for the first time in the day, the Wrangler got perched atop a knoll with 18mtrs of snatch strap attached to the VX we held the vx on the track while he negotiated the hairpin. The bum came around ok, but the nose started to go, so the strop was attached to the front, a gentle pull from the Wrangler and he was around.
From here we headined up a ridgeline, dropped about 30mtrs down into a gully and back up to the opposing ridge which was also the top of the farm, here we were met with awesome views of the Waikato basin.
We had been going to follow a gully track back down, but closer inspection deemed that route was quickly declined. So we ended up going back from where we had come. rather than trying the hairpin again the VX followed its nose straight down the hill, and i dutifully scuttled along behind.
The rest of the run was fun paddocks with plenty of mud being flung, in a conservative and respectful manner of course. We made it back with no problem what so ever.
Heres the kicker, for those that have bothered to read this so far.
The owner is agreeable to us, with other ORE members in tow, spending time on his block doing what we wish, and in whatever manner we desire (within reason of course).
There is going to be a flushing toilet put into an area where we will be allowed to camp, and from there we will be allowed to crack into the native at the rear of his property. Until the toilet is there, we are still welcome to spend time there. There are specific paddocks which are taboo, and soon moxys will be running tracks through for future forestry, so we will be unable to use the area during this time. He has expressed his willingness for use during the summer months too, which will appeal to a wider range of people im sure. At the moment mud tyres are a minimum, and lockers preferable for some specific areas.
there are still spots that we only drove past and intend to recce further in the future...............
pics to follow.
