Finally updated "Baxter's Niva Story" on my site - there's a couple of off-road trips, a Niva stand at a car show, Lada Niva New Zealand's first meet & camp, a long holiday, a couple of cruises, and a gearbox failure...
We were camping at Lake Tennyson this same weekend, I remember you and your fellow Lada companions driving in.
We were there with the dinghy and had the kids out fishing for the weekend.