Yeehaa its a Hillbilly Roadtrip an a hillbilly partee yeehaa

[Jerry]

Ok how much interest do we have from the North Islanders?, how bout a week long trip roadtrip? or do you want it over a weekend?do you want it family friendly and how damagy do you want it?, Will you be towing a hard yakka truck with you?

Costs? well looking at $160 each way in the bluebridge for a "4wd", if we get a large group then we can probably negotiate a good deal, if you are coming from Ak then maybe travel a day or 2 beforehand and we can we can arrange some accomodation for you. another option is we stay around the marlborough area which is sort of in the middle? or do you want to do deeper into hillbilly country ..... if there was interest we could do picton to ChCh/Dunners then over that hill thingy then a couple of days in the west coast then back to picton???

An indication if you are interested and what you want to do will be good....Perhaps if you wanted we could set up an account or use the ORE one to help you start putting $$$ aside for this???

[DaveM]

Much better staying out of Marlborough area, and heading further south or towards the west coast where there are HEAPS of tracks.
Bit of diving for crays/paua around the Kaikoura Coast on the way down too

[Jerry]

and UFO's and theres always the "whale" watching if Mark and Handbrake are going as well

[DaveM]

and UFO's and theres always the "whale" watching if Mark and Handbrake are going as well

You leave the Nissans alone.

[kiwipete]

I like the sound of your suggestions there Al re the coast and central. I feel we should try to keep it around the grade 3 area so it will be a fun for all trip, thinking of families here.
When dates are organised, I will book time off work.

[curly12]

and UFO's and theres always the "whale" watching if Mark and Handbrake are going as well

You leave the Nissans alone.

Don't worry us local nissan owners will sort Jerry out
One day he may see the light.

[PR]

and UFO's and theres always the "whale" watching if Mark and Handbrake are going as well

You leave the Nissans alone.

Don't worry us local nissan owners will sort Jerry out
One day he may see the light.

Head lights or reverse lights

[curly12]

Silly question, he will never see the headlights and is used to the reversing lights heading his way...

[downunderxj]

I would be keen at the moment on joining in this trip. I wouldn't be looking for too hard yakka as it is the same vehicle I will be driving on the road too, so it will need to last the whole time we are down there both on and off the road

I would think a minimum of a week long trip would be best, you are not going to get too far over a weekend, being that it is a 5 hour trip from Picton to ChCh, and the time on the ferry there is a whole day gone in just getting to ChCh.

The Central Otago area, with the Serpentine Church would be really interesting, and while at it possibly Mace Town, I am sure you could spend a week just in that area. But the idea of visiting those tunnels on the West Coast that crop up in photos everywhere would be interesting too. The choice will be trying to visit as many places as possible in the time, or focusing on one area. What if somebody has problems with their vehicle and we have decided on a road trip, they will have problems catching up.

I presume this will be a camping trip to keep the cost down, most of the vehicles won't be cheap to run on the long distances so fuel costs will be high unless we can get them running on moonshine

I love the Central Otago, inland Canterbury area but I was born down South so I am biased anyway.

Cheers
Ian

[Jerry]

I wonder how big we can get the Convoy..... whos gonna be rubber duck

[downunderxj]

If we have a rubber duck, we also need a combi - what about that one that was posted recently that beat the Porsche.

It will be great cruising around the SI with about 15 - 20 trucks in a row, parking won't be a problem, the SI town streets are so wide.

[Jerry]

So we are going to have to have a hillbilly name as well as a convoy name

[hiriklux]

fweddy
Hard Yaka

ORE Supporter

Joined: Oct 13, 2006
Posts: 437
Location: North Canterbury
Posted: 2007-09-13, 02:45:28

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We'll are gonna need ya'll to filin this here form

South Island visitor permit

Last Name: ________________ (last)

First Name: (Check appropriate box)
(_) Billy-Joe
(_) Billy-Ray
(_) Billy-Sue
(_) Billy-Mae
(_) Billy-Jack
(_) Bubba

Age: ____
Sex: ____ M _____ F _____ N/A
Shoe Size ____ Left ____ Right

Occupation:
(_) Farmer
(_) Mechanic
(_) Hair Dresser
(_) Un-employed

Spouse's Name: __________________________

Relationship with spouse:___________________________

Number of children living in household: ___
Number that are yours: ___

Mother's Name: _______

Father's Name: _______(If not sure, leave blank)

Education: 1 2 3 4 (Circle highest grade
completed)

Do you (_)own or (_)rent your mobile home?

___ Total number of vehicles you own
___ Number of vehicles that still crank
___ Number of vehicles in front yard
___ Number of vehicles in back yard
___ Number of vehicles on cement blocks

Firearms you own and where you keep them:
____ truck
____ bedroom
____ bathroom
____ kitchen
____ shed

Model and year of your pickup: ______ 194_

Do you have a gun rack?
(_) Yes (_) No; please explain:

Newspapers/magazines you subscribe to:
(_) The National Enquirer
(_) The Globe
(_) TV Guide
(_) Soap Opera Digest
(_) Rifle and Shotgun

___ Number of times you've seen a UFO


How often do you bathe:
(_)Weekly
(_)Monthly
(_)Not Applicable

Color of teeth:
(_)Yellow
(_)Brownish-Yellow
(_)Brown
(_)Black
(_)N/A

How far is your home from a paved road?
(_)1 mile
(_)2 miles
(_)don't know

thanks

_________________
1985, BJ74 MWB Landcruiser, rear locker, 31" RMTs, snorkel, PTO winch, solid bars all round, spotties, CB etc.

not forgetting the number of fingers question

its starts to get gross at 15

[Jerry]

ok just some thoughts.....

how bout

[1]Auckland to Wellington 1 day
[2]Wellington Overnight
[3]Ferry to Picton 3.5 hours
[4]Picton to Christchurch 6 hours
[5]Overnight Christchurch motel stay light Boozy Night
[6]2 - 3 day overnight campout trip to ????? returning to Christchurch, have the bush hillbilly theme party here one night
[7]Christchurch Motel overnighter
[8]Christchurch to the West Coast ????
[9] 2 days overnighter in the bush somewhere returning to Westcoast motorcamp plus light boozy overnighter
[10]Drive to Marlborough next day then to another bush overnighter location
[11]Motorcamp stay the next day plus light boozy night
[12]North Islanders return on ferry that afternoon and Southerners head back home
[13] Overnight stay in Wellington
[14] Head back to Auckland


Ok can someone tell me expected travel times for each SI stage and what area/track options there are in each area. we can get an idea on mileage and then work out rough expected costs.

Every stage allows people to join and leave when they want, with decent comfortable stops at each stage....if you blow your motor then backup plan is to tow it to the nearest toll tranzlink office and then just throw it on the train back home and then you can fly back or jump in a spare seat or something....Assume that best cruising speed of a 4wd is 80km/Hr.....Mine is with the 33's

Thoughts?

[PR]

It would be less travel time if you went straight from Picton to the westcoast then on to Christchurch after doing the tracks over there approx 10 hours less

[Jerry]

Don't forget that there are these options down south if there is interest

If theres interest we can spend an extra day in Ch City and sightsee and visit these attractions....
http://www.iceberg.co.nz/
http://www.tanksforeverything.co.nz/contact.php (theres paintball here as well...... )

This is further down south
http://www.redballoondays.co.nz/experience/MST547

[Jerry]

Maybe we do it reverse ie Picton then west coast then Ch then Picton ......thoughts???? So would you southerners meet us at picton or the west coast?

THESE ARE JUST SOME IDEAS????

[PR]

Christchurch people would meet you on the westcoast so you better not get lost between Picton and the Westcoast

[turoa]

arent you going to have a barndance?

[PR]

Country folk have barndances hillbillys cant afford barns

[Dace]

for a hillbilly roadtrip, gotta find time to do some of this

http://www.gamefudge.com/Cow-Tipping

[Jerry]

A mate of mine suggested that we make this a yearly expidition and all partipicants get a badge or something, he may even be willing to film it and make a small doco to sell on TV3 or something, he did one on the Rusty Nuts 24 Hr motorcycle challenge http://www.nitro.gen.nz/NitroFilm/Rusty ... fault.aspx this one would be more of a see NZ road trip. Some positive TV3 docos would be good for a change about us responsible 4wd'ers
(he drives a Nissan Terrano sorry bout that ... its not a Toyota )

Was thinking perhaps partipicants have to do at least half the mileage or something to get the badge...to make it fair on the Southerners...so you would have to do at least Picton to West coast and then Ch then back to picton or the Ch to west coast and then back etc would count as well....??

And we are going to have a hillbilly/redneck themed party in ChCH or somewhere too

Thoughts?

[PR]

Cool idea Jerry you could also make it so one year in the south island then the next in the north

[Jerry]

Yep...was thinking that do a reverse trip the next year....ie ChCh to Ak and we have a Westie themed overnight party in the eg Extreme 4x4 park in Ak

[downunderxj]

If you are going to get it covered by TV it opens up the whole world of sponsorship. If we had stickers on the vehicles featuring on the TV program when it goes to air, that must count for something.

Get sponsorship for the ferry crossing, approach Norsewear, or Swazi for some nice jackets to put the badge/patch on, outdoor gear, tyres, petrol/diesel etc

However that turns the trip from a group of people heading off for some fun to something quite a bit bigger - can still be a lot of fun tho'.

As far as places to go, in Ken Sibly's South Island book isn't there a track to the west of Lake Rotoroa that we could travel along as we head from Picton to the West Coast on the first day. Also isn't there a track that ends up at Denniston on the West Coast, has a tricky river crossing on it tho' if I recall the book correctly.

Just some thoughts to add to the planning process

Cheers
Ian

[Jerry]

Yep, let me have a chat to the Rusty Nuts guys and find out what problems they had and some tips, It may be better to keep it "in house" for the first one to see how it runs, re the TV it would be more of a "inhouse" production thru Nitro and there would be a lot of input on what we wanted to show out of it.....I will be very clear to him what we wanted shown and what we not wanted shown....if the majority didn't wanted it filmed then we don't do it. Tims not a Radical Greenie (even though he looks like a hippie so it wouldn't be a 4wdbashing doco....his brief thoughts were responsible 4wd'ers and NZ scenery and people having fun.

Lets look at planning the route and dates further....can we get the travelling times and possible locations?

If we have a lot of Shinier vehicles with us then are these catered for? are there areas where there is both Shiny and hard options?

My thoughts are not to fill it full of rules and crap but enough to cover the basics and our asses and most importantly making it a really FUN trip.

[Jerry]

Sorry ...been thinkin again.....how many rivers are we likely to cross (that doesn't include Cooks Strait duhhh ) and what will we need to do and take etc so we don't spread that Didymo thingy.....

[fweddy]

being that it is a 5 hour trip from Picton to ChCh, and the time on the ferry there is a whole day gone in just getting to ChCh.

[3]Ferry to Picton 3.5 hours
[4]Picton to Christchurch 6 hours

Making it sound a long haul!

Picton to Rangiora (30 mins from CHCH) is 3¾ hours with limited stops (have done it late at night (hardly any traffic) in 3½ with 4x4 and trailer)

But if you want time to gander and with more vehicles which are perhaps a little more clumsy onroad you will want to allow 5 hours I guess.

Ferry is 3 hours (regardless of type of vehicle )

Each year we do Rangiora to Rotorua in a day and the same return. But that's for work not a cruise!

Trip sounds a good idea - esp with some publicity potential.

[Azza]

For all those travelling on the Bluebridge, assuming that no sponsorship comes to light, I have heard that you can get free passage if you're willing to 'entertain' the other passengers on the voyage... so if you can play the guitar or juggle you may well end up with a free trip across the ditch

[Jerry]

So I'd better get on with these banjo lessons then