Offroad-Express

Hello Ladies & Gents!

Marcus from Brighton, UK here. Currently have a 300Tdi Discovery on the road and a 110 off the road which is about to be sold to fund the below trip. I work as a Countryside Ranger in the UK so have a good understanding of our Rights of Way network and the legal and moral aspects of off roading on Byways (if you have Byways?) and also Pay & Play sites. Do all my own maintenance, engine transplants, axle rebuilds, modifications, servicing and all the other repairs that go hand in hand with a great off roading weekend.

Planning on popping over to NZ for 6 months from September, working holiday type thing. Being an off roading & Land Rover enthusiast I'll be needing to check out the off roading scene while I'm over, my research led me to this site.

Planning on spending 3 months on North and 3 months on South Island, don't know where exactly yet, combination of following the work and where my fancy takes me.

Great section on land access, very useful! I haven't read all the posts yet so maybe this is mentioned somewhere, but in the UK we have Ordnance Survey maps which show Byways that motor vehicles can drive. Is there a map series published in NZ which shows where vehicles can drive? Unmade tracks, beaches, mountain roads and so on? Or is it a case of getting in touch with a local club? Do you guys have a Rights of Way network (Footpaths, Bridleways, Byways) or do you rely on permission form private land owners?

I'll be purchasing some form of 4x4 while I'm over (kinda fancy an old Wrangler!), I'll put an add up in the Wanted section.

That's all for now, thanks in advance for any advice on maps & stuff!

Cheers

Marcus

Hi Marcus.

Try the link below which should take you to the "Walking Access Mapping System" website which features an interactive online map showing all publicly accessible lands and roads in NZ. You can zoom in on areas, print off maps, even download .gpx files for a GPS or smartphone from there.

http://wams.org.nz/wams_desktop/index.aspx

If the link dosen't work just Google "wams nz" or "walking access nz" which should return results linking you to the site.
A caution though just because a road is shown as legally accessible on the mapping service dosen't neccessarily mean it will be navigable (even by 4WD) and in some areas what is shown as a road may be gated and only accessible to walkers.
If you have an interest in following any particular purple squiggly line into the middle of a remote green area you'd be very wise to enquire about it first - this websites probably a good place to start.

Chur Bro ...

Another link that might be handy if you want to buy a vehicle while you're here is:

http://www.trademe.co.nz/

E-Bay never really took off here and TradeMe is (by a huge margin) the largest trading site in NZ if you want to get an idea what the second hand vehicle markets like.

Thanks for those, the map looks good, will have a play with the GPX file format, see if I can get them on my GPS or phone.

Certainly loads of vehicles for sale on Trade Me, great site! Sure I'll find something on there!

Cheers

Marcus

Hi Marcus. A fellow POM here, from Wiltshire. I'm in Christchurch so hopefully get to go for a cruise with you whilst you're here!

Hey QuadFather!

I'll certainly be in Christchurch or the area at some point, will be sure to get in touch while I'm there!

Hi Marcus,
I'm in Auckland and belong to the Landrover Owners Club Auckland, you would be more than welcome to come for a ride in Mudhog(1974 Classic 2dr Rangie)on a Club run if your keen.

Cheers
Brett

Sounds bloody good. Truck is almost back on the road so looking forward to it!

Quad, I won't be in Christchurch till late Jan early Feb I'd of thought, so you've got time to get it on the road, hit some trails and break it again before I get there! That's how my Land Rover cycle generally goes anyway! Lol!

Hi Brett, Trails in a RRC sounds sweet! Been looking at Landys on trademe, seems that V8 Disco's are most commonly available and affordable, Diesels aren't so common and you pay for them. Fuel economy is a little scary though considering the milage I'll probably be doing! Older Defenders seem fairly rare (worth loading a couple of containers of them and bringing them over? lol!).

motomc12 wrote: Older Defenders seem fairly rare (worth loading a couple of containers of them and bringing them over? lol!).

yeah probably

mercutio wrote:

motomc12 wrote: Older Defenders seem fairly rare (worth loading a couple of containers of them and bringing them over? lol!).

yeah probably

Nah, won't get complied for road due to not meeting emissions.