Offroad-Express

Hey Guys,

I Rico (26) & Julia (21) are from Germany and travelling trough NZ for 5 month.
We bought us at the beginning of our journey a Mazda Proceed Marvie and have done some 4wd Tracks on the Southisland. We were absoluteley beginners at the foirst time and now we have some experience to enjoy the 4x4 with other together.

Please excuse my English, Julias English is much mor better...

We have done:
Mavora Lakes to the 2nd Hut
Walter Peak
Eyre Creek Track
Oretti Beach
Manapouri South Arm (Grebe Valley)
Nevis Road
Macetown
Old Mans Face
Skippers Road after the Cemetry (the harder track)

We have only 3 All Terrain Tyres and 1 old Street Tyre
We have no snorkel

We would like to get some Tips and Tours with other Drivers.

Great that you are touring this way and going off the beaten tourist path.

are you looking for tracks in the south island only or thinking of some north island ones as well?

Whereabouts are you at the moment?

great idea, let people know where you are and I am sure there are trips happening you could be part of.

Yeah, let us know your itenary in advance. We just love showing people around some of the out of the way places up here in the north of the north island. If your plans include coming this far up let me know.

Thank you for your friendly greetings!
Now we are in Christchurch and planning to go in the next weeks to Nelson/Marlborough to find some work there...

I think we want to go to the northisland in about 3 weeks. We leave nz in April and want to sell our car near Auckland.
So if somebody is interested in the car, let us know

Maybe somebody have a good tip where we can buy a used all terrain tyre? 265/70r15

And where should we post in this forum where we are at the time?

Thanks and I hope we can meet somebody of you guys

Bye

If you work in the Vineyards in Marlborough, be wary, as there are a few contractors who pay a lot less than they should, and can be very hard to get your money out of, as they like to take advantage of tourists.

Just keep posting where you are heading in this thread, People will offer to take you out if they are able.
I am in Nelson and if I am able I am more than happy to take you out for a day.
When you head to Nelson, look at driving the Hanmer to Rainbow road, from Hanmer Springs to Saint Arnaud, scenic drive, easy for your 4wd. You need to pay a toll at the Saint Arnaud end of the road, $25 cash.
http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recrea ... au-valley/

If you guys were interested in a few days through the Rainbow Road, Pico42 is heading through this week and then I am planning on meeting up with him for a trip to Westport and possibly Reefton.

give me a call when you come through Palmerston North, Manawatu area and we'll see if we can get you on a trip somewhere , have just done one for Tim from England , was a good trip, check it out Tims Tour, North Range , Ashhurst River and Takapari Road on this forum, tried to attach link but it wouldn't work

Greg 0272560470

Thanks Guys,

We worked the last weeks and had no time for going offroad. We are now in Blenheim and booked our Ferry for Wendsday 2pm from Picton. We have then about 4 weeks on the Northisland so we are ready for every kind of fun

Our Phonenumber is: 0224226568

National Trials on in Palmerston North on the 16th of March, Harts Road Turitea, 08:30am to 04:30pm, hosted by Manawatu 4WD Club, will be a good day out.

cheers
Greg

When you get off the ferry, head to island bay (through the city), turn right at the ocean and follow the coast road as far as you can go (goes into 4wd track) around the south coast of wellington. Very scenic, seals and wild coast line. Stick to the track and don't go below the high tide mark because if you get stuck and no one is around to help.......

Great trip.

we were spectator at the extreme4wd event and there was a lot of action. thanks Greg for this tip!

yesterday we started 4am with Greg to watch the sunset but it was too foggy to see anything... he showed us a difficult track and after that we played in a mudhole. we had also a lot of fun at the homeplayground from Greg near the river.

thank you very much for the awesome trip yesterday Greg! We had never the chance to do things like yesterday with our car before because it would be too risky for us alone to be stuck.

So if some other locals want to show us some tracks let us know please! we are near tongarino now and heading north.

P.S.: pictures follow the next days, we have no good coverage to upload it now...

Hi guys, are you going to go 4wding around Auckland?

If you are interested let me know and I will see if its possible to organize a small trip.

Cheers

Caleb

@Filthy4x4: yes we want. You don't have to organise too much. We would be also happy to go only with one other truck together. But I think it would be a nice experience to go in a group we are free the days until 31st March

Here some photos from our great trip:

the next....

@Mike: Thanks for the tip but as we arrived a few days ago we were scared about the possibility of rain and decided to dont do this trip alone...
It is the Track from the Book "Offroading New Zealand"? Grade: 3 MinVehicle: 3?

so enough SPam from me for today

juri7829 wrote:we were spectator at the extreme4wd event and there was a lot of action. thanks Greg for this tip!

yesterday we started 4am with Greg to watch the sunset but it was too foggy to see anything... he showed us a difficult track and after that we played in a mudhole. we had also a lot of fun at the homeplayground from Greg near the river.

thank you very much for the awesome trip yesterday Greg! We had never the chance to do things like yesterday with our car before because it would be too risky for us alone to be stuck.

So if some other locals want to show us some tracks let us know please! we are near tongarino now and heading north.

P.S.: pictures follow the next days, we have no good coverage to upload it now...

these are 2 of the nicest people you could meet, was a pleasure showing them some of the 4wd scene in NZ, I encourage anyone to take them out and show what we have on offer, they don't get to do any of this sort of driving where they come from and I'm sure they would cherish the experience.

cheers
Greg

P.S enjoy the rest of you time in NZ guys and all the best for your return home

Hi juri7829, let me know when you are planning to come up to Northland and I will see what can be arranged about a trip for you in Northland. We have some magic sand/beach driving here that can be done regardless of the weather. Fantastic places to see and experience.
Cheers.

Sound's good. We will be there from 25th about so here is my number. Send me a txt wich date is Ok for you

0224226568

Hey guys,

a lot of time is gone but now we decide to make a new adventure.

We had a great time with greg & colin in NZ. I remember often to the adventures with them.

Every time we show our pictures we want back to go offroad. but no chance to do it in germany.
We want to travel trough australia. We will arrive at the beginning of october. Maybe in Sydney.

Now im looking a bit to find a car.
Maybe you have good ideas for the car, equipment or australian offroadforum or maybe a link from ebay or autotrader in australia.

It would be nice to have a japanese brand. My searchings:
Hilux Pathfinder 4Runner Landcruiser Patrol Pajero Challenger

or

Discovery
Ford Raider
Ford Territory
Ford Maverick
Suzuki Xl
Holden Jackaroo
Jeep Cherokee
Chevrolet Blazer
Explorer


I think its not easy to find a fully equiped car with winch, snorkel, Offroad Tyres...
We want to spend max 10.000 AUD

Would be nice to read something from you guys.

Joining a local club will provide valuable information. My father has a landcruiser over there and they have quite a strong following. From what I understand mods are difficult and need engineering if you raise or lower the roofline by 50mm! Which limits tyres and lift you can have. But my old man's is fully lifted, kitted, lockers, winch and tyres, it's a high top troopy with camping gear, but I don't think a snorkel.


He has basically driven around the continent so I will talk with him and get some recomendations. I believe his cruiser is parked up in Melbourne at the moment, depending how long you were going to be there perhaps you could rent something? (Maybe his)

Thanks we want stay until may 2017. So i think thats not possible to rent a fully equiped offroader to make dents and scratches on the car^^

It would be possible that we buy a car and the owner buy it back when we leave the country.
Your dad want to sell the vehicle?

juri7829 wrote:Thanks we want stay until may 2017. So i think thats not possible to rent a fully equiped offroader to make dents and scratches on the car^^

It would be possible that we buy a car and the owner buy it back when we leave the country.
Your dad want to sell the vehicle?

He might consider that, I would have to talk to him, but it's probably over your budget 3-4 times!

Landcruisers & Patrols are the most common rigs for Oz touring. You do pay a premium for those trucks though so a smaller 4x4 ute may be better value as you'll get something in better condition for the same money. For real outback travel you ideally want something fairly tough as the corrugated outback roads can be pretty brutal on a vehicle. Get a diesel if you can, petrol supplies can be patchy in the outback.

Not sure how definite your dates are but remember a lot of the interesting central desert parts of Oz are basically a no-go zone over summer - too hot. The northern parts also tend to be pretty warm & humid through summer. If going Oct - May you'd want to plan to cover the North & Centre parts of Oz early & late in your trip & explore Southern regions Dec-Jan-Feb. Do some research on difficulty, fuel availability etc before just hitting any random track on the map.

Oz is a huge & spectacular place. Lots of great camping too. Have fun!

Cheers
Clint

MihiT wrote:

juri7829 wrote:Thanks we want stay until may 2017. So i think thats not possible to rent a fully equiped offroader to make dents and scratches on the car^^

It would be possible that we buy a car and the owner buy it back when we leave the country.
Your dad want to sell the vehicle?

He might consider that, I would have to talk to him, but it's probably over your budget 3-4 times!

ah ok, no our budget is max 10k. So not worth to ask him

Clint wrote: Cheers
Clint

Ah thanks thats a really good tip!
I would prefer a petrol engine, but i will have a look

The advice I have from more than one person, is that even diesel quality in the back and beyond isn't flash, so to fit parralell sets of fuel filters. If you have a drop tank then have one for town fuel and one for outback fuel.

Diesel will have lower exhaust temps than petrol so less likely to start bush fires!

For the canning stock route, or any severly corrugated road: you either have to keep your speed up at 80-90 and fly over it (with less control and less chance to avoid kangaroos that will be doing a similar speed into you!) or get VERY good shocks with remote reservoirs and plenty of cooling.

The advice from my father:

Carry spares, parts are expensive out of town.

Carry spare spares.

Carry tools enough te rebuild your truck, if you don't need them, someone else will (or you could buy a Nissan and just drive past all the broken down Toy's )

Tyres take a beating. Learn to fix them, and have a good compressor (and spares - tyres and compressor)

Diff locks and recovery gear will be used more than a winch (I think personally he was just being a bit of a blouse, and i think a winch IS recovery gear)

Get your vehicle 110% while in town where things are available, and less expensive, before heading out.

Don't drive while roos are moving. (dawn and dusk)