Carricktown and Nevis Road Trip

[1LittleZOOK]

Carricktown Track and Nevis Road Trip 2011


Two keen as Suzuki Escudo owners, a splash of fuel, some food our mothers would frown upon and a great sense of humor were the beginnings our awesome trip up the Carricktown Track and over the Nevis road.

We departed Dunedin around 5:00 p.m. heading towards Bannockburn in Central Otago. The mood was set with a few practical jokes and some good driving music within the first hour of tar-seal driving. About Beaumont the novelty of driving on tar-seal had well and truly worn off and the decision was made to hit the gravel over the Millennium Track. A wonderful scenic track that runs from Beaumont to Millers Flat and is a great alternative to the boring tar-seal road. Once we hit the hard stuff it was a straight out haul up to Bannockburn inlet to set up camp and cook up a feed. Nachos for us, which is becoming a trip tradition by
now.

After a well rested nights sleep and a hearty breakfast, it was time to put it in low range and have some fun. The Carricktown track is a technical drive that was relatively easy and required some good wheel placements at times but we made it. We ticked along up the track admiring the awesome views of Bannockburn down below. A few stops were made to take photos of the Gnomes on our bonnets with the lake and Bannockburn in the background. (The Gnomes are a long story!) Just remember to look behind you to not miss the epic views! The track had some small ice covered puddles on the side, so naturally we broke the ice and gave the snatch strap some use to recover the fellow Suzuki vehicle when it couldn’t push no more.

Once we finished taking a leak off of the highest point, we carried our way along into The Young Australian Historic Reserve. The track opened up and showed spectacular views of the Duffers Saddle on which we would soon be driving over on the Nevis Road. We reached the beginning of the Nevis Road and stopped to photograph and admire the views around the sign that says “Nevis Road, Reaches 1300m Elevation, Highest Public Road in New Zealand.” A truly awesome statement to be able to brag about to your mates back at school. We pressed on down the road in high range and picked up the pace a bit. Small creak crossings and washouts are scattered throughout the track along with a few huts and bridges. Watch out for deep washouts as some can spring out at you from nowhere. The boundary ling for Central Otago and Southland blew by in the wind and we were crossing the last few creaks before we found some blacktop again.
All and all The Carricktown track is an awesome piece of driving that nibbles at the ankles of off road adventure and shows off some truly stunning landscape that we are proud to be able to see. The journey over Nevis Road is a bonus to be able to brag about driving over the highest public road in New Zealand. Also has some fun water crossings and plenty of scenery to fill your photo albums and books up with. I recommend that everyone should take their family out for the weekend as standard 4WD’s will be more than capable for this trip and you too will be able to see this awesome scenery that Central Otago is world famous for.


See ya in the dirt!

Adam

[keithal]

photos?

[wjw]

I love that track, especially in the snow just before it gets closed ...