Up coming four wheel drive trip fundraiser ~ weekend of 6-7 March 2010

For perhaps near on 20 years my cousin Mike and a handful of enthusiastic friends in North Otago Search and Rescue have pioneered organising 4 wheel drive trips [drive your own] all over the remote areas of Otago. Apparently they've guided about 7500 vehicles over this time, and that'd equate to well over 14,000 people!

Since permission from high country farmers is hard to organise [finding out who owns what], and there are so many complex routes and tracks, they're very popular with the public - you pay your money and rock on up. They're not all about pitting one's vehicle against the terrain either, but about enjoying a day out in the hills. I like to sign up to see remote areas myself, and like to be the tail ender helping shut gates etc..

This autumn [best season - good traction means no damage to terrain, vehicles or nerves] Mike invited me and my camera on the pre runs which are right on my back door step, and as I prefer to ride with him to catch up in a brotherly way, rather than drive myself, we talked about trying a blog to see if it'd be useful for folk who are contemplating coming, to see a few photos.

So below is all the guff for anyone keen and a selection of photos made last weekend during the recce. of the two trips offered on the Sat. and Sun. of the weekend 6-7 March 2010.

Actually re-post to a different blog [btw I use MarsEdit to blog - it's Mac and marvellous, and I can post about 4 times faster than in blogger, to numerous destinations]

Day One: Dunstan Mountains - from Cromwell Gorge to Thomsons Gorge road via Leaning Rock.

Dunstan tops...


Lake Dunstan...


Leaning Rock...


Track up to Leaning Rock...


Arriving at Leaning Rock...


Gentian...


Past Leaning Rock...

Recce crew has lunch...




Stamper Battery Thomsons Gorge...


Trip ending at Northburn Station Vineyard...




Day Two: Pisa Range - southern end.

On the tops at 1900 mts...


Possible morning tea stop in this ancient glacial cirque...


Looking across at the Dunstans and Leaning Rock...


Fragile alpine bog...


Looking towards Roaring Meg country...

Fragile vegetation abounds...








Register 8 to 8.30 am for a 9 am start each day at the Cromwell sports grounds on Alpha St.

Cost $35 per adult per day. Under 16 no charge. Deposits to John Simpson, 6 Forth St.. Oamaru. Chqs. made out to N.O.S.A.R.

No dogs allowed.

For Sat. night we recommend the Cromwell Top 10 Camping Ground ph 0800 107 275, and is very close to the assembly point.

Should the weather be unsuitable it will be held the following weekend 13 - 14 March. In event of cancellations please tune into Radio Central [More FM] Port FM or Classic Hits FM [4ZB].

John Simpson: 03 437 1689
Mike Firman: 03 434 7385 or 027 220 1948

Photos and blog creation Donald Lousley email

More Clutha River wanderings

When the sun looked like dissipating the inversion cloud this morning I packed a lunch and Dougal and I headed off for a walk, heading yet again on further personal exploration of the Clutha River near home.

Looking west towards Black Peak and Treble Cone, while we walked in hope of the cloud letting the sun shine on us...


Further downstream past Reko's Point, and looking south to the end of the Pisa and Criffel Ranges...


It had been bothering me - just who was Reko? I knew the name and then I recalled he was the guide of Surveyor J.T. Thomson:

He persuaded Reko of Tuturau to guide him from Otago to Canterbury by an inland route. In September 1853, he, Reko and another Maori companion set off up the Mataura and the Nokomai valleys and over the hills to the Nevis and Kawarau valleys. They crossed the Kawarau River on the natural rock bridge and went downriver to the flats above Cromwell. They made their way to Wanaka and Hawea, before Chalmers, who was exhausted, gave up any idea of going further, and the group returned by raft down the Clutha River (McClymont 1959: 70). More on the New Zealand Dept of Conservation website

Thomson was an accomplished artist and I found a picture he made of a spooky crossing of the Mataura River with Reko on the teara.govt.nz web site

As we walked I asked Dougal to consider that there are people that want to dam this amazing river and drown the landscape. I think he had trouble grasping this and I guess age 16 has not given him enough time yet to ponder the losses I've seen...


I've paddled this river in a past life, camping on the way and that was adventure enough. It must have been something else for Reko, Thomson and Chalmers to build their own raft and head off, bobbing along at speed as the craft became water-logged, and not have much of a clue as to what lay ahead. On many stretches of the river it's really hard to get into the edge as boil ups keeping pushing upwards denying access...


Locally so many of us have concerns about ill conceived ideas to mess up this planet, rivers and all that we live on - and everyone is a local relevant to where they live, so in a wider and more global context take some time please to check out the movie "home"on youtube by Yann Arthus-Bertrand. It has beautiful imagery of our mother earth and commentary of our evolution into where we have brought our planet to today. It's free on the web for a few more days [and is a 1.4 Gb download so it is not a short one].

Last week I found some stellar GPS software for my iPhone for about $NZ7 so we tried it out alongside my old GPS and found it remarkably good - nothing like a good day to play with new toys!

Dougal thought it was funny that the map is courtesy of the US Navy - us being inland and all that. This screen shot is of Reko's Point - I wonder if this is where they built the raft, as it's too close to Lake Wanaka to be the first night's camping spot. The green "init" maker is a way-point the phone generates each time it's turned on...


And this week's head's up is to cousin Deirdre's Tininn Lodge site where she has posted photos of her grand daughter Aleisha doing some part time modeling.