Having immersed himself in promoting the presence of the reborn and repurposed Series 1 Land Rover, known as Oxford, Auckland-based marque stalwart Kevin Isemonger wasn’t really looking forward to making the long haul south for the iconic vehicle’s ‘last hurrah’ here, at the big Wheels at Wanaka motor show over the Easter weekend. His attitude changed, however, when he heard that mates from the Land Rover Series 1 Enthusiasts were planning a return trip back up the West Coast. This is the story of what turned out to be a truly epic 10 days of 4WDing old and new from Auckland in the North to Wanaka in the south and a hell of a lot of random points in between.
And so, after a veritable flurry of emails (and credit card transactions) I was booked ad ready, leaving my home at Clevedon, south-east of Auckland at 9:00am on Saturday March 21, reaching Wellington at 4:30pm and changing my car-ferry ticket from Sunday morning to Early Sunday morning which landed me in Picton at 06:30am – in heavy rain.
Unfortunately, I had accidently left the fridge on overnight, which drained the Defender’s battery to nothing, which was not a good start to what was a massive day on the road. Compulsory stops every two hours works for me, however, and I made Wanaka in time for Dinner at Rod and Anne Corbett’s place on Sunday evening.
Monday 29 March
Due to the methodology for transporting Oxford around the country, I had not had time to really give it a good look over – but today was the day and I finally got to do so in Rod Corbett’s shed in Wanaka. What a dream come true to have the privilege of working on the most famous Land Rover in the world!
First up I had a play with the steering. It was really heavy, so I popped the ball-joint on the drag link and checked the load with just the steering box on the steering relay. Realigned the linkages which made quite a big difference. Checked and filled the swivel joints. Stripped all the brakes out finding a seized wheel cylinder which was replaced. Greased everything – checked and topped up everything. Set up the timing, as that was out. Oxford and I then went for a ‘curbside crawl’ down to the Wanaka waterfront for a quick photo session – in the dark.
Tuesday 30 March
This was event registration day, the day we would get to see the fruits of our work over the past 12 months. Would we get the support from the Land Rover community we had hoped? The answer was a resounding ‘Hell yeah’ – in spades.
Rod had negotiated with local businessman and avid collector, Allan Dippie, to utilise his ‘Tractor shed 2’ for the Land Rover Rally registrations which I must say went really well – great bunch of people. Caught up with heaps of old mates and met some new ones, like... Gemma Nott – daughter of Oxford’s ‘First-Overland’ mechanic – Henry Nott.
Gemma now lives at Lake Hawea, just over the hill from Wanaka, and it was an absolute fluke that Oxford’s owner Adam Bennett contacted Gemma asking if she knew Oxford was in New Zealand. Gemma initially contacted me asking if Oxford was coming down south and when I told her it was actually in Wanaka she came over that night to the Registration. As it transpired, Gemma had heard all about Oxford for most of her life, but that ‘this is the first time I have actually seen it’.
Rod Corbett and Allan Dippie were very keen for the Land Rover folk to have a dry run with the Parade procedures. The ‘Wheels at Wanaka’ is not a static display. There are continuous parades all day – for the two days of the show. Each parade is designed to last 15 minutes – so each group has about 10 minutes to all file into the parade grounds – park up and then get the hell out before the next lot of tractors started to pull in. Being the first off the block on Saturday morning – so any delay would have a domino effect throughout the day and would be hard to catch up.
The biggest jam was then getting out of the shed, but once lined up, the actual practice went really (READ: Surprisingly) well, and afforded us the chance to grab some photos from the adjacent hill.
Wednesday 31 March
Today was the first of three trips Rod and Anne Corbett had organized for the ‘Oxford Land Rover Rally’ based in and around Wanaka. We all met at the top car park at the ‘Snow Farm’ – off the Cardrona Road, high up on the Pisa Range, before heading off across the tops to Mt. Pisa. Although very cold with only a slight breeze, for the time of year, we were exceptionally lucky. At 1,963m (6,440’) this alpine plateau is extremely exposed, and as the name suggests, is known for its extreme weather conditions. We travelled some distance south along the Pisa Range – which, by the way, was used for the first Land Rover Discovery commercial in the late 1980s before descending into Lowburn by Lake Dunstan just north of Cromwell.
Thursday 01 April
On Day two of the ‘Oxford Land Rover Rally’ we had a frosty and early start with a good drive from Wanaka down alongside the Clutha River and east to Tarras – then north to head up towards the Lindis Pass and turned into Forest Range Station.
We all met in the Forest Range woolshed for a presentation on the genetic breeding program that Forest Range Station started several decades earlier, to achieve some of the finest merino wool fibre in the world – before heading back out to the vehicles to start the steady climb from around 600m straight up to around 1,100m at the back of Forest Range Station before heading to the highest point of 1,398m of the appropriately named Mt. Grandview for lunch.
Rod stopped the convoy on the arching bend on the lee of Mt. Grandview so we could walk up to the summit as well as grab some photos of the convoy snaking its way around the mountainside.
Following a good break, we then engaged an extra low gear to commence the extremely steep decent down to the valley floor before heading for a ‘post-implementation’ report at the Hawea Pub.
Friday 02 April
Day three of the ‘Oxford Land Rover Rally’ and the morning broke with the predicted wet weather coming through from the south.
The track today was the traverse up and over ‘Hillend Station’ – climbing up from the Cardrona Road, past the Cell and UHF Towers (785m) to the highest point (1,199m) along the same ridge line as ‘Roys Peak’ – but turning north carrying on across the razor-back ridge, and then down the zigzag, to exit at the back of Wanaka township, which was the track featured on ‘Seven Sharp’ that screened on TVNZ the previous night (01 April).
Unfortunately, due to the damp conditions it was considered too dangerous as the zigzag section requires traversing a grassy area that was considered too treacherous to cross, so it was a stop off close to the highest point where we could safely turn the vehicles around and descend back down the same route.
Saturday 03 April
Today was officially ‘SHOWTIME;’ Welcome to ‘Wheels at Wanaka;’ A day that should have been the ‘taking-it-easy’ day for us organisers, as all the hard work was done – but the stress levels were still right up there.
06:40am – We stood an EZ-Up using the headlights from the Defender – making ready for the big day.
By 07:30am the coffee had worn off as more Land Rovers continued to line up in their respective areas we had laid out the previous day. The idea was to try and get the Series vehicles organised in rough date order.... well, that was the idea anyway. Oxford at the start – chassis number 20 (R860020) next – then HUE166 – and so on down the years.
Like herding cats!
Rods instructions were clear.
“All line up behind Oxford before 09:00am. Kevin, you’re driving Oxford. Queue up in front of Gate 1. When they want you to enter – the gates will open. Enter the Highland arena and turn left and follow the grass line of the centre of the parade grounds – and keep going around until all the Land Rovers have entered the parade grounds. I will be in the commentary box – so I will be able to see all the vehicles are coming in. When they are all in – I will contact you on the PRS and you turn right onto the centre grass area and park up at the far left and all the Land Rovers will line up alongside Oxford facing the Grandstand. Once they are all parked up – I will call you again and they will open Gate 2 opposite you – and you can all file out through there.
“This is a moving show – so there are parades every 15 minutes throughout the day – so since we are first up, if we (aka – you) stuff this up, it will domino the times throughout the day, so we have 15 minutes to get in – parade – park up – and get out before the Tractors need to enter the grounds – so don’t F@#k it up.”
Right – got it!
Oxford started – good start! Into the parade grounds – and around we go – and around – and around – and around... I could hear the commentary going on – but due to the sound proofing in Oxford i.e. (none) – I could not hear what was being said.
Until the radio squawks into life – it’s Rod; “We are out of time – get out of the parade grounds quick”
By this time, I was on the home straight – there were about 90 Land Rovers driving around the grass square and I was four lanes deep in the centre with all of them following me as more were still filing in through gate 1.
Indicator on – shift left – at the point where all the military armoured Land Rovers were moving into the loop and (trying) to turn left – little, old Oxford is doing an Auckland ‘lane-merge’ – and by now heading towards gate 2 with two ladies frantically waving yellow flags to get someone’s attention to get the hell out!
I glanced in the rear vision mirror and could see Sean Marr in his mint 1949 Series 1 – windscreen full of eye-balls – also trying to merge left through the 101 Gun tractors – as Defenders took evasive action to avoid squashing vintage Series 1s faithfully following the idiot (me) in front...
Rod comes over radio; “That was fantastic...” but I was looking for a cuppa tea and a nice lie down as the tractors rumbled their way into the arena.
In saying that, due to the tractors being slower – and some stalling and refusing to start, they were still trying to get their act together 30 minutes later....
Second parade 1:00pm.
Rod: “Right – new plan: Enter the parade ground – but only go around twice – then head to the centre and park up. Everyone follows Oxford. Kev – you have a passenger, Gemma Nott.”
“Cool – got it.”
Just as we are about to move off, the radio squawks again: “Kev – new plan. Drive around and pull over outside the Grandstand – the commentator wants to interview Gemma.”
I jump out of Oxford and run back to Sean Marr behind; “New plan, mate – don’t follow me. I have to stop outside the Grandstand – they want to interview Gemma. You carry on – but only twice around – then pull up and park in the centre off to the south end.”
Sean – “Right got it.”
I run back to the next vehicle to tell them to follow Sean – and not Oxford – just as Anne Corbett runs over: “Rod said that you have to stop outside the Grandstand.” “Yep – got it”
Get back in Oxford: ”Gemma – did you catch all that”?
“Catch what”?
“They want to interview you.” Gemma freaks out. But it worked like clockwork. Time for another cuppa...
Sunday 04 April
Another early start at the ‘Wheels at Wanaka’ show.
All hell broke loose overnight. Hurricane winds came through, wreaking havoc to the EZ-Up and less substantial tents and display boards. The St. Johns Ambulance tent was found as a crumpled mess high up on the security fencing to the west of the show grounds – with the deformed and crumpled remains of another spotted tangled up in the tractors. Rod said he missed a call at about 2:30am, when they attempted to call all the committee members down to help secure the site.
When I arrived just before 7am, Rod was running around tying tents and display boards down as the strong pre-dawn winds started to pick up the dust and sand blast everything in their path. Despite this less-than-ideal start the day’s first parade went very smoothly. No changes – no interviews. We all filed in – lined up – and moved out easy within the 15-minute time frame as the windbourne dust and sand continued to be blown across the grounds.
The only change to the second parade of the day, was to face the east side of the arena – so the many spectators could try and see the front of the vehicles through the dust...
Monday 05 April
The long way home
My original plan was to fly into Queenstown – attend the Wheels at Wanaka show, and fly out on the Sunday night – but when I heard that all my mates from the Land Rover Series 1 Enthusiasts team were driving down – and back up the west coast, it would have been rude not to tag along with them.
Monday – we were all supposed to be heading out of Wanaka and over the Haast Pass, to explore down the southern west coast for the day – but someone said that the Otago Land Rover Enthusiasts were heading into Macetown – and plans changed – once again!
My Defender had been parked up at the ‘Wheels at Wanaka’, as I was driving Oxford for the parades, so it was good to take it out for a run with the Series 1 team – and it had been about 36 years since I last went into Macetown with the Otago Land Rover Owners Club during the Bannockburn Jamboree in the 1980s.
My daughter and her partner, Myles Naley were in town – but Steph had come down with a cold, so Myles was keen to jump in and go and have a look at Macetown. So, after over a week in the same motel – everything was packed up into the Defender and we headed south out of Wanaka. Meeting point was on the Cardrona Road at 08:00am – but was changed to 07:3 shady sections holding their misty breath in light blue before bursting out into a bright sun as we snaked our way up and over the Crown Range and down into the Kawarau valley heading to Arrowtown and the Arrow River.
The Arrow River was also holding its breath in light blue shades as we bunched up and tested the depth. Myles was very happy with his heated seat in the Defender as we watched the Series 1’s bump across the deep river crossings with their frosty breathed occupants peering out over their little green bonnets. We were barely a kilometre up the Arrow River where we crossed again and commenced an ascent up the road out of the river, when Steve Stant in his 1952 Series 1 started to bump-steer across the track. A diagnosis after jacking the back off the ground, was that the diff had cracked a tooth off a spider gear.
A very long day for Steve
Steve opted to stay with his vehicle until our return – which made for a very long day for Steve – which turned into an even longer day than anyone envisaged. In true ‘Top Gear’ spirit we left Steve behind and pressed on up the valley stopping to admire some of the many sluiced out areas on the way.
We stopped for lunch near some of the remaining Macetown village buildings. It was great to see that these old schist and mud buildings had been looked after and restored, unlike the many forlorn, isolated skeletal remains that can be seen out the back of the Dunstan Road and Old Man Range telling a silent story of unimaginable hardship in a treeless landscape in the coldest temperatures regularly recorded in New Zealand in the area.
Tummies filled and tea sloshed, we packed up and headed back out, following the old pack-horse route with its stacked shist slabbed retaining walls and eventually following Arrowtown’s water pipe as it snakes its way down the river, bouncing off cliff faces and perching on unbelievably flimsy looking supports!
There was no other way we could sneak out – so we had to pick up Steve on the way through (LOL – just kidding Steve – (valued subscriber to the NZ4WD magazine as he is). Steve manged to get most of the way out in 2WD, with just a couple of tows required by the Defender to get him out. The load on a single working diff can result in secondary breakages, so we had to be careful. Since there was no Cellphone coverage up the valley, I used my satellite in-reach to message Rod Corbett to see if he could score a series diff around Wanaka, and he did.
Back at Rods place, we set about gutting the back end out of Steve vehicle, only to discover it was a snapped short axle. Game over.
Meantime, Rod said, “Grab your camera” and we all piled into Oxford to make a presentation outside the Wanaka Search and Rescue HQ to Aaron Nicholson, Chairperson of the Wanaka SaR with $4,500 being the proceeds raised through the Land Rover Safaris held on the three days prior to Wheels at Wanaka.
When we got back up to Rod’s place, we looked at various options – but Steve took the failure of axle quite hard, and simply wanted to get home. Most of our crew had pressed on to Haast, where we had all booked in for the night – while we were still at least two hours’ drive away from a beer and a feed 150km away on the west coast. We shook hands, wished Steve the best – and pressed on into the night.
Postscript: I texted Steve the next morning to see how far he had got – and he was just on the outskirts of Picton having driven right through the night – right across the Mackenzie Country and up the Kaikoura Coast – in a soft top 80” Series 1. Tough bastard!
Oxford’s trip continued
Meanwhile, Oxford’s extraordinary trip also continued, being loaded onto a truck on Wednesday 07 April for transporting to Armstrong Prestige Land Rover Dealership in Dunedin for the remainder of the week before being taken on the tour of the area by the Otago Land Rover clubs.
The following week Oxford was then transported back up to Christchurch while shipping arrangements are organised for the continuation of his journey onto Australia. While in Christchurch, Rod and Anne Corbett took Oxford on the Akaroa Peninsula Amble 15 & 16 May which was very well attended – again, by the local Land Rover clubs.
