With a week before everyone else arrived, Richard Soult was able to show Aucklander Gavin some of Central Otago’s more remote tracks and trails.

Our trip started in Fairlie and we were due to head cross country down to Omarama, spend the night there, then make our way down to Cromwell where we would be based for the rest of the week.
I have been away with Gav several times and know that he is a solid 4WD driver with a capable vehicle and is also just a great person to spend time with. So, over dinner at the pub in Omarama, I suggested that since it was just the two of us, we could deviate from the planned trip and do some wilderness camping.
Gav immediately said ‘yes’ and so we set off with me thinking about where we could end up at the end of each day.
The next morning, then, we left Omarama in average weather and crossed over the saddle before heading down to St Bathans and the famous Vulcan Hotel. From there, we crossed through Thomson’s Gorge and on to Cromwell.
A quick stop for fuel and other necessities and we took the Carricktown Road over to Old Woman Hut (high in the Old Woman Range, due west of Alexandra, Ed). Despite summer approaching, it wasn’t warm and we were glad that we had had the foresight to buy a bag of coal in Cromwell.
Old Woman Hut is an awesome place to stay and we had it to ourselves and spent a great evening chatting around the log burner. The following morning, we were up early and the view was amazing, all the way to Aoraki/Mt Cook.
It was cold though and the ground was frozen solid. There was a dog bowl on the deck of the hut which had been full of water but was now a solid block of ice!

But first, a rescue…
The plan for the day was to head cross country over to the Old Man Range. The previous weekend, a few trucks had got stuck not far from the hut, so we set off not knowing how far we would be get. And sure enough about 20 minutes in, we came across a RAV4 bottomed out and totally stuck.
The vehicle had been there since the previous evening and the driver had spent the night in it. Though it had been extremely cold he was in good spirits and – obviously – was very pleased to see us. We winched him out and decided that it was probably prudent to head back out and drive around to Fruitlands, via Alexandra, and up to the Obelisk that way.
We explored the Old Man Range, venturing down to Potter’s Hut, then headed to Cromwell for the night.

Nevis the next day
The next day, we headed back up the Carricktown Road, over Duffers Saddle and up the Nevis Valley. The weather was great and we stopped at all the information boards and visited the cemetery. There’s so much history in the Nevis and it’s difficult to take it all in.
We stopped at the Garston Ski Hut and I made a mental note to myself how good a spot that would be on the Wilderness Overlander Trip that we run in February. Lots of room to park vehicles, a long drop, great views and of course the hut for shelter if the weather was bad.
We continued and were both keen to explore the Eyre Creek valley. I had only been in once and had not got any further than Shepherds Hut and was keen to explore further. I’d heard mixed reports about the condition of the hut following recent flooding and wasn’t sure if we would be able to use it. We both have tents, so it wasn’t really an issue.
What was an issue however was navigation. On several occasions, we followed the track only to come across a major washout and a long tricky reverse...
Once at the hut, we were pleasantly surprised. Someone had spent a considerable amount of time clearing up after the flooding and the hut was immaculate. If you were involved and you’re reading this, thank you so much for your work in getting the hut back into such great condition.

Sandflys for Africa
Our plans to travel further up the valley were however dashed. The track beyond the hut was impassable and so the hut was our home for the night. Again, we had the place to ourselves, if you exclude the billions of sandflys! Gav asked me what they eat when we’re not there. They were pretty hungry, so probably not much...
Once out of Eyre Creek, we put some air in the tyres and headed up to Arrowtown and the beginning of the Macetown track. If you haven’t done it, the Macetown track is a definite “must do”. It really has everything. There are over 50 crossings of the Arrow River and some absolutely fabulous high altitude sections before you arrive at the historical settlement of Macetown.
A lot of work has been done to restore some of the historical buildings and it is hard to imagine how life must have been in such a remote location back in the day. I gave Gav the choice of where he wanted to camp and we ended up on a plateau perched above the river and conveniently close to the long drop.
After a great evening reflecting on what a fabulous week we had shared, we headed out, stopping to visit the Chinese Village in Arrowtown and then onto Queenstown for some civilisation and comfort before heading back to Fairlie to meet those joining us for the second week of our first 20/21 season trip.

Gav, his Troopy and
2 x rooftop tents
When I first met Gav I couldn’t have been more impressed with the mods he had made to his Toyota Troopy. On a previous trip, however he arrived with a rooftop tent but quickly abandoned using it because it was too difficult to set up and pack away. This is a good point for anyone thinking about investing in a roof tent. Gav’s truck is pretty high and he just found it too much hassle to set up and pack away every day.
This time, however, he had invested in a clam-style Alu-Cab roof tent and I was extremely impressed with how easy it was to set and pack away.
It’s not the cheapest piece of kit, but as they say, “Pay once, cry once”.
All in all, another excellent trip, and with the summer Overlanding season in full swing I hope that this inspires you to get out there 4x4 Exploring.
At https://www.4x4explorer.co.nz/?aff+2818 we have nearly 950 4WD tracks available. Each track has high quality photos, a detailed description and a downloadable GPS file to make sure that you find the tracks easily and don’t get lost.