Being a member of the Southern Trail Blazers 4WD club of Gore has given me the opportunity to see some of New Zealand’s most spectacular back country with a great bunch of people.

Story and photo by  Daniel Richardson

A club trip in mid-August took us to new country for many of the members with a trip to the South Canterbury area.

Six vehicles met in Timaru early on a cool but clear Saturday morning for the trip to Mesopotamia Station, a family-run sheep, deer and cattle farm of just over 10,000 hectares (25,000 acres) located in the Rangitata Gorge some 95km from Timaru.

From there we would follow the 4WD track through the Te Kahui Kaupeka Conservation Park to Mistake Flats Hut.

River levels were low with almost no water in the crossings so we continued to follow the well-marked track as it veered off into the Havelock River.

Pulling into Mistake Flats Hut 800m above sea level where the Forbes River meets the Havelock River there was still evidence on the ground from the recent snowfall in the area.

After looking around the tidy well-kept hut we began our 28km journey back down the rivers to Mesopotamia Station.

This was another enjoyable and memorable 4WD trip into some of New Zealand’s most pristine back country.

To read the full story in the November 2016 issue of NZ4WD go to Zinio.com (October 24) or purchase your own hard copy at the Adrenalin store.