Getting together with a bunch of like-minded individuals in New Zealand’s great outdoors is what Overlanding is all about… as 4x4Explorer Richard Soult discovered on a recent trip ‘up the Macaulay River.

During our most recent weeks of guiding down in Central Otago, I met up, in Wanaka, with a Frenchman called Thomas Vialletet from Mountain Lab Tours, who had bought some Maxtrax from us through www.maxtrax.nz.

Thomas is a mountain guide, or as they say in France, Guide de Haute Montaigne. These guys are gods! They have to be able to ski to instructor level, climb on both rock and ice and do ski touring. I lived in France for 20 years and often used to stay in Chamonix, where the French mountain guiding school is located.

As with most of the guides that I have met and used in the past, Thomas is extremely capable whilst at the same time remaining extremely modest and friendly. Thomas is not only a mountain guide, but an expert photographer. Through www.mountainlabtours.com he offers week-long guided photography trips and courses in some of the most stunning spots in the South Island.

I spend most of my time, when not 4WD guiding, living in Marahau, on the edge of the Abel Tasman National Park and so getting from Central Otago is a couple of days drive. I normally stop around Lake Tekapo before heading to Christchurch and then continuing on up North.

In January, I decided that I was going to camp on the edge of Lake Tekapo and then head up to the Macaulay Hut to spend Saturday night.

Meet ‘n greet

I sent Thomas a text informing him of my intentions and asking if he was keen to join. He came back quite quickly telling me that he and few friends had already planned to head to the Hut the same night, so we arranged to meet in Tekapo Village on Saturday morning and head in together.

Leaving my camp spot and heading back down Lillybank Road towards Tekapo, I saw two familiar looking trucks on the side of the road. Scott Gray and Mike. Two regular trip buddies. I hadn’t known that they were in the district and they were planning on heading up the Godley and then back down and up to the Macaulay for the night.

Awesome!

I told them that I was heading into town to meet Thomas and co. and they agreed to meet us at the Macaulay River crossing in about an hour.

When I met Thomas, he had another two trucks with him, making our convoy a total of six. All his friends seemed really great people and before we knew it we had a great weekend in prospect.

I hadn’t been up the Godley in a couple of years and was aware that the Godley River had changed course, making the trip up to the glacier more challenging than previously. A few kilometres in and all on the same UHF frequency, we came across a guy walking out. He told us that he had been in the valley for three days and was waiting for some assistance.

He and a friend had managed to make it to Red Stag Hut but had taken a bad line whilst returning and his 80 Series was stuck in the Godley River. His friend was also stuck on the far bank.

Lucky escape

Not wanting to become casualties ourselves, we headed cautiously up the valley and found their camp with the tell-tale signs of a dunking. Clothes and sleeping bags hanging everywhere to dry... It sounds like they had a vey lucky escape, having been able to exit the vehicle before it was swept several hundred metres downstream, before being hung up on a rock.

We managed to rescue the friend in a Ute, but the 80 Series was too much for us to bite off.

Deciding that that was far enough to go and looking at the grey/blue colour of the water, indicating that it was fresh snow melt, we decided to turn around and head back down to Lilybank before heading up to the Macaulay Hut.

At this stage, Mike was keen to head up to the hut for the night, but Scott was undecided. About half way up the valley Mr Gray announced that he was going to stop for a glass of something before heading home. I hadn’t seen him in a while, so volunteered to stop and share a beverage with him while the others continued on.

Now, after having been on many trips with Scott, I know that he’s not the greatest culinary expert and I have regularly saved him from instant noodles and crackers. After a quick refreshment and sensing that he might be missing out, he offered me a deal. “I’ll come to the hut, if you cook dinner.” I told him that I had just bought a wok and asked if stir fry beef and egg fried rice would be acceptable. About an hour later, we joined the others at the hut.

For a Saturday night, I was surprised that there were only two other people in the hut and they spent most of the evening out hunting, returning empty handed. They had one gun between them, which was a 1917 Enfield 303. My father used to have the same rifle and I was pretty sure that you couldn’t hit a barn door at 50 metres with the thing. We had heard a couple of shots, but they told us that they were just seeing if it fired straight...

Magic evening

After dinner, we lit a fire and had one of those magic five billion star evenings, sitting together, hearing each other’s life stories and making new friends. Just before turning in, we were joined by a pair of Kea. I’ve been to the Macaulay many times but have never seen Kea, so this was a treat, even if there were various parts of my truck missing and visibly chewed the next day!

The following morning, Scott and Mike left to go back and see how far they could get up the Godley. I’m not sure how far they got but was told later that the 80 Series had been recovered and after four days in the river had started first time! True Top Gear stuff! The rest of us had a leisurely breakfast and headed back Tekapo. Having safely recrossed the Macaulay we were driving down Lilybank Road, when a white AWD came towards me in the centre of the road. I had to pull over to let him past and was a little annoyed with his lack of skill or consideration. This was echoed over the radio, as he passed the rest of the convoy.

Gidday maaaate!

A little further on, I received a call from an Auckland friend of mine, who will simply be called John E. Not having spoken to him for a while, being at the wheel and thinking it was probably a pocket dial, I didn’t pick up.

We decided that because it was such a nice day, we would stop for lunch beside the lake before dispersing. Having just made my sandwich, the phone rang again and was John E. “Are you in Tekapo down by the lake?” I told him I was and few minutes later he arrived in a white AWD... Knowing straight away that it was him that we had crossed earlier, I introduced him to the crew...

So, what had started as a solo trip, turned into a six vehicle convoy with the added bonus of meeting an old friend from Auckland.

This is really what I enjoy most about Overlanding. I spent the weekend in amazing scenery, made new friends and caught up with old ones.

If ever you see us out there, please stop and say hello. As we always say, Overlanding is all about going to amazing places and meeting amazing people!