OK, it wasn’t quite the famed Rubicon Trail. But a short, steep gully north-west of Wanaka tested Wrangler and driver alike at a recent media/dealer day.

By Ross MacKay

It was a simple enough invite – to join a small group of journos and Jeep dealers on a day-long Wrangler trip through Central Otago. But often the simple ones are best.

With a new and (by all accounts) much improved model in the wings but at the time yet to be officially released, the timing of the event (in early November) did seem a little odd. Once in the 03 calling area, however, things slowly started to fall into place.

Check out any launch story on the new 2018 Wrangler line in a US, Euro or even Aussie 4x4 mag and the scenery should me familiar.

It should because the ‘long lead-time world press launch’ was held just a week or so before we arrived. In fact, we found out later that the very 2018 model year Wranglers the long lead-time launch guests drove were parked behind the closed doors of the workshop of the local dealer when we turned up to pick up the 2017 models we were to use.

It’s not every day, of course, that the company you represent holds its world media launch in your back yard. Nor is it every day (or even year for that matter) that the company which organises Jeep Jamboree events in the US has it staff ready and waiting to help the world’s specialist 4WD media get the most out of the new Wrangler – literally – just down the road from one of your tourist hotspots.

So, calls were made, plans hatched, and just as the ‘world’ media were flying out of nearby Queenstown, a group of local dealers and journos were flying in.

To do what, exactly, was never really explained in specifics, all I knew, beforehand, was that we were going to be driving Wranglers.

Initially it was from Queenstown to Wanaka via the Crown Range, then on past Glendhu Bay (reviving childhood memories of long, scorching hot summer days) to…well that’s where it all started to get interesting.

It must  have made an imposing sight as our convoy of seven 2017 model Jeep Wranglers hustled along the dry, dusty Wanaka-Mt Aspiring Rd, barely slowing for the occasional ford until we reached the Raspberry Flat car park on Mt Aspiring Station where a catering crew (yep all the home comforts) was waiting with morning tea.

On a gorgeous spring day this was about as far away from my usual Auckland commute-office-commute routine as you could get, and it was only going to get better.

Back on the road (private now that we were officially on Mt Aspiring Station) and several km further up we stopped and were introduced by chief guide Shawn Gulling to what he called simply a ‘boulder field’ but which I prefer to think of as ‘Gulling’s Gulch.’

It was here that everything fell into place.

Shawn Gulling, you see, is Vice President, Operations/Events for Georgetown, California-based Jeep Jamboree USA, a company which has been organizing events for  Jeep owners since 1954. Originally set up and run by US off-road icon and Off-Road Hall of Famer Mark A Smith (wo died in 2014) it now employs more than 700 staffers who run over 50 events (in the US and around the world) each year.

The company – and with its close working relationship with Jeep – is synonymous, with the Rubicon Trail, a torturous, rock-strewn 35km part-road/part-trail (as Wikipedia describes it) west of Lake Tahoe in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains.

It is on the Rubicon where all off-road capable Jeep models are tested, and only when they pass muster (i.e. make it through) that they get their ‘Trail-Rated’ tag.

After a brief welcome, introduction and the all-important Safety Briefing, Shawn explained that we had four LWB/four-door Trail-rated Rubicon model Wranglers at our disposal.

Two were tricked up with Warn winches, lift kits, long travel Bilstein struts and shocks and aired-down BF Goodrich M/T tyre, and two were stock standard showroom floor examples with BF Goodrich A/T tyres running road pressures.

The rest was up to us…and our two trail guides. Which was where off-roading US-style obviously differs from the local version.

Here, for instance, mud is usually both the biggest challenge, and greatest source of fun. And while the driver might get out and scope out a particularly gnarly bog, or river crossing, he or she will usually only seek help AFTER coming to a grinding halt.

The ‘Rubicon way’ is the opposite and once we had selected 4WD Lo Range and locked (via Jeep’s handy dash-mounted rocker switches) both diffs our assigned guide started walking/climbing backwards up Gulling’s Gulch, pointing this way and that as we crawled up, over and yes sometimes into, the various rocks, steps, shelfs and drop-offs that constituted the climb.

With the hand signals came the occasional voice command, usually an exhortation to either get into or out of the throttle. Often there were only millimetres in it, and to get around a rock or bluff you had to take a couple of bites at it.

It was at these times that I remember offering up a quick ‘Chur bro’ to the God of automatic transmissions – which our four Wranglers were equipped with.  

With driving experience ranging from ‘some’ to ‘bugger-all’ it could have been a recipe for disaster. Instead it was an object-lesson in planning, trust and the ability of Shawn and his guides to encourage, cajole and occasionally prod us (way) out of our comfort zones yet still well within those of the Wranglers we were driving.

None, to be fair, came away completely unscathed/ But while the climb was definitely easier in the lifted pair, I actually enjoyed the challenge presented by the lower slung, less wieldy showroom stock pair more.

After an al fresco BBQ lunch anyone who wanted to could keep going but all too soon it was time to head back to Queenstown. Not, as it turned out, without, some more off-roading, this time across some virgin river flat and some long runs across and downstream the upper reaches of the mighty Matukituki River.

Once back on the road and out of lo-range, the rest of the trip passed quickly and - bar the usual slow camper van trailing a line of frustrated other road users as we climbed the Crown Range from the east side this time – uneventfully and we were back at our lodgings well before the sun dipped behind Ben Lomond.

Speaking over dinner, Ateco Group NZ Boss David Smitherman made no secret of his desire to get more Jeep owners out and about here, and if there is the interest, to experience the Rubicon Trail for themselves.

To which, if Shawn Gulling and his team from Jeep Jamboree USA are involved, and it is anything like the day at Gulling’s Gulch, all I can say is, the line starts behind me!

To read every story in the February 2018 issue of NZ4WD go to Zinio.com (Jan 20) or purchase your own hard copy at the Adrenalin store.