To mark the end of the ‘open’ season, 4x4Explorer Richard Soult and a bunch of like-minded ‘Overlanders’ decided on a trip into the Oteake Conservation Park.

One of the things that has amazed me about the South Island of New Zealand is the size and friendliness of the Overlanding community here. 

Within weeks of taking the ferry to Picton, I was in contact with a whole community eager to show a “Jafa” what the Mainland was all about. I have been visiting the South Island for years, but still the opportunity to meet up with like-minded people was overwhelming; case in point one final ‘end-of-summer’ trip into the Oteake Conservation Park with a bunch of new-found friends.

For those of you who have not been, the Oteake area (nestled between the Maniototo Plain and the Mackenzie Country-Ed) is one of the very best 4WD playgrounds in New Zealand. The tracks are diverse with river crossings, open moorland, steep gullies, high altitude views, gold mining history, great huts and so much more!

Five go mad in...

We were going to be five vehicles in total, coming from Timaru, Temuka and Christchurch. The RV was set for the turn off for Mt Kyeburn on the Dansey’s Pass Road at 20.30. As so many of these great weekends start, I was at the RV and listening into Channel 20, waiting to hear some chatter.

Soon after the agreed meeting time, I could hear the team arriving and told them that I was in position. A quick catch-up and airing down of tyres and we were on our way up the mountain in gale force winds under a clear sky. 

The dash cam footage that was shot with the whole convoy lighting the hillsides with light bars and spotlights was stunning.

We made our way past Brown Hut and onto Tailings Hut, where we were sure to find enough space to accommodate the team.

Clearing skies

The rain fell heavily that night, but we awoke to clearing skies and the promise of an awesome day on the hill. Breakfast out of the way, we discussed the outline for the day and headed off to explore. 

We first visited the Ida Railway Hut for those who hadn’t been before. This is an awesome hut, or rather old railway station now perched some 1300 metres up a mountain. Only in New Zealand would someone consider doing something like this!

New routes

I have been to the Oteake plenty of times but was keen to log new routes for 4x4Explorer. Knowing that I was keen to do this, the team let me take the lead and we set off again, first completing Long Spur and then onto Mt Buster diggings for some photos. 

Those who had not previously visited the area were suitably impressed and those of us who had experience of the area were happy that the weather gods had looked favorably on us and that we had the huge long distance views that make this place so special.

A bit more exploring and we started to make our way to Hut Creek Hut. This is a beautiful little hut with a corrugated iron roof and stonewalls. Best off all, is the log burner! We met a couple of hunters on the way in who told us that they would be back to the hut later and that the fire was on. Epic!

Light fantastic

I know that some of the team had done some work on their trucks regarding lighting and it was a fun run up to the hut again under multiple spot lights and light bars. I must say that the range of aftermarket lighting available at a reasonable price today is amazing. I really wonder how I managed to drive with factory lights for so long.

Once at the hut, we cooked and got our bed spaces sorted out. Most of the convoy had decided to sleep in their trucks, with the remaining two taking the two available spaces in the hut. 

The evening went well with much talk of technical things that I didn’t understand and much bravado regarding previous trips when there had been snow on the ground etc. All in all, a very good evening with a few catching up on sleep whilst the others talked around them...

Early start

The following morning, we were all up surprisingly early and reasonably clear headed. Those of us with enough fuel, decided to have an explore up the Awakino Zig Zag Road as far as we could before we came onto private land requiring access permission. 

This run was amazing, up narrow gullies, vast scree slopes and up onto the tops with views down to the sea. We parked up the vehicles and, despite the strong wind, I launched the drone to capture a few photos.

We made our way back to the hut vowing to return and recovered the rest of the team. The plan was to make our way back to Dansey’s Pass via Green Gulley and the Mt Kyeburn Track.

Top spot!

The Oteake is vast and the scenery is constantly changing. The trip out gave those who wanted some steep little hill climbs and all of us some spectacular high mountain views.

Once back at Dansey’s, we said our goodbyes and dispersed from whence we had come. We had had a fantastic weekend, been lucky with the weather and had made new friendships and reinforced existing ones.

That night, I made my way to Top Hut and spent the night under the pouring rain and gale force winds. The next morning, I headed up and over the Omarama Saddle. On reaching 1400 metres of altitude, the rain turned to horizontal snow. A timely reminder of why the Oteake Conservation Area is closed during the winter period! 

All in all, an awesome weekend, with several new routes logged for 4x4Explorer.

Really looking forward to getting back into this great area in the Spring!

All these routes and nearly 800 others are available on https://www.4x4explorer.co.nz/?aff=2818

Each track has high quality photos, downloadable GPX files, full track description and details of campsites and fuel stations.