Now very much a farming district south-east of Te Awamutu, Ngaroma was once a thriving timber town. This year the area played host to the Te Awamutu Rotary club’s revived 4WD Safari event.

With its proximity (just north of) the fabled Pureora Forest Ngaroma was once the home, in fact, of 50-60 people employed in the area until logging ceased in 1975 and the mill closed.

Jump forward to February 2021, however, and there was once again an influx of people to Ngaroma but this time for the Te Awamutu Rotary Club 4WD Safari. The annual 4WD safari is held in various regions around the greater Te Awamutu district and this year it was Ngaroma’s turn.

The popular annual 4WD Safari has been held since 2001 although it has missed a few years with lack of 4WD experience and manpower and the odd weather bomb washing away sections of the old road.

This time around (despite the ever-looming shadow of Covid-19) it all fell into place and rather quickly in the end with the Land Rover Enthusiast Club (Rotorua Region) providing the necessary route and safety support and Jill Harrison stepping up at late notice to handle the administration of behalf of Rotary in place of the late David Samuel who had been the organiser for the past 12-15 years.

David Samuel sadly passed away in November 2020 after a long and brave battle with cancer and it was his suggestion that the 2021 event should be at Ngaroma. The base for the event was to be the Ngaroma War Memorial Hall which was built in 1994 from some of the timbers of the former mill. The hall stands on the old school site that had closed down December 1976.

There was plenty of grounds for the Safari participants to set up on the Friday afternoon and many arriving with campervans, caravans, and even a horse truck with accommodation. Of course there were still those who opted for the traditional tents. Registration and scrutineering also took place on Friday and there were nibbles in the hall that evening courtesy of the catering crew.

Local knowledge

As the sun rose on Saturday morning we knew we would be in for a nice sunny clear day. Long-time local farmer Mike Williams raised the flag on the flagpole outside the memorial hall. After breakfast in the hall it was time for the official welcome and briefing from Jill Harrison followed by Mike Williams giving a background history of the area from when it was first settled in 1912.

Soon it was start your engines and the rush was on to be at the front. The format was intended to be follow the arrows but everyone was keen to be the first out the gate. It was only a few metres down the road and we turned right into Waipari Road and climb up for the morning views before heading down a slippery track through the trees. The track had ruts down and there was plenty of run off at the bottom but the track was slippery from rain earlier in the week.

Vehicles spaced out as they descended although there was one small incident where a vehicle tapped the rear of John Davies’ Ford Ranger when he stopped halfway down and then moved off again. John and his passengers never felt anything and were unaware of the ‘tap’ until sometime later when approached with an apology. John had stopped earlier and found bits of black plastic in his rear bumper and couldn’t work out where it had come from. Now the mystery was solved and the bits of plastic were returned to their owner.

Giving it the berries!

After the bush area we travelled beside the Mangarata Stream for some time before actually crossing it. It had a hard base but the exit was a little steep catching a couple out initially. One section had a lot of blackberries and a difficult gate to close and while out of the vehicle it was a chance to stock up on the delicious berries. Nothing like foraging for wild foods for snacks between meals and the centre cup holders became an ideal snack box.

The day was warming up and when we came out onto a gravel road, dust was starting to rise. Soon it was back onto another property, however, and we were climbing up to excellent views of the surrounding area. Off to the north-west was Mt Pirongia and east was Maungatautari. Further on we would get the views to the south and east to Lake Waipapa and the Dam on the Waikato River.

We popped out near the intersection of Aotearoa and Wairehi Roads with a short traverse to the next off road section. This included more altitude climbs with even more views. By now we had clear views of the distinctive Titiraupenga.

One thing the Rotary do is provide toilets at locations where they can, especially for the ladies. These were towed by new vehicles supplied by Rosetown Motor Group and were very welcome after bouncing around for a couple of hours.

Taking the stairs

Lunch was on a high vantage point with 360 degree views before heading off again, following the hydro lines for a short while and then looping back and heading north again. We eventually came out through Mike Williams’ Ngaroma property onto Wairehi Road again and a short trip down the road onto his property on the other side. This had what many referred to as the staircase with a steep zigzag climb up the hills that was rough and rutted in places.

Once up the top we had views of the hills we had previously driven along with views of the camp site and where we started out earlier in the day. It was easy to see where we were headed as we could see those who had raced ahead winding their way on the last leg of the day before dropping steeply into the back of the camp site. Just as well there was enough room between the tents to sneak the vehicles back into camp.

There was plenty of time to relax, have a drink to wash away the dust before dinner which was a hangi catered by the Kainga Aroha Community Group in the hall.

Sunday morning and Mike Williams was back to raise the flag once again.

Group photo

Again it was less than a kilometre before we headed off road, this time onto another section of Mike Williams property taking us up above his air strip and to a plateau which gave a grand view of the surrounding district. No wonder Mike has a small hut on the hill here and it was an ideal spot to line up the vehicles for a group photo. Also provided an opportunity to point out the final highest point we would reach at the end.

Back on the tracks we wound our way out to a gravel road for another short drive then entered another property. Signs were now advising a “cup of tea stop” and the last spot before entering the bush was after a small creek crossing and many took the opportunity for morning tea break.

It was then into an old logging track in the regenerating bush which had a few muddy places to splash through. At the junction we turned right onto Mill Road, another logging road that was once a tram line in the early milling days. Apparently the tram lines were over 11km’s long with a couple of side spurs. Back out onto farm land we climbed further hills, before long the radio blurted out that a vehicle had fallen off a culvert and that just happened to be around the corner from me.

Russell Thomas had spotted a wet place and had decided he wanted more mud, however it was a blocked culvert and he had ploughed straight in. Fittingly enough he has ‘Swamp Rat’ on the bonnet of his Jeep Wrangler and he soon winched himself out.

Relic of times gone by

We passed the remains of an old Marshall portable engine, a relic from the old milling days and just past that was a small waterfall before a steep descent into a valley with a small stream, a nice spot to pull off and enjoy a spot of lunch.

Back on the track it was a slow climb through a bush track which again had a few wet spots but nothing to cause problems. Continuing past the Tironui Reserve it was one final steep climb to 635m to the trig point which also had a communications tower. Once back at the road that was the end of the safari.

Over the two days we had done a complete loop of the Ngaroma district accessing many of the high points in the area and had driven some historic logging tracks in the process. Just as quickly had the event increased the population of the area to its former glory days, it soon returned to its rural farming business as everyone departed for home.