As a teenager with a road-legal trail bike growing up in Gore I thought nothing of getting up early of a summer weekend and heading to Queenstown for the day…via Waikaia, Piano Flat, the Waikaia Valley Rd, Fruitlands and Alexandra.

If I was in a hurry I might then take the road/track from Earnscleugh to Bannockburn before scooting down the Nevis Valley to Garston to be home for tea!

Because I was a local I somehow (not quite sure looking back, actually) ‘knew’ not only that these trails existed, but that they were easily traversable by a young bloke on a motorbike and that, as long as the weather held, I’d be able to do a trip such as this one with little more than a few dollars for gas in my pocket and a packed lunch in my duffel bag (remember those?).

It was the same when my family holidayed in Queenstown or Arrowtown. I’d ride up on my Honda XL175 and spend most of my days riding into and out of Macetown and/or Skippers and The Branches.

At the time I thought I knew pretty much every possible place to ride in that fantastic triangle of off-road awesomeness centred on Gore and taking in Alexandra in the east and Queenstown to the west.

 Looking back though, with the knowledge I now have access to, especially through this job, it’s obvious that I was realIy only scratching the surface.

It is with that knowledge that I bring you news of a new website for 4x4 owners from all over the country, indeed the world, www.4x4explorer.co.nz

You can read more about it over the page (pg 6). Suffice to say it combines the best of both worlds, good old real-time getting out there and checking out the tracks by the guy behind it, Richard Soult, and the power and (I’m sure a lot of geeks out there would agree) ‘beauty’ of the internet (of things).

Though not exactly new, the idea is nevertheless perfect for the new face of 4x4 ownership and activity, the ‘Shiny’ or ‘Dull Shiny’ owner with a hankering to get out and enjoy the South Island High Country in the dual-purpose Prado//Pajero/Pathfinder/Terrano or Surf that doubles as main or second family ‘car.’

All we need now, Richard, is a North Island version!

To read the full story in the August 2018 issue of NZ4WD go to Zinio.com (July 13) or purchase your own hard copy at the Adrenalin store