Looking for somewhere different for this month’s Weekend Drive, David Coxon’s regular travelling companion, Ashley, suggested an exploratory drive north of the Whanganui River. Story and photos: David Coxon
Ashley had found a loop from SH3 up into the hills northwest of Whanganui and back to SH3. However, according to the NZ Topo maps the two roads from SH3 did not meet in the middle. The only way to be sure was to try it for ourselves and see how far we got.
With a late start, travelling time to Whanganui, and the short days of mid-winter, Saturday’s excursion was to visit the nearest end of Lake Rotorangi, a 20 minute drive inland from SH3 just north of Patea.
Sunday was our main trip, into the hills from Kai Iwi following Rangitatau East Rd from Kai Iwi, all the way to the end where it split into Watershed road and Ahu Ahu Valley Rd, then follow Watershed Rd, which would hopefully bring us back onto SH3 at Waitotara. If this failed, we had other plans for our return.
The first part of the run on a sealed road was very pleasant and scenic with the sun poking through the clouds occasionally. As we climbed, the road turned to clay and we came into a newly logged forestry block. With the road now slushy and slippery, especially on the corners, we had to engage 4WD and keep the speed down.
A short drive later we reached the intersection where Kauarapaoa Rd looped back to Whanganui, which I had done before (Nov 2017 issue). We were now moving into new territory, and the growing level of anticipation and excitement was only slightly dampened by the ‘No Exit” sign added to the Rangitatau East Rd sign. We now knew we could not do a loop, but how far could we get? The road rapidly deteriorated into a narrow, windy track with grass growing in the middle, but the environment improved from forestry to native bush with fern-covered banks where it was cut into the hillside.
There was a feeling of an exciting adventure as we pushed further into the unknown, with ‘Keep Out’ signs plastered at every possible point where you could leave the road – even if was at a locked gate into a paddock. We assumed these did not apply to being on the road since it looked like a public road, but the signage certainly added to the feeling of being ‘out there’. Eventually we passed a sign for the Jean D’Arcy Conservation Area and felt a bit more secure about entitled to be there.
Coming out of the conservation area, we found an open gate into a forestry block. The signage was a somewhat confusing mix of ‘no exit road’, ‘dogs need to have been treated to come here’ and, on the side of the road, more ‘Keep Out’ signs. After some consideration we decided to keep going as the ‘Keep Out’ seemed to apply to leaving the road. There was a lot more of the same type of road, with some major repair work having been done in some places, and some fallen trees to skirt before we finally came to a closed gate that was clearly the end of public access. What an adventure it had been to get there.
To read the full story in the September 2018 issue of NZ4WD go to Zinio.com (August 17) or purchase your own hard copy at the Adrenalin store.
