Some great 4x4 trips are hidden in plain sight. A trip to, up, then back from Mt Studholme in South Canterbury, is one of them. Richard Soult of 4x4 Explore.co.nz has the story. 

At 4x4Explorer.co.nz we have about 800 Overlanding routes throughout New Zealand. This particular trip started in Timaru, where my good friend and regular travelling buddy Scott Gray lives. 

We had actually planned (another) trip for the weekend but as Scott and I were both also free on Friday, we decided to do a day trip, just the two of us, while waiting for the boys to turn up. 

One of Scott’s favourite local drives is Mount Studholme so that’s what we decided to do. Being less than an hour from Timaru, it’s easily accessible and the views are amazing! 

Room with a view!

The initial climb is steep up a well-formed gravel road and as you gain height, the views open up and are truly amazing. There are views up the coast and out towards the Southern Alps. I was surprised at how good the views were!

On the way up, Scott and I were having our usual banter over the UHF. Nothing apart from normal boys chat and catching up, as we don’t see each other that often. We were probably pretty close to the summit when a voice came over, clear as a bell. “Hey, where are you guys? Been listening for a while and you sound like good fun.” 

I replied that we were at the summit of Mount Studholme and asked him where he was. “Ashburton” came the reply. Now, we were transmitting using the GME on 5Watts and Ashburton was over 100kms away!

A very important lesson in using the UHF! It is definitely NOT secure and anyone with a UHF set on “Scan” can (and is probably!) listening to you.

Mmmmm, lunch!

We stopped for lunch at the top and once again felt happy to be 4WD owners in New Zealand, enjoying a stunning view, weather and each other’s company.

The way down wasn’t too challenging and we were on our own planets, just enjoying the views.

The way back through the forest was quite surprising. I’ve been down to Kurow and seen the number of Wallaby road kill, but thought that the population was contained within a small area. (I still find it funny that Kurow, the home of Richie McCaw has a sign saying, “Welcome to Wallaby Country,” as you enter.) Unfortunately for this article, Scott was leading and despite him telling me numerous times that there were wallabies on the track, I never got the opportunity to capture one on camera. He assured me that the forest was infested with up to 30 wallabies at a time sitting on the track.

A special story

On the way back we stopped at the Waihao Forks pub, a typical New Zealand country pub, one, however, with a special story.

In the bar, in a glass case, there is a bottle of beer, surrounded with poppies and an old sepia photo of a young man. 

The story is that the young man – Ted d’Auvergne – stopped for a beer before catching his train in 1939 to go off and fight in World War 11. Knowing what lay ahead of this young man, the landlord offered him a bottle of beer “on the house.” “Thank you, but keep it until I get back,” d’Auvergne replied. 

Sadly he never returned and the bottle is still there as a memory to so many Kiwis who never made it home.

This is a great day out and easily accessible to anyone with virtually any type of 4WD. 

To have access to this and nearly 800 other tracks in New Zealand, you can subscribe to 4x4Explorer at https://www.4x4explorer.co.nz/?aff=2818