Many months of planning and hundreds of emails came to fruition as the first of the 36 4WD vehicles rolled in to the Ranfurly Holiday Park for the Otago Recreational 4 Wheel Drive Group’s biennial 4WD Muster.
The concept for the Muster was simple. Find somewhere to stay, somewhere to go and someone to feed us. The Holiday Park held all of their accommodation for us, local knowledge meant we were able to get access to private tracks, and the small Catholic school provided all our lunches and three amazing dinners.
The first day saw our group, the Blue Team, climbing up to the Buster Diggings in the Oteake Conservation Park. We drove through fog that obscured the view but the droplets on the tussocks were beautiful. Just as we drove into the Diggings the fog lifted and the white gravel sparkled in the sun.
Our planned 20 min., stop became much longer as we explored the area on foot. Lunch stop was at Hut Creek hut. A wee stone hut tucked deep in a valley. No vehicle exit from there so a turn around to head for home. No real challenges on this one but one bit was “A bit more 4W driveyish” according to our leader. The school PTA crew came to the Holiday Park and cooked up a barbeque dinner fit for a king. Sitting outside in the sun with friends and a refreshing drink was a great way to wind up the day.
The sun rose before us on the second day with the promise of a clear, hot day. With permission from the farmer we were able to drive through his property up into the Rock and Pillar range. A highlight on the way was a stone cottage nestled out of the prevailing wind. The ceiling inside was lined with pressed out tin oil cans, some still readable. Lived in off and on, it last had a family of 13 living there in the 1950s.The winters there are harsh with temperatures dropping to minus 20 so they must have cuddled close to keep warm. The Rock and Pillar Range is known for its amazing rock formations. Lunch this time was at Big Hut, built as a ski hut in the 1940s and restored in recent times. An interesting detour on the way home was a guided tour of the Lammermore Whiskey Distillery where they have been illegally distilling whiskey since 1863. Raw whiskey is harsh on the throat so no worries about over-imbibing! The homemade bread was good, though. A gentle mostly blacktop run up the Maniototo valley to Ranfurly and another yum BBQ dinner.
Each day seemed to be better than the last and today was no exception. The entire track was on private land and not regularly used so a bit more challenging. A steep climb from the Pig Route took us up to 20 metres from the summit of Mt Pisgah at 1643m above sea level. The track traversed the ridge line with views of the Maniototo on one side and the Waitaki Valley on the other.
Definitely a more technical track with narrow bits and deep drop offs and some very steep descents. When the leader says go to low/low gear he really means it. The exit on this day was onto the Dansey’s Pass Rd. Very dusty. A refreshing stop at the Dansey’s Pass Pub where we caught up with one of the groups doing the Cavalcade. This is a four-day horse/ heavy wagon/walk/tramp event held annually in Central Otago. I think I would rather be 4WD than be 1HP. Back to camp and cold ham and salads for dinner. Bed before the sun set at 2130.
A quieter trip planned for today. A gentle hop over Rough Ridge to Oturehua, a stop and explore in the old General Store that is noted for retaining its history, and on to Hayes Engineering Works for a guided tour of the works in action. The other group arrived for their tour as we were leaving. A hop up Little Mt Ida then a loop on Mt Ida Station filled up the afternoon and was the closest we got to any mud. Everything so dry. We had a good view of the movie set where Jane Campion was making her latest movie, The Power of the Dog. Dinner tonight at the Ranfurly Lion Pub and a fair bit of teasing about incidents over the week.
The last day and still the sun was shining. Some drivers needing to get on the highway to get home for work (think that a swear word on 4WD trips) so the day was planned to intersect with a main road at lunchtime. We went through En Hakkore. Originally a TB Sanatorium and now a Christian Community. A guided tour down the bedroom corridor where the patients were nursed on balconies in the fresh air gave a few people serious Goosebumps. A paper road through the historic Hamiltons Diggings led to Highway 87 and the end of the Muster for some. We stopped and waited, twice, for groups of horse riders on the Cavalcade. The afternoon was a scenic loop through another farm property. No turkeys were harmed this time, but that’s another story! Returned to a quieter camp and all shared food and had a great last night with the BBQ’s hot, the weather hot, and the stories getting hotter with every telling!
Story by Marion Thomas.
Photos by John McDonald
