As we headed off for the Pureoras, the dramas for some had already started. On the way to Taupo on Friday night, the
bearings in the alternator of Richard's Range Rover had failed. The local garage at Tirau managed a temporary rebuild, but now (Saturday morning) the engine wouldn't fire. Chris to the rescue! A tow
start solved the problem.Once we reached the camping ground at the entry of the Pureoras, and everyone had aired down their tyres the group broke into two. The shiny trucks headed off to explore the main metal
roads and any easy side tracks they could find. The tough trucks headed for a series of loop tracks, which started only 500m from the camping ground.
Series 3 negotiates the first trail of the day
The first track that we tackled was a little more interesting than first expected. The persistent rain, (which had now stopped, and was being replaced by a stunning day) had made the tracks
extremely greasy. Winching, towing and downhill sliding became the order of the day. Unfortunately Chris's D90 developed a strong magnetic attraction to a large pine tree.
Fortunately the ARB bull bar was strong enough to withstand the impact and only minimal damage resulted.
Chris's little mishap
The remaining tracks of the day contained some good mud bogs, water holes that turned out to be too deep, even for Chris's D90, and a lot of closed in driving, again requiring more towing and winching.
One of the deeper water holes!
The shiny team had found their way to the "geographical center of NZ", and although they
enjoyed themselves, I got the impression that they would have preferred a little more action. Dave Stevens commented no his envy of the tough trucks and how he had had thoughts during
the day of getting a cheap Range Rover and making a "bobtail" tough truck for the next run.
The run on Sunday saw the shiny and the tough trucks combine forces and head for the SF70
area. We started off on some ridge tracks behind the Rangitaiki pub and it wasn't very long before the CB chatter was praising the level of track difficulty. The tracks became
progressively more difficult and the vegetation more enclosed, to the point where some track maintenance was needed. A fallen pine tree, which we managed to make a track around last
time we were in the area, was also cut up and removed from harms way.
Leading the team through a picturesque section of forest
After lunch on a sheltered skid pad, we headed over to the wilderness area of SF70 where there was a lot of playing done in the peat bogs, and a few people ventured up the harder ridge tracks.
With time marching on, we cut back across the frost flats to the pines behind the pub and did one more run along the ridge line before returning to the main highway. Unfortunately, Dave
Stevens appeared to break a rear diff while trying to negotiate what was probably the most difficult hill climb of the day. (Must be time for the locker!)
A great weekend had by all, and looking forward to the next opportunity to explore some more of the 300km or more of trails yet to be driven
