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The Maratoto track is situated 10-15km North of Paeroa, on the Western side of the Coromandel Ranges. The track is on Department of Conservation land, and through a working relationship with
DOC, the maintenance of the track is undertaken by user groups (although I think that the 4wd users are the only users that actually participate in the track maintenance). The track consists of a main, one way in,
one way out track that takes about one hour to drive one way, and then a loop track which starts and finishes from the far end of the main track. The loop track, in its current state, can not be fully driven by a
4wd, but can be driven by motor bike or quad. I attended the latest working bee on 24th September, along with members of several other 4wd clubs, mainly from Auckland, although there were some up from Rotorua and
Taupo as well. For me, this was my first experience 4wheeling the Maratoto Track. As people arrived, they were broken into teams of three vehicles, and allocated tasks and areas of the track to work on.
Where possible, vehicles were loaded up with bags of stone which were transported to the upper levels of the track for crossing and culvert maintenance. Our team of three vehicles was sent off equipped with a chain
saw and petrol hedge trimmer and asked to work on any areas we found that were starting to overgrow onto the track. We ventured up the main track, which I must say was in very good condition considering we were
coming out of the winter months (DOC keep the access gate locked over winter to reduce damage). There had only been minimal water damage to the water tables over the winter, and although the track consisted of a
lot of stone and boulders, would have been easily drivable in a "shinny" with all terrain tyres.  The main track to the top is really quite easy going
However, if the weather was to turn nasty, this track is not the place you would want to be without good mud tyres. When wet, the underlying rock, which at times forms terraces that
you have to drive up and over, becomes very slippery (greased Teflon would be an apt description). I was to experience this first hand when, at one point in the track, we had to
climb up onto one of these terraces.
With the vehicles in front having carried mud and water onto the rocks, they had taken on their
slippery nature. One moment I was quietly crawling up the rock, the next I was sliding sideways towards a 2-3 foot drop off that would have definitely rolled the Range Rover.
Fortunately, the tyres found some traction just before we went off the edge, and we managed to hold our ground.
I have to admit that I have never been that close to rolling when off-roading!!! 
One of the rockier sections
We continued up the main track until just before the camping area, where the track forks into
several, what we thought were, parallel tracks. But somehow our team leader managed to put us on to the clockwise end of the loop track. Once you are off the main track, the track
conditions change quickly. Bog holes start to appear, and the track passes through some very deep cuttings. At this point, without sliders and good front and rear bars, you could almost
guarantee panel damage on a Range Rover. (I recommend that you don't attempt the Loop Track unless you have good bars, or a prepared to accept some level of damage)
After 1.5 hours of driving from the access gate, we had arrived at the first area of the track that needed some trimming. We stopped for lunch first, and then made short work of any
overhanging vegetation via the hedge trimmer, chain saw and machete. About 600m of track was cleared, and then we broke out onto clear track again. This next section of the track
descended down to the river bed, and was possibly the most difficult section of the track to negotiate on the way back, due to the relatively long uphill sections of slippery and rutted rock.
The rear locker was a necessity, as was plenty of forward momentum. 200m further on from the river bed, our progress was halted by a washed out culvert. It was
just crossable using a quad, but completely unsafe for 4wd's. With the day marching on, the team turned around and headed back for the main track, and from there back down to the access gate.
I thoroughly enjoyed the day. The opportunity to explore tracks that I hadn't been on before is always a thrill. The views from the ridge tops are quite stunning, and I would recommend
the main track to anyone with reasonable 4wd skills, common sense, and good weather. |
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