We went on two of the organised runs over the weekend - a mud run at Mamaku, and a trip up Mount Tarawera.

The Mamaku run was quite thrilling. It had rained heavily the night before and it was extremely greasy. The tyres I had on were Firestone RMT's - a reasonable half-and-half tyre, but as it turned out, totally inadequate for what was a full-on mud run.

We slid down the first hill in the ruts, but we were essentially tobogganing with no control. Then it got worse. The mud at Mamaku is very sticky, and bogged up our tyres. We couldn't climb a gentle rise and had to be pulled up. We were near the front, and I was embarrassed to be the first to need a tow. As it turned out, we needed plenty more recoveries, and so did most people. I was relatively inexperienced which didn't help much either.

There were two really tricky pieces. The first was a muddy hillclimb with a slalom half way up and an axle twister at the top. Even if you rushed the climb, the slalom would slow you down, and then you couldn't get over the axle twister. Only vehicles with axle diff-locks could get up unaided, everyone else had to get as far as they could and then stop and get pulled up to the top. A Surf popped a tyre off the rim trying to climb the axle twister.

The next tricky section was a steep greasy downhill with holes in it. If you got into the holes you might end up on your side. We got through OK, but Arthur wasn't so lucky, putting his D90 on its side (see above). The next day two more vehicles did the same thing on the same track.

I resolved to buy some full-on mud tyres after this trip. Thanks to a some advice from Tony I was able to latch on to some BFG Mud Terrains in 255/85 size - a combination which is just about ideal for a 90 with no suspension lift.

Mt Tarawera was a blast. It was the first time I'd driven it, and the scenery is amazing. The track is enjoyable too - we've been back a few times since. After lunch at the top of the track we walked around the crater, and then descended the track and skirted the shores of Lake Rerewhaakaitu, weaving along the beaches and wading where necessary.

Overall, we had a great time.
 

Access is via a easy 4WD track from the south side. There is a toll charged by the local Maori, whose land the track crosses. Last time I went it was $35 a vehicle, I gather it has now gone up to over $135.

There are other tracks off to the side, but these are forestry tracks and have locked gates.  I've been through that area twice on organised club trips.