Richard Soult goes bush out west and (briefly) samples a Grenadier

The first trip of the 2023/24 season was the West Coast and Marlborough Trip. The season started early, after having received a call from a potential guest, Peter, who was going to be in the Westport area to do some fishing mid-October and was keen to do the Marlborough/West Coast trip. I agreed to run the trip and a few weeks later, I got a call from a regular guest, Gordon, who had recently bought a Jeep Grand Cherokee and was keen to test it out off-road.

Game on! We all agreed to spend the night before the trip and the first night of the trip at the historic Top House Hotel. This is my normal “go to” place and is a real hidden gem!

The hotel was bought a couple of years ago by Helen and Clint and I can’t say enough good things about it. They are excellent hosts and have worked tirelessly to make the place really special.

As this trip was not on the usual trip program, I gave Helen a call to reserve my space, only to be told that they were taking a well-deserved break in Fiji but that Clint’s parents and Helen’s mother would be there and that as a “regular”, I would be more than welcome to join the family in the main house whilst my guests were in cabins on site.

On my way up from Christchurch, I got a text from Peter saying that they had arrived and that there was a 110 Defender and an Ineos Grenadier on-site and asking if they were part of our trip. They weren’t, so I assumed that they were owned by Clint’s parents, Linda and Brian.

When I arrived, the welcome was as expected, and I met Peter and his wife Raewyn and caught up again with Gordon. I was correct in assuming that the two vehicles belonged to Brian and Linda and Brian was keen to come out with us the following day to see how the Grenadier performed off road.

Due to Rugby World Cup commitments, we started slightly later than usual and headed up to explore the Leatham Valley and surrounding areas.

Unfortunately, repairs were being carried out at the crossing which leads to the Branches and Greig’s Hut, so we couldn’t cross. Instead, we headed up to Bottom Gordons Hut, where we had lunch. The weather gods were shining on us and it was a beautiful sunny day. Not quite warm enough for me to take a swim, but still warm and sunny just the same.

On the way back out, I was interested to see if the track to Boundary Forks Hut had been repaired. Last time I was there, the track had been totally washed out and I was in some doubt if was even repairable. Anyway, we went and had a look and the track had been rebuilt and passage was easy to the hut.

When we got back to the hotel, we were just about to have a beer when Brian asked me if I would like to take the Grenadier for a drive “around the block”. Would I? Hell, yes! I’ve been following the Grenadier story since its inception and wasn’t going to turn down the opportunity of getting behind the wheel!

I was simply amazed. Everything about the Grenadier was amazing, from its seats, cabin design, driving position, off road capability, torque. I hadn’t driven a vehicle similar since I had my Range Rover back in France. I certainly wasn’t looking forward to being back in my 1996 Prado the following day.

In my short time behind the wheel, the Grenadier was outstanding, but at 10 times the price of my Prado, it’s unfortunately well of out my price range.

The following day, after exchanging numbers, we headed off to make the cross-country trip to Reefton, where we would be based for the remainder of the week.

We had a great drive over the Porika Track, stopping for lunch at Lake Rotoroa whilst serving ourselves up to the sandflies as lunch. The sandflies there are a special “Kamikaze” breed. Seemingly no amount of insect repellent will keep them away.

I don’t think that the Porika track had been driven for a while. At one point I had to use the winch to pull a fallen log, which was blocking the track.

Over the Braeburn and through Murchison, we headed to Reefton over the Maruia Saddle.

When we arrived in Reefton, it was like being in a war zone. The NZDF were there carrying out a counter insurgency exercise and we arrived in town with armed soldiers patrolling the streets and LAVs (Light Armoured Vehicles) cruising up and down the high street defending against an imaginary insurgent threat. Quite surreal, but as an ex British army officer, it was quite cool to speak to some of the soldiers and discuss how kit has changed over the years since my service days.

Day three saw us heading up to the site of the Big River mine and a quick explore of the A1 Adit, a mining tunnel full of large cave wetas and glow worms.

Heading out of the mining site, just after the first stream crossing, there was a sound like a shotgun being discharged and I looked down to see that my front driver’s side tyre had suffered a catastrophic failure.

Gordon came straight to the rescue with a “rattle gun”. With me on the high lift and Gordon on the wheel nuts, we had the old wheel off and the new one on in no time. It was like a Formula 1 pitstop. Great teamwork! Thanks, Gordon! What would I do without you?

I carry a spare wheel and tyre on the rear door, but the problem with running mud tyres, is that if you get an unrepairable puncture, you end up having to order the tyres. In this case, I had to order them from Westport and felt “naked” driving without a spare. This time, I decided to bite the bullet and buy two new tyres. I kept the best as a spare and put the worst tyre on the roof as a second spare. Because I’m often away for weeks at a time, this will give me a bit more security.

On the way back, I took the team to the Reefton lookout, where we found a NZDF signals relay station parked up in a rental camper van. Certainly wasn’t like that back in my day.

We were chatting to the troops and admiring the view when a couple of LAVs rocked up, giving some great photo opportunities.

Day 4 saw us heading down the Buller Gorge to Westport and up to Denniston. We stopped at the absolutely awesome café at Waimangaroa. Highly recommend! Their pies are amazing and the sculpture garden is well worth a walk around.

We normally stop for an hour or so to explore the Denniston site, but in this case, everyone had been there previously, so we headed off to go up to the summit of Mount Rochfort before heading across the plateau and the Mackley River.

Just as we approached Burnetts Face Rd, we came across a couple of DOC vehicles and staff, who informed us that they were dropping 1080 in the area. I asked if we could carry on and they were pretty laid back saying that we might get some 1080 landing on the trucks, but as long as we didn’t eat it, we would be fine.

Due to the controversy about dropping 1080, no one had been informed of the drop and it caught me off guard.

A little further on, we met another DOC roadblock and here the situation was different. We were told that that the tracks were closed for a reason and that we couldn’t get through. “Computer says NO”.

With no other option available, we backtracked and headed back down the Buller Gorge to Reefton. I was gutted, because the view from the summit of Mt Rochfort, on a clear day, is one of the very best in NZ. Hey ho, you can’t beat the system, but I just wish that DOC had made the drop public so that I could have planned around it.

The final day of this trip is pretty much my favourite. Napoleon Hill. This track is totally unique and should be on everyone’s to do list. We always stop off at the amazing Ahaura Lodge where Robyn puts on an amazing morning tea with scones and pikelets with cream and strawberry jam.

The enthusiasm of Robyn and her husband Malcolm is infectious and it’s always great to see them before hitting the track.
Napoleon’s Hill, as I have said, is an absolute classic! Having passed through the site of the old settlement where there was something like 30 hotels/dancing halls within 500 meters, we dropped down into Noble’s Creek and on to the famous tunnels. It is so prehistoric that I’m always waiting for a dinosaur to jump out of the bush.

The track done and another awesome week completed, we said our goodbyes and headed our separate ways.

Gordon was heading back to Christchurch. Peter and Raewyn were heading to Motueka and I was joining up with Jono Hitchcox from 4X4 Monthly NZ for his annual Operation Overland trip.

I had the day off on Saturday and on Sunday morning the NZDF put on a great display at the racecourse. Another great opportunity to talk to the troops and get close up and personal with the modern kit that they use.

If this sounds like something that you would like to do, have a look at www.4x4exploreradventures.co.nz and come along on one of our adventures.

Thank you so much to Peter, Raewyn and Gordon for being great guests and making the week a total pleasure.