Story & photos by Vicky Newport

Westport was our starting point with the trip leader none other than Mr Scotty Newport with me (Vicky) in the passenger seat this time. We were heading into a fairly well known track called The Tailings.  

The Tailings had been hit hard a few years ago by a big windfall and was closed for a time.  A lot of hard work from locals and other four-wheel-drive clubs got it open again. Some parts of the track were pretty slow going as there was a lot of winching, boulders and deep wheel ruts which were causing a lot of diffs to get caught up.  

One of the highlights getting through the Tailings is the Steps (or "Stair Case" as it is known). The slope would be about 40 degrees and I was certainly glad we were going up it and not down.  No one even attempted to drive it as we didn't want any broken trucks. 

There was another 9.30am start Sunday. It was drizzling again but not heavy. We headed to the Denniston Plateau.  Some braved the fog and drizzle and had a wee look around Denniston.  It was a shame the weather wasn't in our favour as the views from here are awesome and a very interesting place to take a walk.  

From here we headed to the Mackley Track.  The fog cleared and we ended up with a pretty reasonable day. 

Once again a great weekend, very adventurous and covered both easy and hard graded trips.  It's hard to cater for everyone but the West Coast has so much to offer. 

To read the full story in the February 2017 issue of NZ4WD go to Zinio.com (January 20) or purchase your own hard copy at the Adrenalin store.