He’s passed by literally hundreds of times over the years but it was only recently that 4x4Explorer Richard Soult decided to stop and spend some quality time around Marble Hill on the Lewis Pass.

With me living in Marahau on the edge of the Abel Tasman National Park and my partner, Andrea, living in Christchurch, I’m a regular traveller through the Lewis Pass. Every time that I have to make the journey, I dread it, but once I’m in to it, with a good podcast on, the kilometres just seem to roll by.

I’ve stopped at the DOC campsite at Marble Hill a few times for lunch but have never spent the night. It’s a really interesting place with a wall built across the Alpine Fault and concrete fireplaces making it possible to have a BBQ or camp fire.

The Wall

The “Alpine Fault Experimental Wall’ (to give it its full and proper name) was built back in 1964 and runs perpendicular across the huge, long, straight (over 480km) Alpine Fault on which the South Island sits astride (or perhaps ‘balances precariously’ is a better way of putting it!).

The good news is that in the past 57 years the wall has remained intact, meaning that there has been little or no serious nth/sth earthquake movement along the fault line despite the Pacific and Australian tectonic plates grinding away deep beneath your feet.

The bad news is that past experience suggests that when it does move, the Alpine Fault doesn’t do things by halves, geologists suggesting ‘large jumps of several metres at a time,’ have happened in the past and will – at some stage – happen again.

I’ve always been put off staying the night though by the prospect of all-night traffic heading down the Lewis and the fact that I’m nearly always there in the middle of the afternoon.

Last orders

However, on my last trip down to Christchurch for the year, in December 2020, I had just upgraded the house battery in the truck and taken it to be fitted by Scott at Opposite Lock, now located in Rangiora. This upgrade is amazing (BTW), having gone from a 50Ah AGM battery to a 100Ah lithium. The invoice was painful, but should out last the truck and maybe me….

By the time this article is published, I will have written a series of articles on building an overlanding truck, which you can read on www.4x4explorer.co.nz as well as here in NZ4WD mag. One of the articles will be dedicated to dual battery systems.

Anyway, my great friend Aaron Rich (he of 5GoOverland fame) and family were also heading north and, battery fitted and Redarc charger reconfigured to lithium, I headed over to their place to see what their plans were.

As extremely experienced overlanders with three kids in tow, their plans are always a bit flexible. I hadn’t spent time with them for a while and was keen for us to spend a night together somewhere special.

Aaron suggested Marble Hill and a track that leads off beyond the campsite, following the walking track that leads up to Lake Daniells, but on the other side of the river.

Somewhere new!

We studied the area on the Topo and it looked really good. I had never been up there and was keen to explore somewhere new. Still with a bit of packing to do and Sylwia still at work, I left Aaron and the kids, agreeing to meet at Marble Hill at 20:00.

I took my time and got there about 19:30. I went down and checked out the river crossing, but after my recent near-drowning at the Macaulay, I decided to wait until they arrived before crossing the river.

Aaron and family arrived five minutes early and after a brief discussion, we set the UHF channel, then headed off to find a place to spend the night. I think that Aaron had also been a bit spooked after the Macaulay incident, so the river, which looked very low, was crossed several times on foot before we committed and drove across.

Only about one kilometre further up the track, we found a great place to camp on what was effectively an island. With concurrent activity in mind, we had both BBQs going while we put up the tents. It’s always such a pleasure to spend time with Aaron and his family. The kids played down by the river, building shelters and drawing in the sand. Such a great Kiwi childhood those children are having!

We had a great evening sitting outside and keeping warm from the last glowing embers of the BBQs before heading to bed. Just as Aaron and co had headed to bed, the Elon Musk Skytrain passed overhead. I called out, but think that the long day had taken its toll and they were all fast asleep! If you’ve never seen it, it’s an amazing spectacle with well over 20 satellites tracking in the same direction.

During the night, nature called and it looked like rain. I was very conscious that we were camped on an island and despite rain not being forecasted, my sleep was slightly disturbed thereafter.

Sun up

The following day was bright and sunny and by 09:30, the sun was on the camp and the temperature rising quickly. I had to be back in Marahau that day, but Aaron’s plans were fairly fluid. We both wanted to see how far up the valley we could get. There’s a hut up there called Blackadder’s Retreat and we were both keen to check it out.

The deal was that I would head up with them and then they would see me safely back to the Marble Hill Campsite. We gave it a good go but a couple of kilometres in, we were beaten by a tree stump and decided that discretion was the better part of valour. The track was very muddy and the trees were promising severe panel damage at the slightest mistake.

A memory that will stick with me for a long time, sadly not photographed, was Aaron with his hand out of the window, holding his three tonne truck away from a tree. He told me that the tree was bending but I have my doubts…..

We headed back out and after having pumped up my tyres at the campsite, I headed North to Marahau.

This was only a very short trip, but well worthy of mention. Being so close to Marble Hill Campsite, but being so far from the main road and noise, we could really have been anywhere. A true wilderness experience!

Having stayed here once, I’m sure that this will become a regular stopping off spot for me on my way between Christchurch and Marahau..

At https://www.4x4explorer.co.nz/?aff+2818 we have nearly 950 4WD tracks available. Each track has high quality photos, a detailed description and a downloadable GPS file to make sure that you find the tracks easily and don’t get lost.

As always, if you see us out on the road or on the tracks, don’t hesitate to come and have a yarn. The reason why we own a 4WD is to get to amazing places and meet amazing people!