“Twas the night before Christmas…OK it was a bit earlier than that – the night of Friday November 27, 2020 in fact - yet it sure felt like it as I headed for bed, with the anticipation of being on the road very early, palpable.

The annual Moawhango School and Community Scenic 4WD ‘safari’ can do that to a grown man. And, if anything, the sense of excitement this year was even greater than in previous ones, what with the disruptions to our recreation caused by the COVID-19 Coronavirus.

The closest ‘main centre’ to the Moawhango area is Taihape; where I headed first to pick up two of my ‘posse’ or ‘crew.’ We then headed to the check-in point at Mangaohane Station’s woolshed where the last member of the crew of 2020 was waiting for us.

Check-in completed along with collecting a small amount of paperwork detailing the day ahead with information relating to the two stations we will be travelling over and maps of the route.

Impressive numbers

Mangaohane Station is a very large sheep and cattle breeding station spread over 4839 hectares. The station winters on average more than 44,000 sheep and cattle and has been transformed with 1500 hectares of scrub cleared and a further 1200 hectares of tussock developed into top quality pasture.

It’s not long before we are all called for the morning briefing, given some more instructions in regards to the morning’s drive, and the lead vehicle heads off into the station proper.

Green pastures with cultivated paddocks roll beneath the tyres as all head west towards Mangaohane Road, hitting the road just above the bridge over the Rangitikei River, then heading right back onto the station for views back onto the road and the river bridge.

Once back on the valley floor and the main farm track, we cleared the tyres as we passed a set of new stock yards for what was to be the climb up Pokopoko, elevation 900m.

It was then a slow crawl along the ridge edge, over the top and down towards a hunting hut set on the ridge against the treeline. The reason for the slow approach become apparent as there was a small section of track which was catching the odd vehicle out just past a set of water tanks.

Still high on the hill, we passed the Reporoa Bog on our right which is the head of the Erewhon Rural Water Scheme, as we slowly headed down hill, towards the Mangaohane road crossing into Otupae Station and its woolshed for an open air lunch in the sun.

Lunch over, it was back in line as we headed out and down into a creek to pass under a bridge (the only real water of the day) before it was uphill again as we entered Otupae Station, which at 8623 hectares is another large chunk of land; in this case with 5300 hectares in grass (subdivided into 166 paddocks), 700 ha in pine and Douglas fir trees, and 2623 ha in tussock.

It’s great open country with views north and north west to Ruapehu and Mt Ngauruhoe in the background. Crossing the Taihape-Napier road we head north east for a while then track west alongside the Makahikatoa Stream and the boundary to Ngamatea Station, with a couple of stops to admire the view along the way, before finally exiting onto the tarseal for a quick trip to the Erewhon Station Woolshed for the days (w)rap up and dinner.

The raffle tickets got drawn, the thank you speeches were made to all the land holders, sponsors and crew and, considering the year the country had endured to that point, let me conclude by saying what an absolute privilege it was to be able to enjoy our day out in the fresh, clean Moawhango air.