Last year the Plimmer family from Hamilton took their 1956 Land Rover Series 1 on the Matariki Forestry Charity fund-raising Safari hosted by the Whangamata 4WD Club – and this year they invited me and my own 1955 Series 1 along. How could I refuse?
I bought my Series 1 back in 1984 – back when they were as cheap as you could get a 4WD and set it up as a ‘Club Truck’ complete with a roll-over bar, side rails and a sturdy bull-bar as well as under belly protection – other than that, the vehicle is pretty well standard, but the bottom line is, the vehicle was specifically set up for the tough clay conditions found on the Coromandel peninsula – as will be revealed later…
Assembly point for the trip was the Whangamata RSA at 08:30am Saturday morning Oct 17. Do you remember your first day at the Gym? No? Actually, neither do I – but imagine if you can, the skinny white guy in the oversized Boxer Shorts and singlet walking down the row of ‘Fitness Machines’ being snarled at by the testosterone-fuelled ‘Gym-grunters.’
That’s how my Series 1 felt pulling into the car park at the RSA with a full array of ‘Gym-grunter’ 4WDs lined up on 35” tyres. What have I let myself in for I thought as I saw the Plimmer’s Series 1 (hiding) down the far end of the car park – and pulled in behind (let’s see) ah, Adam, Angela, Dale, Leo and Shane. Plimmer 1 (Austen) was missing this year (had grown-up stuff to do!)
Green vs Yellow
The vehicles were scrutineered, and I was handed a yellow ‘calf ear-tag’ and the ‘chief organiser dude (Bhavesh Ranchhod) climbed onto the back of a Ute and ran through the H&S and plan for the day. The ‘Testosterone Gym Grunters’ were the Green Team – and the skinny white guys – I guess that’s us – were the Yellow Team.
We all headed off in the same general direction to Peninsula Road on the way to Onemana to a specially pre-prepared track with many lefts and many rights – up steep little left hand greasy bits and back down right hand crumbly bits. I had noticed by this stage that there were some pretty tidy newish vehicles amongst the Yellow group (aka the skinny-white-guy squad.
I’m not sure how comfortable I would have been scratching my way through the tightly packed groves of newly planted Pines – though the entry form did clearly state that (and I quote): “Finally, please be aware THIS IS NOT A SHINY RUN, and while we are cutting back the bush on the tracks, some “bush rash” will be inevitable, so please leave your Shiny vehicles at home.”
By this stage, of course, the joy of running my old Series 1 through dense bush was all coming back like a blast from the past – and we were soon back on the black top and heading further north turning into the road to Opoutere and into Kapakapa Road where we filed up through the mature pine forest blanketed in dust to reach an altitude of 300 metres – where I am confident there would have been extensive views out over Opoutere Beach to Slipper Island and the Aldermans had it not been for the wall of Pine trees – but our attention was focused on the tracks and keeping an eye on the vehicle behind.
We emerged on the other side in the basin catchment of Duck Creek (the small single lane bridge you cross on your way into Pauanui). The view had kindly been cleared and we could appreciate our height with views north west over the rugged, yet exotic extinct volcanic profile of The Pinnacles.
Good Buggers
The good buggers of the Whanga Club had done a deal with the other good buggers at Mitre 10 and laid on lunch covering all the essential food groups – bread (grains), sausage (protein), onion (vegetable), and sauce (essential vitamin and minerals), fizzy drinks (more essential minerals) – even some cookies to put in your pocket for later.
Following the feast – we entered the play area, a boggy bit followed by a steep bit with a really bad ‘ramp-over’ bit at the crest. Adam and I stood at the crest of the near ridge watching the vehicles belly out and discussing strategy. I mentioned how I had installed a belly bash plate on my Series 1, how it protected the soft gear-box cross-member from impact… Have you heard of the curse of the ‘Black-Jellybean’? – yep, Adam king-hit a gnarly stump on the slope. The impact crushed that soft cross-member, smashing it up into the bellhousing and took a chunk out of the aluminium casting. It brought tears to my eyes just looking at it…
Onwards – we headed into the tight bits, and spent some time winding back and forth through the tightly planted pines noticing an alarming number of fresh scabs – some boasting paint remnants on the immovable Pine trees, as we cross axled over the surface roots. This is why you pay the money for ‘Rock-n-tree’ sliders!
It was getting late in the day, and it was time to part company. Since I was headed north, I slipped out the side gate to SH25, along with the BBQ and Sausage transporters, while the rest of the team went back out south through to Opoutere. Distance covered 57.8km
Had a great Saturday night at the Whangamata RSA. Such a massive menu! If you are in Whanga, you have to call in. The place was packed!
Sunday – we met again at the Whanga RSA – but this time the skinny white guy was wearing a lot of ‘Body-bronzer’ (Coro-mud) and had some street credibility. Eeewhy (EY) was spied undergoing some minor surgery with a cutter blade, slide-hammer and MIG to release the pressure off the Bellhousing. The Series 1 mechanical clutch depends on the bellhousing being located correctly and the large fold was not helping.
We all convoyed off south for the 30 minute drive to Waihi, were we met at ‘Rocket Park’ and a quick ‘Prize-giving’ recognising the ‘Bloopers’ from the previous day. We then teamed up again and headed into the interior, turning up Campbell Road and into Waitekauri Road.
The Bushman
I have a poem on the wall of my shed by Dick Fraser (1913-1991) called ‘The Bushman’ – it reads: “Have you ever been to Whangapoua, ever been in Kennedy Bay – Ever eaten bread and bully out the old Waitekauri way.”
Waitekauri has a huge history in the Coromandel – from Gold to Kauri recovery, the whole area is riddled with old Bullock tracks, old mines, hidden shafts, tramways and tunnels. Hunting dogs are often lost down the unguarded abandoned mine shafts.
We turned off the Waitekauri Road and on to a mixed forestry road that went straight up to the tops. With slightly larger tyres and a massive 52hp under the hood, the Series 1 struggled to the point where a quick shift into low ratio was necessary halfway up a particularly steep bit.
We passed the lunch spot (marked by the busy folk unpacking the BBQ and Marque) high on a milled clearing in the forest block before diving off the edge through the cut over forest into a tight stream crossing among the regrowth gorse and young Pines. This caused some discussion observing the various techniques of square on, or angle attack depending on the attack angle of the vehicle. The nuggetty little Series 1s just chuffed their way through without drama – while others excelled in the drama with much engine revving and mud.
Up and along the ridge, we hit the old native bush before winding down into the valley below finding ourselves stopped near the bottom to the dulcet tones of a bogged vehicle being thrashed in a depression of thick yellow clay. Time for tea I suspect – so about two micro-seconds after we emptied the Thermos – the car in front moved forward – of course. (Black-jelly bean syndrome again).
A little history
The bush track at the bottom of the gully was cut around the hillside for a bush tramway Back in 1870, Waitekauri boasted a 41-head stamping battery, which is massive. Most Central Otago batteries were typically less than 10. Stamper batteries were used to smash the gold bearing white quartz rock into dust, so Mercury and cyanide could be used to extract the gold from the paste that remained. The remains of the large ‘Victoria Battery’ and extraction plant can still be seen alongside the Ohinemuri River opposite the Waikino Pub up the Karangahake Gorge on SH2 before Waihi.
Around the corner were the queued-up vehicles. The hole had a steep entry and a steep exit over a ledge. This is where long-wheel base vehicle have an advantage over short – depending on their attack angle.
Alas, my 52hp did not prove powerful enough (!) to launch us airborne over the top of the ledge, so an extraction was in order. Adam’s Series 1 was soon hitched up to the front as I braced myself for the impact as he had a Series 2 motor with and an extra 8hp over mine! Boom-baby!
We crept along the tramway stopping to photograph some of the Mine Drives into the hillside – what were once a hive of activity – appear a forlorn forgotten error of the tough pioneering days of this part of the country.
At the end of the track, the tramway passes through a clay cut tunnel – which is slowly melting as the entry is being blocked by the collapsing clay cliff above. Last year they drove it – but the exit was hardly standing height and partly blocked by a very soft sticky mound of clay, so wasn’t recommended.
Around the corner and up the hill for our BBQ lunch before heading over the back of the hill for some technical sidling corners and steep little hills until we reached “The Wall”.
Yep – a steep boulder strewn track with a short wall about a metre-high, right at the top of the steepest bit. One vehicle at a time. I didn’t walk up to check the track first. Big mistake.
Whoops!
My turn. Around the corner – bump – bump – bump – very steep – around to the right – and oh crap! Split second decision to hit the right hand side – right front wheel grabbed – launch upwards – left wheel off the deck – left rear lost traction – only sky ahead. Stop. Hold. Vehicle springs gently and what feels like at a point of balance. ‘Driver-Assist’ very quiet – white knuckles holding on to the edge of the seat. Quietly slip into reverse – ease off the clutch – gently. Ease off the foot brake – and the Land Rover settled down on all four wheels. Time to breath.
Adam’s head pops over the edge – “Try the left side”. Breath. Slight left – grip – up over the top. ‘Driver-Assist’ still steering at the windscreen. Well that killed conversation for a bit I can tell ya’.
Tsime for a leftover sausage and bread before we said our goodbyes and headed down to the flats by the road to air-up.
This was the first reasonably serious off-roading I had done in the Series 1 for far longer than I care to remember – and loved every minute of it. The basic design of the vehicle and the way it is set up just suited the terrain perfectly. Right up there with the best trips I have done.
I will try and get some more Series 1s lined up for next year, but with the increasing value of the vehicles, most owners are opting for ‘non-scratchy bits’ – but this was just so much fun. Many thanks to the Whangamata Club for organising the trip – and will see you all next year.
Oh, almost forgot, too. You can watch the video I made of the event at
Youtube/Kevz110.
