Some of my fondest memories as a kid are of camping in the mountains of Northern California with my family. Dad making campfires, going hiking, canoeing, falling overboard, and generally exploring the outdoors. Since then, my passion for the outdoors has carried on growing.
So, eight years ago I bought a 4WD to allow me to explore the farther reaches of my new South Island home, the 4WD lifestyle fitting like a glove. Despite being a conservationist, my Dad was one of the biggest supporters of my newly-found passion. This ended up being emotionally and monetarily when the motor died on my 4WD near the beginning of my 4WD experience. But that shouldn’t come as a surprise as Dad was an old timey closet 4WDer, getting paid to drive an old OJ Simpson style Bronco around tracks like the Rubicon while he looked for endangered frogs in the California mountains.
When Dad passed away a number of years ago, one of the things we inherited was his fancy Sony DSLR camera and a rather nice assortment of lenses. I have always enjoyed a nice photo but don’t have any background with photography. So initially the camera didn’t get a lot of use with my wife getting it out occasionally to shoot 4WD trips. But recently it felt like time to put in the effort to get acquainted with Dad’s old gear and try my own hand at photography.
When my mate Jamie from Motueka said he had a little crew coming down to do one of my favorite 4WD tracks to one of my favorite camp spots it seemed like a no-brainer to take the camera along. Just the sort of thing Dad would have enjoyed.
With gear loaded up I headed through Reefton to meet the crew at the Iron Bridge. Yep, we were headed through the Mackley River and up to the Denniston Plateau where we would tackle the challenging Mount Fredrick track.
After kicking rocks for a few minutes, a combo of blue Toyotas showed up. Jamie and his family in his early 90s Prado and Stew in a late model 76 serries Cruiser (double diff locked of course). Stew had recently purchased the vehicle, and this was to be his second real 4WD trip. What a way to start out (both truck and track).
Some friendly radio banter between old mates (Jamie) and new (Stew) kept us going through the bush toward the Mackley River. Now I’ve been through the river several times but its beauty never ceases to amaze me. It was the perfect place to get the camera out and start firing away as the trucks cut bow waves across the river. Despite my lack of photography experience, it felt like with the scenery and cool trucks I was bound to get some good photos.
Past the river the track starts getting steeper as you climb up and down through valleys and over ridges as you head up to the Denniston Plateau. One of my favorite bits of track is a section of road where you drive along parallel with an old coal seam as it slopes down at the same gradient as the road. It makes for such a unique driving experience.
Eventually we made it up to the turn off to Mount Fredrick. It’s an unmarked intersection, so if you know you know. Near the beginning of the track is the most tranquil little stream and from then it’s all on. I led the convoy and found myself hung up on a steep step over a log before we were even out of sight of the stream. A hole and the log were just at the perfect distance to trap me. I couldn’t even get my door open, Jamie and Stew had to come to the rescue. They threw a few rocks in the hole letting me give the truck a bump, popping me over the log. Jamie and Stew took advantage of their handy work and cruised up after me with no problems.
After that little hiccup we were to the real climb up the mountain. This starts with a very steep track up a long rock face. It is intimidating, but especially intimidating when you’ve never seen it before. With appropriate skepticism Stew walked the hill and we showed him the line and gave him encouragement. Pointing the trucks at the sky we headed upwards. Camera out again of course! At the top Stew was all smiles with his latest achievement, as he should be!
From this point on it is one obstacle after another all with perfect traction due to the huge slabs of sandstone. Jamie is an old hand at this 4WD thing and was actually the reason I got mine in the first place. He is amazing at giving advice and encouragement (goading) to try harder lines. I’ve driven this track a couple times before but was able to do some better driving and more challenging lines with his help. I learn something every time we go out together. Stew, possibly being in a bit over his head, was in good hands and enjoyed the challenges.
The crux of the climb is probably little waterfall you drive up, or maybe the incredibly steep slab at the end of a super steep scrabbly climb near the top. Either way both were negotiated with relative ease by the crew, though my rock slider really got put to the test on an unseen boulder at the top of the slab. It’s hard to look for rocks when all you can see is sky out the windscreen. As we climbed higher and higher the sun emerged from behind the clouds and we were treated to a spectacular evening! Perfect evening light for some more photo practice! Once again, the rad trucks and gorgeous surroundings made it feel easy to capture a good shot. Maybe a really nice camera helps too.
Parked up at the top, cold beer in hand, it really soaks in what a serene place this is to set up camp. Stew was really beginning to see the appeal of this 4WDing. An evening spent yarning around a campfire only solidified that notion.
After a peaceful night in the back of the Pajero, coffee was enjoyed on a warm sunny morning. We had all brought bikes with us as Denniston also has some cool riding. Jamie’s family decided to tackle the decent down Mount Fredrick on two wheels instead of four. Along the way this gave me an opportunity to try my hand at action sports photography. Near the bottom of the track I took photos as one of the kids, Kailash, aired off a ledge gapping out onto a smooth rock face below. I was able to get a photo of Stu coming down the same slab in his truck. The juxtaposition between my two favorite modes of transport was pretty cool.
We had brought bikes because we had our eye on a specific trail for riding. A long decent through the native bush following an old miner’s track. But since this is NZ4WD magazine and not NZMTB magazine I’ll just say that the track turned out to be more adventure than we expected. Envision carrying your bike through West Coast jungle while trying to navigate huge slips that had taken out the trail. Everything with Jamie seems to turn into an adventure somehow.
After a long day out on the bikes and in the vehicles, we decide the best thing to do is to poke our noses out to a secluded part of the beach at the bottom of the Denniston Plateau for another beautiful evening of campfires and yarns. Just another amazing spot to camp where 4WD is required.
Sitting around the fire I had a moment to reflect on the enjoyment of trying to capture the weekends adventures on camera. It was certainly more effort than just snapping a few photos on the phone, but somehow the act of trying to frame a good shot, get the settings correct, choose the right lens, all makes the photo achieved so much more rewarding. And it was certainly cool to have a little bit of Dad’s kit along as a reminder of how much he influenced me to enjoy the outdoors and 4WDing specifically.
The next morning, we parted ways with Jamie and I headed back towards Reefton and Stew taking his (only slightly more dinged up) truck up to Karamea for some much-deserved RnR after what was truly a challenging second 4WD trip.
All I can say is: trucks, bikes, mates, camping, I think I’ll be looking to do that again soon.
