2017 TOUR ITINERARY

Night 0. Wednesday March 01 5pm Meet up at Destinations Motor Lodge in Dannevirke. Day 1. Tour sets out from Dannevirke on morning of March 02. We head east and hit the coast at Herbertville and turn south hugging the cliffs and seashore passing through public and private lands ( Akitio Station, Owahanga Station, Mataikona) and on to Castlepoint where we have the whole hotel and cabins to ourselves. Day Leader Bill Ryan. Day 2. The Wairarapa is a big place and we will cover more than 130kms travelling down the coast to our hosts at Glenburn Station. Day Leaders Andy and Sue. Day 3. We swing inland after Glendhu Station ( not least to cover some ground) but return to the Coast at White Rock and on down and around through Cape Palliser to our stay at Lake Ferry Hotel. I might add that the Martinborough Fair was on this day and we were going right past. Just saying... Day Leader Bill Ryan. Day 4. Sunday March 05. Big Day: We catch the Interislander Ferry at 1.00pm but perhaps have time for a small diversion or t wo on the way in to Wellington. We get into Picton at about 6.00pm and make a beeline down to St Arnaud Alpine Lodge. Day Leaders Vaughn and Denise West. Day 5. We head west today and then up as far as the road will take us to our next destination, Last Resort at Karamea. But we will be climbing up and over via the Denniston Plateau and getting wheels wet in the Mackley River. Day Leaders Peter and Jenny Whimp. Day 6. Back down the coast to Westport and over Arthurs Pass to Flock Hill near Lake Pearson and Craigieburn Forest. A short diversion to Napoleon Hill is on the cards. Day leaders Geoff and Christine. Day 7. Glenfalloch Station is our Day 7 destination for the night, taking in Porters Pass into Springfield and the start of an interesting new trail through High Peak Station, over the Rakaia Bridge and up the river to Glenfalloch. This stay is fully catered including dinner and breakfast. Day leader Bill Ryan. Day 8. This day turned out to be a pearler. We wheeled way up the back and over to Lake Heron Station ( our hosts for lunch) and our stay at Mount Potts Lodge. If time permitted the plan was also to have a crack at the Mount Arrowsmith track on the way or a look at Erewhon Station. Day Leaders Allan and Val Orr. Day 9. Our destination today was Timaru but we went via Mount Somers, Ashburton and Geraldine. Mostly asphalt but Rosemary and Brian could be depended on to make the day entertaining. Day leaders Brian and Rosemary Archibald. Day 10. We head to Omarama Heritage Gateway Hotel for t wo days stay. This location gave us plenty of options with all the usual suspects available. On the way there we took in Oamaru, Pleasant Point, Cave and Albury before a run up the lonely Mackenzie Pass and over to Black Forest Station. A 1000m plus ascent was accomplished before the run down to Lake Benmore and stay at The Heritage. Day leaders Richard and Dianne. Day 11. The plan on Day 11 was to head up the Ahuriri Valley or Hopkins Valley or maybe something completely different eastwards. Depending on river flows there was also the opportunity to have a crack at Macaulays Hut up the Macaulay River behind LakeTekapo which makes for a fabulous trip and an iconic 4WD destination. Day Leaders Nigel and Annie Day 12. Regretfully we had to start thinking about making our return north and so Oxford was our destination ( 350+ kms!). Though I did have a surprise. Day Leader: Bill Ryan. Day 13. We headed for Maruia Springs and our final night together at Maruia Hot Springs Thermal Resort. To get there we traversed Lees Valley and made a private crossing over Macdonald Downs land linking Okuku Pass to Stock Rd – which made for a bit of extra interest and took out a huge distance. Leader Bill Ryan.