Drive by shooting – Ross Mackay

Incredible as it may seem we did find both the driveway and the owner of the ‘house way up on the hill’ (via the simple expedient of asking a local who stopped to ask me if I was lost as I waited for Baker and Wilmott to return to where I parked up after the buggers overshot my carefully marked out rendezous point).

The only problem, as far as this little yarn goes is that Bob (not his real name) asked us if we wouldn’t mind not disclosing its specific location because he is ‘sick and tired of rip, shit and bust guys in 4WDS’ making a mess of the various paper roads and tracks in the area and leaving local people to clean up and often pay for the mess they have created.

To which all I could do was acknowledge he had a point but ask in turn that he not ‘tar all 4WD owners with the same brush.’

By pure coincidence we met ‘Bob’ only a km or so from the bottom of his drive, at which point he could well have invited us to reverse out the way we came. Instead he listened as I explained who we were and what we were up to, then offered us the opportunity to complete our journey to his house site then turn around there.

As you should be able to define from the accompanying photos the driveway was everything you could hope for – and more – in terms of a Lo-range 4WD testing ground for a 4WD utility; steep, narrow and bumpy with a couple of rock stepups/step-downs to test traction control systems and raised diagonal rain sluiceaways to see what sort of ramp over and articulation angles we could achieve.

Needless to say all three utes breezed up and back down the 3.5km driveway. What really impressed me, however, was more how they brushed up on our return – late that evening – to Auckland.

A quick hose down underneath, then automatic wash and (manual) vacuum inside and the trio were ready not just for work, but for the showroom.

Their secret – like that of the specific location of the 4Wd-only driveway – safe with Bob, Mark, Sean and myself.