South Island back roads?

[T.W.R]

Symes road goes from the Alexandra/Roxburgh highway up to (what was) the TV repeater / Cell phone tower tower ... near the summit of the Old Man range. The track that joins to Waikaia Bush road is off/from that.

Little more than necessary is done to the upper portions of both tracks ... in the way of road maintenance. Snow on the tops is normal even in summer. The grading means little if "Inclement" weather has been through prior ... and it gets plenty of that. I would not even go as far as calling it a Dry weather road.

I know what the track is like and the associated side tracks....drove it many years ago when part of the MC4WDA & NZ4WDA in the 90s

[unstuck]

I know what the track is like and the associated side tracks....drove it many years ago when part of the MC4WDA & NZ4WDA in the 90s

Done the side trip out to gem lake????
Thats a goodun in the wet.

[T.W.R]

Done the side trip out to gem lake????
Thats a goodun in the wet.

Did the main track from Piano Flat hut through to Obelisk rock (the old trig point), Potters, Shingle creek, & the run down to Fruitlands past Mitchells hut. All done in nice weather, the trip organisers were pretty cautious and kept us pretty contained...... A club run a month earlier to Napoleon Hill on the coast two trucks had rolled so everyone had to behave themselves

[unstuck]

A club run a month earlier to Napoleon Hill on the coast two trucks had rolled so everyone had to behave themselves

Sounds like a good day out to me.

[T.W.R]

Sounds like a good day out to me.

Club runs used to be entertaining, overnighters & weekend runs were fairly well behaved but there were a couple of guys who'd always attack anything that looked like a challenge. Local day runs were a laugh when a few of the competition vehicles would be brought along and used.

[unstuck]

but there were a couple of guys who'd always attack anything that looked like a challenge.

Sounds familiar.

[Winston001]

Done the side trip out to gem lake????
Thats a goodun in the wet.

Interesting thread. Didn't know about Gem Lake. The local 4wd club went to Blue Lake once which is to the west. Locked gate so not normally accessible. I've often thought of riding my trail bike from Piano Flat over the Old Man Range through to Duffers Saddle then down the Carricktown track to Bannockburn. Or even walking it.

[unstuck]

Interesting thread. Didn't know about Gem Lake. The local 4wd club went to Blue Lake once which is to the west. Locked gate so not normally accessible. I've often thought of riding my trail bike from Piano Flat over the Old Man Range through to Duffers Saddle then down the Carricktown track to Bannockburn. Or even walking it.

Walk it first, then decide. You can get to Gorge creek when walking, which meets up with the new track heading into roxburgh along the lake .
Even on a bike it is a good idea to have 2 or more. Lot of bikes get left up there for the scavengers. Thats why I go to the Eyers same terrain, without the boghole problem.

[BMWST?]

Turns out that this part of the trip is part of another group trip

[FJRider]

I know what the track is like and the associated side tracks....drove it many years ago when part of the MC4WDA & NZ4WDA in the 90s

If the last time you were up there was in the nineties ... expect a few surprises then if you travel it again. I was up there last month.

The guy that has the farm at the start of the Waikaia Bush road runs these up the tops ...

https://maps.google.co.nz/?ll=-45.42...133.08,,0,7.11

The mail box at the left is the start of the Waikaia bush road.

[FJRider]

I've often thought of riding my trail bike from Piano Flat over the Old Man Range through to Duffers Saddle then down the Carricktown track to Bannockburn. Or even walking it.

It's a long walk down from the tops ... and it snowed up there (a dam good dump) two weeks ago. Not a good and safe place to be walking.

There are tracks from the Old Man range over to the Old Woman range ... via thru DOC controlled areas ... with some restrictions.
If you take a trail bike ... take bolt cutters for boundary fences and padlocks.

And spare fuel. There's not many gas stations up there.

[T.W.R]

If the last time you were up there was in the nineties ... expect a few surprises then if you travel it again. I was up there last month.

Not involved with the 4wd clubs these days and don't travel 100s of kms to get my kicks off road anymore, did a lot of the must do tracks back then (all in a beefed up 40series cruiser). And now the current cruiser is used soley for chasing Salmon around the Rakaia.
Gets too expensive chopping out big feet on tarseal & doing suspension rebuilds in short time in the pursuit of playgrounds, better to keep the toy ready & set for a purpose.

[unstuck]

If the last time you were up there was in the nineties ... expect a few surprises then if you travel it again. I was up there last month.

The guy that has the farm at the start of the Waikaia Bush road runs these up the tops ...

https://maps.google.co.nz/?ll=-45.42...133.08,,0,7.11

The mail box at the left is the start of the Waikaia bush road.

Does he even still run the snowcats? They seem to spend an awful lot of time sitting next to the road, a mate of mine ran one for him years ago, but gave it up because of the back problems they can cause. I destroyed a track on a landrover based snowcat model up there some years ago, and had to walk back to piano flat as we hadn't gotten around to putting the radio in it, and the hand held didn't want to work. Tis a tough place, and those early fellas were a tough bunch of bastards to be crossing shit like that on foot.

[FJRider]

Does he even still run the snowcats? They seem to spend an awful lot of time sitting next to the road, a mate of mine ran one for him years ago, but gave it up because of the back problems they can cause. I destroyed a track on a landrover based snowcat model up there some years ago, and had to walk back to piano flat as we hadn't gotten around to putting the radio in it, and the hand held didn't want to work. Tis a tough place, and those early fellas were a tough bunch of bastards to be crossing shit like that on foot.

I think mostly he does(did ??) tourist trips in the winter. He kept them "up the hill" a bit. And brings them down in the summer.

I think a few of the early fellas didn't make it over. Tough only gets you so far up there ...

[FJRider]

Not involved with the 4wd clubs these days and don't travel 100s of kms to get my kicks off road anymore, did a lot of the must do tracks back then (all in a beefed up 40series cruiser). And now the current cruiser is used soley for chasing Salmon around the Rakaia.
Gets too expensive chopping out big feet on tarseal & doing suspension rebuilds in short time in the pursuit of playgrounds, better to keep the toy ready & set for a purpose.

It can be an expensive pastime for sure. A local (young) guy spent $10,000 (on top of the purchase price) adding all the "good" accessories onto/into his cruiser ... and rolled it into a gully on the first trip out in it. Ended up with the winch (and front of the cruiser) buried in a hole in the creek. Getting it out was a mission ... apparently ...

The roll bars did their job. But no insurance ...

I don't think he got it fixed ... or got another one. I can't think why ...