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Hi,
Here are some pics from the Clarence Reserve run Liz and I did over 29 and 30 January.
More pics here:
http://s999.photobucket.com/albums/a...eserve%202011/
The reserve is located inland from Kaikoura which is a famous whale watching location on the South Island of New Zealand. The reserve is only open to motorised transport 5 weekends a year. It has good Department of Conservation maintained tracks and is well worth a visit.
The geology is very different from anywhere else in NZ as the area escaped glacial effects and so the mountains a very jagged, almost volcanic looking with exposed areas showing the underlying geology. There is a huge variety of geology on show from exposed layers of sedimentary rock to traditional greywacke river beds, limestone and even some volcanic/magma based rock formations. The vegetation is also very mixed with spiky Spaniards next to flax. The weather is also similarly varied, we experienced everything in the one day from rain to hail to bright sun. The hail hit just as we topped a hill and this turned what looked like quite sandy dark brown dirt into a thick clingy mud that stuck to everything and choked the most open of treads. This saw the Jeep take a very slow and gentle diagonal slide into a shallow ditch and stopped the rest of the convoy from even gaining the top of the hill. About half an hour latter it was sunny again and the mud dried out as quickly as it formed and with a winch rope for back up and both lockers on I was able to reverse back up the hill and out of the ditch.
We camped the night at Goose Flat Hut which is a nice little spot next to the Clarence river. Around three of us had a fish but apart from a couple of very small trout nothing was landed.
The photos don’t do the scenery justice and whilst it is a long drive in and out it is definitely a must do for any 4wder looking to explore some more unusual New Zealand terrain. The highest part of the track is just over 1100m. Most of the track is grade 1 but with any water on it the steeper and more clay section definitely become very challenging. Similarly the river beds show signs of violent flood activity so probably best avoided during or immediately after heavy rain.
Here are some pics from the Clarence Reserve run Liz and I did over 29 and 30 January.
More pics here:
http://s999.photobucket.com/albums/a...eserve%202011/
The reserve is located inland from Kaikoura which is a famous whale watching location on the South Island of New Zealand. The reserve is only open to motorised transport 5 weekends a year. It has good Department of Conservation maintained tracks and is well worth a visit.
The geology is very different from anywhere else in NZ as the area escaped glacial effects and so the mountains a very jagged, almost volcanic looking with exposed areas showing the underlying geology. There is a huge variety of geology on show from exposed layers of sedimentary rock to traditional greywacke river beds, limestone and even some volcanic/magma based rock formations. The vegetation is also very mixed with spiky Spaniards next to flax. The weather is also similarly varied, we experienced everything in the one day from rain to hail to bright sun. The hail hit just as we topped a hill and this turned what looked like quite sandy dark brown dirt into a thick clingy mud that stuck to everything and choked the most open of treads. This saw the Jeep take a very slow and gentle diagonal slide into a shallow ditch and stopped the rest of the convoy from even gaining the top of the hill. About half an hour latter it was sunny again and the mud dried out as quickly as it formed and with a winch rope for back up and both lockers on I was able to reverse back up the hill and out of the ditch.
We camped the night at Goose Flat Hut which is a nice little spot next to the Clarence river. Around three of us had a fish but apart from a couple of very small trout nothing was landed.
The photos don’t do the scenery justice and whilst it is a long drive in and out it is definitely a must do for any 4wder looking to explore some more unusual New Zealand terrain. The highest part of the track is just over 1100m. Most of the track is grade 1 but with any water on it the steeper and more clay section definitely become very challenging. Similarly the river beds show signs of violent flood activity so probably best avoided during or immediately after heavy rain.
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