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We headed to the old mining town of Reefton over Easter. Reefton refers to the gold bearing quartz "reefs" that are mined. There is also a lot of coal mining in the area. There are a lot of historic sites to explore many still with remanents of old equipment.
There were three trucks, myself and Liz, David and Glyniss (2 dr JK), Simon. Peggy and his two boys (TJ)
We headed over Thursday with some grey skies and arrived at our accomodation,Rose Cottage to collect the key from the elderly owner who lived next door. David and Glynis arrived later that evening and we set about admiring/assembling David’s new camera.
Friday and we met up with Simon and family over breakfast at the local bakery. Then it was off to Denniston, some one hours drive towards the coast. I hadn’t driven around this area before and was surprised at just how many tracks and areas there were to explore. We spent the day around Burnetts Face- a mine that has been burning since the second world war, visited the “museum” and top of the incline then up Mt Rochfort and into the cloud before heading off to find the Denniston Loop track. After a few false starts we thought we were on the track but it did not appear on my GPS and with failing light and deteriorating track we turned back and headed out before it got dark. David’s new tyres (Mickey Thompson MTZs) performed and looked great. Definitely an area we will be returning to as there is just so much to explore and so many different grades of track.
Heading back to Reefton in the dark from Westport where we had dinner at an Indian restaurant I got to use my new IPF driving lights for the first time and was very impressed with just how much light they threw out both in side illumination and depth.
Saturday was wet. The rain started Friday night and continued through the day but we were confident that the run into Big River (another abandoned mining village) would not be too bad with only the Big River crossings at the end to assess when we got there. The 1o mile trip in took about an hour and a half with a couple of photo stops. The river was up but certainly still doable and we parked up and hiked to the Department of Conservation hut for some shelter and lunch. After the usual look around the winding house we headed back out and met an old (Nissan?) coming in that decided not to try crossing the river due to saggy springs and no snorkel.
Dinner that night was Pizza at Alfrescos restaurant which is probably the nicest restaurant in Reefton with good food and good prices.
Sunday morning and we had some discussion on what to do. With the previous day’s rain, probability of more to come and likely difficulty of the track we decided to forego the Upper Grey river track and check out the Waipuna Creek to Noble Hill and the tunnels as well as the Waiuta historic mining site. The creek was up but not enough to be of concern and with showers, mist and sunshine we made the short 2 mile trek up the stream and through the tunnels, stopping to skip stones across the dark tea coloured water (the water is this colour due to the tanins leached from the beech forests and soil) and admire the scenery. The tunnels were as exciting and beautiful as normal. After a short excursion further up the main stream we turned around and took the same route back out. The Waiuta remnants were quiet except for a couple of house buses in residence. A trip to the top of the hill allowed us to practice our didgeridoo and whale call impressions in the large rusting compressed air vessel.
That morning at the gas station I discovered I had broken a mounting pin on the sway bar that the disconnect attaches to (JKS quicker disconnects). Not wanting to risk a slow open road drive back home the following day without a front sway bar I improvised with a half inch bolt, some washers, a whittled down rubber bush and a couple of nuts to keep the swap bar attached to the axle. Note to self to pack a selection of imperial bolts, washers and nuts in the tool kit for future runs.
I had a Superchips Flashpaq installed just before the Reefton run but with ¼ of a tank of 91 the JK was pinging at anything over ½ throttle so it was back to the stock programme for the weekend except on Monday after a couple of tanks of 95 I was able to reload the performance tune and drive without any pinging. New Zealand gas is rated higher than the US equivalent. This livened the Jeep up nicely with better power and shift points. As a result the drive back to Chch was a bit brisker on the hills and I’m now waiting for my next 4wd run to see how it performs in 4H and 4Lo.
Some more pics from the trip here:
http://s999.photobucket.com/albums/a...eefton%202011/
There were three trucks, myself and Liz, David and Glyniss (2 dr JK), Simon. Peggy and his two boys (TJ)
We headed over Thursday with some grey skies and arrived at our accomodation,Rose Cottage to collect the key from the elderly owner who lived next door. David and Glynis arrived later that evening and we set about admiring/assembling David’s new camera.
Friday and we met up with Simon and family over breakfast at the local bakery. Then it was off to Denniston, some one hours drive towards the coast. I hadn’t driven around this area before and was surprised at just how many tracks and areas there were to explore. We spent the day around Burnetts Face- a mine that has been burning since the second world war, visited the “museum” and top of the incline then up Mt Rochfort and into the cloud before heading off to find the Denniston Loop track. After a few false starts we thought we were on the track but it did not appear on my GPS and with failing light and deteriorating track we turned back and headed out before it got dark. David’s new tyres (Mickey Thompson MTZs) performed and looked great. Definitely an area we will be returning to as there is just so much to explore and so many different grades of track.
Heading back to Reefton in the dark from Westport where we had dinner at an Indian restaurant I got to use my new IPF driving lights for the first time and was very impressed with just how much light they threw out both in side illumination and depth.
Saturday was wet. The rain started Friday night and continued through the day but we were confident that the run into Big River (another abandoned mining village) would not be too bad with only the Big River crossings at the end to assess when we got there. The 1o mile trip in took about an hour and a half with a couple of photo stops. The river was up but certainly still doable and we parked up and hiked to the Department of Conservation hut for some shelter and lunch. After the usual look around the winding house we headed back out and met an old (Nissan?) coming in that decided not to try crossing the river due to saggy springs and no snorkel.
Dinner that night was Pizza at Alfrescos restaurant which is probably the nicest restaurant in Reefton with good food and good prices.
Sunday morning and we had some discussion on what to do. With the previous day’s rain, probability of more to come and likely difficulty of the track we decided to forego the Upper Grey river track and check out the Waipuna Creek to Noble Hill and the tunnels as well as the Waiuta historic mining site. The creek was up but not enough to be of concern and with showers, mist and sunshine we made the short 2 mile trek up the stream and through the tunnels, stopping to skip stones across the dark tea coloured water (the water is this colour due to the tanins leached from the beech forests and soil) and admire the scenery. The tunnels were as exciting and beautiful as normal. After a short excursion further up the main stream we turned around and took the same route back out. The Waiuta remnants were quiet except for a couple of house buses in residence. A trip to the top of the hill allowed us to practice our didgeridoo and whale call impressions in the large rusting compressed air vessel.
That morning at the gas station I discovered I had broken a mounting pin on the sway bar that the disconnect attaches to (JKS quicker disconnects). Not wanting to risk a slow open road drive back home the following day without a front sway bar I improvised with a half inch bolt, some washers, a whittled down rubber bush and a couple of nuts to keep the swap bar attached to the axle. Note to self to pack a selection of imperial bolts, washers and nuts in the tool kit for future runs.
I had a Superchips Flashpaq installed just before the Reefton run but with ¼ of a tank of 91 the JK was pinging at anything over ½ throttle so it was back to the stock programme for the weekend except on Monday after a couple of tanks of 95 I was able to reload the performance tune and drive without any pinging. New Zealand gas is rated higher than the US equivalent. This livened the Jeep up nicely with better power and shift points. As a result the drive back to Chch was a bit brisker on the hills and I’m now waiting for my next 4wd run to see how it performs in 4H and 4Lo.
Some more pics from the trip here:
http://s999.photobucket.com/albums/a...eefton%202011/
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