The answer to the question is YES!!!!
Enough said? Is that all we need to write? Or would you prefer to know the whole story?
Well, it all started back when we were young boys…..oh wait, is that starting too far back?
How about this then? We hadn’t been on a trip for what felt like a lifetime after arriving home from the week long GDTWC meeting in the Marlborough Sounds on Labour Weekend – and that feeling of wanting to keep riding had been dealt with in the only way possible…..by not riding.
For various reasons we had delayed our next trip, but in doing this we started planning a two night adventure instead of the standard 24 hours of magnificence we’d become accustomed to in 2020. With all this extra time the options around the Otago region were many – we considered Mavora Lakes and Mt Nicholas Station, but what really took our eye after a few discussions was the high country tucked in between Queenstown, Cromwell, Roxburgh and Southland. This area includes Old Man Range, Old Woman Range, the Nevis Valley and the Remarkables. What a playground and we’d had a couple of hints from people who had been into this area that it was well worth the effort.
With all this time on our hands we set about an epic adventure that involved very little main road riding and a lot of fun!! We thought we’d have heaps of time to head through this playground exploring as many extra tracks and sides roads as we could and really making the most of two full days.
So, the usual story unfolded on the Friday afternoon of Waitangi Weekend, meeting at Steve’s as early as we could, and getting underway a bit later than we’d hoped but still early enough to well and truly get amongst it. The plan was to skirt the south side of the Rock and Pillar Range and Old Man Range, missing the highways, to head up through Piano Flat, seeing how far we might get before nightfall.
So, straight out of Mosgiel we headed for lesser known roads through Waipori Falls – what an area this is!! Steve had mentioned it before as a nice way home from some of our other adventures, but on a dazzling Friday afternoon, it was stunningly beautiful. Winding gravel roads through a bush clad valley, the river cascading down alongside the road, and to top it off a dam sparkling in the sunshine. As we stopped in the tiny township of Waipori Falls itself, we marveled at the scenery – and I made a comment about a certain spot back down the road that brought back really clear memories of a spot we’d ridden through in Romania – Steve laughed as he’d had exactly the same memory – we were heading up through Parcul NaΘional Domogled-Valea Cernei, somewhere near Cerna-Sat after we’d left Enduromania and before we hit Transalpina (head back to this blog and this one to reminisce).
Wow!!!! How cool is that?? How cool is it that random memories of that fantastic adventure of a lifetime still jump into our minds at any given turn? It really put a huge smile and feeling of wonder on our dials for the rest of the afternoon π
We rose up out of the Waipori River Valley and hit the forestry and farmlands around Lake Mahinerangi. It’s surprisingly grand up there, especially with the big blue skies reaching all around us. We’d travelled this route down to Lawrence a few time before, albeit in the other direction, so had the desire to try something different – we wanted to wing it and see what happened, and let’s just say it didn’t go perfectly – haha!!
We headed off over a rough farm track, that was clearly still public road due to the signage, which led us up behind Glendhu Forest. It was spectacular and great fun, but we knew we had to stop in Lawrence for fuel as it’d be the last reasonable opportunity for quite some time – so we would just pop down through the forestry roads around Gabriel’s Gully – it’d be sweet, right?!?
In a word – NO – it would not be sweet!! Bloody forestry and health and safety – try as we might every road heading down to Lawrence had a locked gate on it, surrounded on each side by boulders or holes to ensure no one would attempt to get around. We headed on along the ridge sure that the most main road would be fine…….NO, it was not fine!!!! Mmmmmm, now we were in a bit of a pickle, we were low on fuel and not sure we had the gas left to go all the way back the way we’d come to then get back to Lawrence.
So at the gate on the main road we stopped to consider our options, when Steve took on the appearance of a mountain goat and bounded down into the tussocks, wandered around a bit before popping back up with a grin on his face. The was a little “track” through, what option did we have except to give it a nudge – if we got past the gate at this end we were sure we’d find a way at the other end!!! A few grinding minutes later, after some strategy planning halfway through Steve’s special track to get out the rather steep other side, we were through.
Although we knew we really shouldn’t be on this road, we still made the most of it while we were there. We spotted a little dam and went down for a look – just a beautiful spot tucked away amongst the trees.
We also headed down another track, and Steve assures me that it was beautiful at the other end – although all I can discuss is getting my bike up and cleaning off the mud as I slid over in a really muddy but sneakily camouflaged bit of track. We bent my handle bars back into shape and headed on reaching the gate on the other side of the forest. Unfortunately there were no special tracks to help us past on this side, so plan B was initiated – “The Drag”. See below picture for details – haha!!!
We chose not to worry about the signs saying these roads were monitored 24 hours a day by video cameras and that anyone breaching the rules would be prosecuted – and headed on to Lawrence for bike fuel and body fuel. And to date we have not heard from the Police, so hopefully we’re in the clear – fingers crossed – although we feel our story about being low on fuel is reasonable (and true!!).
The sun was starting to get low in the evening sky as we raced up State Highway 8 for about 15 minutes before heading off piste again at Edievale. We rode down winding gravel roads, over rolling hills, through picturesque farmland in the dying evening light – it was actually pretty damn spectacular and we were well and truly in the mood. So much so, that we were headed for Waikaia but Steve decided he wanted to also head to Waikaka – easy mistake to make right – as I waited at the intersection where we should have gone right instead of left, I noticed the road sign was a bit tricky – those tricky dicky Southlanders had turned the sign so that it was pointing in the wrong direction. No wonder Steve got confused – although that’s not hard to achieve – haha!!!! Actually what was extra funny was that the way he went wasn’t actually signposted for anything we were heading towards but he felt the vibe and boosted off that way anyway. So, about 30 minutes later after he’d checked out Greenvale and got most of the way to Waikaka – he turned around and found me relaxed, napping on the side of the road at the signpost not pointing to Waikaia.
The offending signpost – that is NOT the way to Waikaia (or to Waikaka either)!!!!! 
Mmmmmm – confused – Steve definitely was π
Once we sorted out our Waikaia’s from our Waikaka’s we started off in the right direction again to be confronted by another signpost pointing to Waikaia or Waikaka – confused, well Steve was too – but at least I had a semblance of direction (and a map to check – haha!). So we headed on in the fading light and just as we started thinking about a place to camp we came across a small bridge over the Argyle Burn, it almost cut a little gorge through this spot and we fortunately spied a track heading off into the scrub – we investigated and found a fantastic little camping spot off the road on a bend in the burn – it was delightful, and just enough flat space for a couple of tents. And as tradition dictates, we chilled in front of a fire to tunes, beans and a wee dram – and a little TRONO action for good measure – happy days!!!
Chilling out, maxing, relaxing, all cool…….
We woke to a stunning day 2, and the burn was calling us in. After some breakfast we tried, although it took a couple of goes to actually take the plunge as it was not warm!!!
We headed off for a big day and immediately spied a track heading up onto the ridge just up the road from where we had stopped for the night, but alas a locked farm gate stopped us from proceeding. So off though the sleepy village of Waikaia we finally headed, and up the Waikaia River valley heading for the mountains. After passing through a bunch of farmland we hit Piano Flat campsite, a beautiful spot where there were a reasonable number of campers here for the long weekend. Glad we didn’t head here last night, it would have put a dampener on the fire and tunes for sure. But what was rather nice was it was at this point that the beech forest started – this changed the vibe completely. The stillness and greenness all around, the river cascading down alongside the road. It was pretty spectacular – and the road was great fun too – meandering up the valley, and even though it was super dry there was still a couple of bogs to negotiate – just for a bit of extra fun!! A great start to the morning, while anticipation of what was up ahead loomed large π
We knew as some point we had to head for the tops, and we reached the gate and sign signaling a change in scenery and terrain. We had come out of the bush and hit the alpine tussock landscape again. At the gate a lonely man stood under a tree, out of the baking sun, so we stopped for a chat. His son was riding a dirt bike down by the river, while his other mates and their kids were off up in the hills. His little fella arrived back, and he was little, probably about 6 and blatting round on a tiny dirt bike. Nice work young man!!!! We discussed the road ahead, and he explained that it was pretty good mostly, although quite steep on the way up, a bit too steep for his boy, which is why they were hanging out there. So off we headed into the unknown, and very excited about it all. It looked stunning ahead on an absolutely stunning day.
And all of a sudden we were heading up, and quickly, not like Porika Track but still really cool. All a lot of fun, except one hairy bit over a very large rock, with a few steps in it and a big drop off on one side. I went first and bounced to the inside and over, Steve following close behind in my tracks. A little further on I came round a bend to a steep straight uphill section, totally blocked by two 4WDs – hmmmm, deja vu!!! At least it was flat enough to stop without falling over – whew!! Steve cruised up a few minutes later, reporting a bit of sliding around fun in one of the ruts back around the corner – no harm done!!
We dismounted and wandered up to see what the gist was, it was a particularly rutted and wet bit of a road that was generally a pretty dry road and a Subaru Forester had slid down the rut and was heading out of the channel the water took off the road – this was not the way for the car to go!!! We had a good old laugh with them about their predicament while the driver dug dirt, we then helped solidify the area with some stones and gave a bit of a push to get them through. A good deed for the day π Once they were on their way we plotted our way through.
Not long after the road flattened out as we reached the plateau and the scenery was so epic. Wow, this is what we were hoping for by coming up here. It really was spectacular!! About here we ran into a group of older guys, one on a four-wheeler (he was obviously the beer carrier) and a couple on little dirt bikes (one obviously the alpha and leader of the group – he mainly just moaned about the lack of bogs for him to rip to shreds!!!). We decided these were not the types we wanted to hang with for long and pushed on. The next section bounced along a number of shist outcrops that had all of these steps in them – it made for pretty challenging riding – and a continuous anxious edge about popping a tube – but alas we made it through and arrived at a little alpine hut at a time that felt a lot like lunch time.
The valley in the distance is Piano Flat and Waikaia 
Old Man Range
As we stopped for lunch, the farmer who farmed this land cruised up. It was immediately obvious he was an absolute classic southern farmer, and a bit of a hoot!! He was drinking a Speights while driving his dusty old ute along these rugged trails, all with his son in the passenger seat not saying a word. They were off gold panning for the afternoon – as he put it “it’s a better way to try and make a living than farming, especially with these bloody Labour idiots running things!!!”. We had some great yarns before settling down for some lunch in the shade of the hut, while the old dudes caught up with us and took off, moaning a bit more about something. And then another group of dirt bikers arrived – younger, much more bogan looking and very non-chatty. They left us to our business and all was good with the world!!!
We weren’t really sure what to expect from the afternoon’s riding, we’d been reliably informed that there was definitely a way through to the Nevis Valley from here, but weren’t really sure which tracks to take to get there. The classic farmer dude told us of another way to what we thought was the way, where the maps actually said there were no tracks. Oh well, we had an afternoon to work it out and at least knew we could get through, if not which way!!
So on we bounced, it was great riding – dirt tracks with spectacular 360 degree views and the sun was beaming down on us. The landscape was littered with rocky outcrops and turned very desert-like for a bit. We passed, and were passed by, other bikers and 4WDers. One couple had their truck well and truly stuck in a rut, but were happy with no help and just getting themselves unstuck – they said it was all part of the adventure – amen to that!!!
Old Man Desert
We arrived at an intersection and this was where the rubber hit the road in terms of decision making – which way would get us through?? We saw a bunch of guys head off in one direction, but we felt the other way was the more likely exit route so off we headed. As we navigated the ruts and rocks on this great rough track, all of a sudden I saw Steve fly off his bike into the tussocks – what the hell happened there? He jumped up no problem, laughing that he was took busy admiring a big rocky outcrop up ahead, and not actually looking at the track. No harm, no foul, so we cruised down to the rocky outcrop for a look!!
Too busy admiring rocks – bloody geologists!! 
After climbing the big rock because that’s clearly what it was there for, we headed on down into the bottom of the valley, arriving at this just stunningly beautiful little spot by a little river, surrounded by rocky outcrops. It was really quite beautiful, so much so that we plan to head back to this spot to camp sometime. Here we found a little river crossing with a sign saying there was no exit this way – what do you mean?? We could tell on our topo map that there were tracks this way, but we guessed this meant padlocks. Was this going to stop us? We discussed for a minute before deciding to head on for a good old look. We splashed across the river and headed on for 10 minutes, arriving at a seriously locked gate. Dammit, some big corporation had something going on here and again some silly health and safety rules got in our way. It really didn’t bother us much as it was such lovely riding on such a lovely day in such a lovely area that we were just loving every minute of it. So we headed back to the river crossing and stopped for a mid-afternoon swim. Delightful after a long day of high intensity riding!!
So we were now sure of the way out to the Nevis Valley – it was via the route that was not on the map over Old Woman Range to Duffers Saddle – maybe we should have trusted to local farmer!!! We found a more direct track to get us back to the main track, which was particularly hairy but a lot of fun. And then the main trail traversed along the tops for a while, where we managed to find a big bog in this exceptionally dry landscape that I could get stuck in. A bit of pushing, tap opening and rooster tailing later I made it out and on we pushed.
We ran into a few groups of dirt bike riders as we headed out towards the Nevis Valley Road, and enjoyed a laugh with a few of them as we talked about our days. Everyone who had been up here today in this spectacular place on this spectacular day seemed to have had a spectacular time. Were we witnessing the emergence of a weekend wonderland? Was this the weekend wonderland we would only have ever dreamed of?
We mulled over these remarkable questions as we hit the Nevis Valley gravel road and raced into Cromwell for some food and dinner/breakfast shopping. It felt weird being in a town, clearly a weekend retreat town on a long weekend, with people everywhere and that feeling of revelry and happiness, but also a feeling of frantic-ness and a need to be seen, or being there because everyone else was there. It was weird and made us feel a bit uneasy, so we quickly did what we needed to and headed bush again. How weird are we? Needing to get away from people to feel comfortable….well more accurately it was probably getting away from the location itself, people are fine but sometimes no people is even better!!!
So, knowing we were now running short of daylight hours, we raced back over the hill and down into the Nevis Valley, battling sunstrike all the way, but loving the feeling of freedom and emptiness again. We’d been told about a great camping spot down the valley a bit by some dirt bikers earlier in the day, but really had no idea where it might be or how far down the valley it might be. So we followed our own noses and headed off road down a barely marked track for a bit towards a stream near the side of the valley, and found a really rough, really rutted track heading up onto a little ridge. We decided a view of the valley would be an ideal camping spot so off we went.
Steve was ahead of me and battling up the ruts before coming a cropper. He went down, picked himself up and battled on. It was a good sign not to take his line, so I headed to the outside line with no ruts but a fairly significant fall off on my right hand side. Steve hooted up ahead, he’d found a perfect spot to pitch the tents and I was laughing with my sweet line……until 10m from the tent spot I came to a stop. My line ran out and I had deep ruts or fall off all the while on a steep slope to content with – ruh roh!!! After some careful deliberation I balanced my way between both over a finger of earth and to our supreme spot, whew – that was a super stressful way to end a long day – glad I didn’t have a major fall down a hillside right at the last.
We awoke on day 3 to a damp and misty start. The view was non-existent and the site was no longer that attractive – so we scoffed a banana, packed our gear and got on our way. So we just had the small matter of popping down the rest of the Nevis, and out over the ranges to Garston before hitting the highways home. Easy and simple to complete by lunchtime, the time we’d said we’d be home!!!!
We set off, stopping at the old Nevis cemetery, a quite eerie place with it shrouded in grey. Not long after the cloud raised and our spirits dropped (or peaked – one of the two!!!), a sign pointing out there was 25 fords in 24 kms to cross between here and the other end of the valley.
The first ford came up quickly and with us hardly having been on the road it felt like a big hurdle. It looked deep, rocky and swift flowing – not the ideal start to the day. I was low on motivation for this early challenge so stopped and mused over the crossing for a bit trying to find the courage to get amongst it. Steve wasn’t quite so bothered, he ripped into it, bounced and slid his way to the other side – it wasn’t quite as bad as it looked so I hit it and came out the other side ready for 24 more of the buggers!!!
It was really quite spectacular riding, it reminded us both quite a lot of riding through the Molesworth and down the Acheron River, and a couple of spots really had a Scottish Highland feel to them. It was really cool, especially when we came across Whisky Creek – it was a sign that this road was made for us π
Looking south into the Molesworth 
Looking north into the Scottish Highlands
By this point we’d covered a lot of the 24kms but not many fords, we wondered whether the sign was just a good old piss take from the locals or whether we’d be getting wet feet. Soon enough we knew the answer – we came across a myriad of splashes, mud pits and deep wide fords. One in particular caught Steve by surprise as it was very camouflaged until you were right on top of it, so he hit it at about 70km/hr and got very wet – haha!!!
The biggest challenge of the morning came with a deep wide but at least very slow flowing ford. It appeared to be very muddy on the bottom and this is what caused the biggest issues. Steve went first and slid his was across to the other side without too much drama – I followed soon after (once he’d got out his camera for any particularly great footage) and he was rewarded as I power slid my way across the bottom of the ford and bounced out the bank on the other side. WOW and WHEW!!! The adrenaline was certainly pumping after than one as I let out a huge whoop of joy at keeping that one together!!
The Nevis Valley continued to be spectacular right till the last. The road rises out of the valley at the southern end and heads over the Hector Mountains and as we crested the top to look down into Trotters Plain and the Mataura River valley we were blessed with an incredible view. The peaks of all the surrounding mountains were glistening with bright sun, while the valley was shrouded in a thick layer of low cloud. It really was spectacular – mmmm, have I said that word enough yet?
We stopped at the historic Southland Ski Hut to admire the view, have some lunch and enjoy the last moments of serenity before heading back into humanity. Alas, other adventurers also had the same thought at this same spot, so we weren’t alone but it was still beautiful place to hang out, including using the restroom with a view over the whole valley – quite free and liberating – haha!!!
By this stage we were certain we’d not be arriving back at our homes at the agreed time, given that time was right now and we still had a few hundred kms to cover. So we made some calls and extended the adventure for the rest of the afternoon. Thanks families π
We headed down the hill and arrived back into civilisation, had a coffee and got on with a bunch of highway riding to get home. Although while having coffee we did plot a route that would get us off the main highways as much as possible, and this was well worthwhile as we found some nice curvy back roads and a few bits of gravel to keep us entertained. We found our way through a bunch of country villages such as Otama, Chatton, Maitland, Waikoikoi, Pomahaka and Rankleburn, only getting slightly lost once and arrived in Clydevale for some fuel. This turned into a full shenanigan as there was no cell signal but you had to download an app via wifi they provide to be able to activate the fuel pump to give you some fuel – what a hassle – I guess less of a hassle than actually running out of fuel though!!!
From Clydevale we headed on through towards Waitahuna via roads that were clearly stated on the topo map. But we were in for one great fun surprise as we headed down a road that stated it was still a public road but was not maintained at all and we ended up riding on a dirt track through farm fields and long grass. Great fun, a brilliant way to finish off a bunch of “highway” riding!!!
We finished off this amazing adventure heading back over Lake Mahinerangi and down through Waipori Falls again – just because it’s such a great little ride and it was a fantastic way to finish an incredible two days away.
What can we say about this adventure except continue to spout on about how fantastic and spectacular it was. Does it sound like we found a Weekend Wonderland? We certainly think so!!!!
