“What the heck is a ‘peregrination’?”, it is a long meandering journey, and that is what our last adventure entailed. Before heading off on our Canterbury Recreational 4WD club trip we had to get MJ checked out. She wasn’t driving well and the steering was very fluid. Also, the tyres were making a rather strange noise. We dropped her off at the garage during the week before the trip. When we returned they discovered there had been a bit of a oversight. A wheel alignment and two new tyres later, MJ was ready for the trip. I’m pleased to report that none of the remediation cost us a cent!

The forecast for the day was going to be chilly and a bit of rain in the afternoon. We had some juggling around to do to cater for netball practice and had swapped Josie for Guppy for the day. With drop offs and pickups we headed to Sheffield for our breakfast pie and went further up the road to meet the rest of the club members in Spingfield. We had the usual greetings of friends and introductions to others while we waited for the others to show up. John was leading us today and it was going to be a grade 3 trip, he checked our vehicles and briefed us for the adventure ahead. There we fourteen of us for the day and we headed up to the Mt. White station up and over Porters Pass and just past Cass.

It’s only the beginning.

The convoy crossed the Mt. White bridge and aired down our tyres for better traction, as we’ll need it today as the track is a mixture of shingle scree, muddy tracks, river bed, and clay, a lovely, slippery combination. We had dropped the air pressure down to 22 psi for today. The convoy headed up the Poutler River we were third in the line. We came across the first of our obstacles for the day a bit of track with big ruts and a slippery exit. The first truck got through with no worries, the second got stuck and was recovered and then it was our turn… yes, we got stuck. We even had a tyre off the ground. After we were towed out the deep rut was filled with stones from the nearby river and then everyone else drove through easily.

  • MJ is waving.
  • Yes, we’re stuck.

Took a bit to find the ‘track’ as we had to negotiate a locked gate. We enjoyed a detour along the river bed after a 2m drop off over a washed out river bank. This was rather exhilarating as you can’t see anything before you drop off the edge. The last time I was up this valley was 20+ years ago for a tramp and it is as beautiful as I remember it all those years ago.

Poutler Valley

As we headed up the valley we drove along some over grown tracks and the scratching and squealing was not for a shiny truck, the matagouri and gorse was not so forgiving on the old paintwork. The side mirrors had to be constantly pushed back as the bushes kept flattening them, you just had to time it well or you got a slap in the face with a prickly bush of some description. Further up the the river we encountered various terrain and we were super impressed with MJ and how she was handling the terrain. There was the infamous scree obstacle to negotiate and we all made it down without any dramas but kept it in the back of our minds on how were were to make it up later in the day. Noon came and we decided as a group to push on before stopping for lunch at the campsite where the walking track comes off the Binser Saddle. Wow, the track along the creek to the really steep exit was exciting and kept me on my toes. I was glad for a breather and a cuppa at our lunch spot.

  • Looking back down the valley.
  • Mr. Prickles along the tracks.
  • Bushy tracks.
  • Lunch time.

After lunch we decided to push on up the valley to the next locked gate. That was exciting. Lots of slippery clay tracks on steep slopes and we all had to increase the distances between the vehicles just in case we skated along a bit. The rain started now as forecast and the temperature was dropping. It took us an hour or so to reach the locked gate and there was two options, drop down the creek to the river and go down the river bed and bypass the steep, slippery tracks we just traversed or go back the way we came. I went down with John and proved the ‘track’ or line we were going to take. Crikey, that was exciting and quite technical for me. I enjoyed every cheek clenching minute of it.

Making tracks.

Now, things started to get exciting. We had to cross the river and it was our first decent crossing. I was was a bit apprehensive and it looked a bit scary. We knew we were in good hands and John picked a crossing and made it. I followed and we were a bit proud of ourselves. The next crossing wasn’t so good we got hung up on a rock and got stuck. Water started to come into the vehicle and poor Annushka found it a bit much. Toby was giggling away and was having a ball. Guppy got out and helped secure the recovery strap. In no time we were back on dry land so I could drain off all the water!

  • First across.
  • A bit damp.
  • Letting out the water.

The weather was packing in now and the light was dwindling. We made it back to the scree that had the potential to be a bit tricky and has been problematic on past trips. We arrived at 4.30pm to see John struggling to get up the loose gravel. It took a few goes but he was able to negotiate the scree. John set himself up as an anchor point to winch out the others that got stuck. When it was our turn we were told to give it a bit of jandal and not stop. We didn’t make up the first time and it was very interesting reversing down a slippery slope. With prayers said and jandal firmly down on the pedal we bounced, squealed and flew up the slope and made it!!! We were 8th up of 14 and that took us 30+ minutes, almost 2 hours later the last of us made it up the scree. The children had stories read by Guppy and the remainder of lunch was eaten by the children and they were toasty warm in MJ with the heater roaring. It was truly dark now and it was pouring with rain and cold. Guppy had his InReach satellite communicator and was able to send off a text back home to say we were not going to be home any time soon.

The anchors
Nearly everyone up…

With the scree behind us we only had one more tricky exit from the riverbed to negotiate before heading home. That should be easy… well, not so much. MJ was able to get over the obstacle we started the day with on our third attempt. There was a short wheel based Pajero that had a lot of trouble to get up and over the river bank it took us an hour to get him out with a lot of digging, towing, and finally winching. Now with that done and dusted we headed back to the main road to air up and drive home. Just before we did that I stopped and turned off our lights before the others caught up so we could look at the sky as it has stopped raining and cleared up beautifully. Annushka was gob smacked at the number of stars, it was a great way to end the trip.

Toby and Annushka was fast asleep as soon as we hit the main road. We arrived home at 11.30 pm. The children said on multiple times throughout the day “this is the best day of four wheel driving ever!”. On the way out Annushka in her deadpan manner said “Dad, you’re a good driver. When we started I wasn’t so sure that you could do it. But, now you have a bit more experience you’re pretty good.”. Bless that girl! Over the radio as we were heading out I asked if this was really just a Grade 3 trip and the trip leader said the trip was a 3+. Well, it was the most technical to date for the Wangs in the Wild.