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Billhilly · 03-06-2016, 02:35 AM

Great pic's again Diesel. Still reasonably cool in your part of the world! Late summer down here with temps in the low 30's in the valley. Hot and dry!

Well after the trip in late December I had another window of opportunity open up Feb 7th to 10th. My oldest daughter is in university in Switzerland (!) and was in the country for a few weeks on mid semester break, and the youngest was starting university in Wellington on the 21st of Feb. Considering this truck was partly bought for trips with them (and I completely missed the boat with the southern hemisphere's longest build!) this was just too good an opportunity to pass up!

We ran North up to Napier the first day, taking in a big Farmers market in Hastings. The next day we headed West on the Napier-Taihape road, colloquially called the Gentle Annie. Up until recently it was still gravel, but is now seal all the way through. Only around 100 miles in length, it gets pretty steep/windy through the middle, but was a great drive and we only saw about ten cars the whole time!

The cool part is on the main divide there is a track you can run South on that offers great views on a fine day. We missed the fine day, but the drive was fun! Only six or seven miles, the track ends at a small hut. We were able to take a small side track to the west which put us right on the edge of the ridge overlooking Timahanga Station. A great place for lunch! Timahanga is around 25000 acres, and the next Station to the West, Ngamatea is 70000 acres! They were originally one block. By New Zealand (North Island) standards, big sky country!

We then ran down to Foxton and spent a couple of nights with friends, then returned home via Wellington (ish).

Another solid 600 miles, with no drama's at all. Truck ran great, a small oil leak up the front of the motor making underneath look bad, and new fans in keeping running temps spot on. Again, considering everything, a very successful trip.

Checking the oil leaks!
Kuripapango Gorge just East of the main divide
Road heading up the other side, kinda hard to get a picture of how step/windy it was
Lunch spot, Mt Ruapehu is only 40 miles west of here in the cloud over the right side of the cab.
Panoramic view of Timahanga

03-06-2016, 02:35 AM	#315
Billhilly Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: Wairarapa, New Zealand. Posts: 782	Re: post up your camping pics Great pic's again Diesel. Still reasonably cool in your part of the world! Late summer down here with temps in the low 30's in the valley. Hot and dry! Well after the trip in late December I had another window of opportunity open up Feb 7th to 10th. My oldest daughter is in university in Switzerland (!) and was in the country for a few weeks on mid semester break, and the youngest was starting university in Wellington on the 21st of Feb. Considering this truck was partly bought for trips with them (and I completely missed the boat with the southern hemisphere's longest build!) this was just too good an opportunity to pass up! We ran North up to Napier the first day, taking in a big Farmers market in Hastings. The next day we headed West on the Napier-Taihape road, colloquially called the Gentle Annie. Up until recently it was still gravel, but is now seal all the way through. Only around 100 miles in length, it gets pretty steep/windy through the middle, but was a great drive and we only saw about ten cars the whole time! The cool part is on the main divide there is a track you can run South on that offers great views on a fine day. We missed the fine day, but the drive was fun! Only six or seven miles, the track ends at a small hut. We were able to take a small side track to the west which put us right on the edge of the ridge overlooking Timahanga Station. A great place for lunch! Timahanga is around 25000 acres, and the next Station to the West, Ngamatea is 70000 acres! They were originally one block. By New Zealand (North Island) standards, big sky country! We then ran down to Foxton and spent a couple of nights with friends, then returned home via Wellington (ish). Another solid 600 miles, with no drama's at all. Truck ran great, a small oil leak up the front of the motor making underneath look bad, and new fans in keeping running temps spot on. Again, considering everything, a very successful trip. Checking the oil leaks! Kuripapango Gorge just East of the main divide Road heading up the other side, kinda hard to get a picture of how step/windy it was Lunch spot, Mt Ruapehu is only 40 miles west of here in the cloud over the right side of the cab. Panoramic view of Timahanga Attached Images __________________ 1972 K2500 Long Box 400/350