Thread: Mathias/wilberforce

This is me crossing the main flow below britstead stream that truck had 4" of lift and 33" tires doesn't look that deep but it's fast and deep enough in places also you can see how nuggety the boulders are on the river bed and that area wasn't the worst either

https://youtu.be/LIJLDcU3AY8

In my experience of hunting up there, if the main rivers are high, the side creeks are pumping as well.
Id give it a week at least, depending on what Nor west we get over the next few days

cool video, freakin massive valley them ones ay

Crossing the Rakaia heading in to Manuka Point got me a snorkel after that trip was really touch and go on the way back out

No way we were crossing at Totara Point the river was blasting through, even an other group with more serious looking trucks stopped there too.

We just made it out with some very experienced guys, I kept adding up in my head the cost of the gear I had and would lose if my truck got stuck and started rolling down the river.

That's what happens when the locals say shell be right and plan things months in advance all keen to get in and make the most of time off work and leave granted by the missus.

Respect the rivers.

Originally Posted by xtightg

Crossing the Rakaia heading in to Manuka Point got me a snorkel after that trip was really touch and go on the way back out

No way we were crossing at Totara Point the river was blasting through, even an other group with more serious looking trucks stopped there too.

We just made it out with some very experienced guys, I kept adding up in my head the cost of the gear I had and would lose if my truck got stuck and started rolling down the river.

That's what happens when the locals say shell be right and plan things months in advance all keen to get in and make the most of time off work and leave granted by the missus.

Respect the rivers.

Attachment 125979

absolutely a river not to be taken lightly it comes up fast too

Originally Posted by xtightg

Crossing the Rakaia heading in to Manuka Point got me a snorkel after that trip was really touch and go on the way back out

No way we were crossing at Totara Point the river was blasting through, even an other group with more serious looking trucks stopped there too.

We just made it out with some very experienced guys, I kept adding up in my head the cost of the gear I had and would lose if my truck got stuck and started rolling down the river.

That's what happens when the locals say shell be right and plan things months in advance all keen to get in and make the most of time off work and leave granted by the missus.

Respect the rivers.

Attachment 125979

This picture depicts a typical depth of a Canterbury high country river crossing, be it the Rakaia, Mathias, Wilberforce or any of the Rangitata tributaries. Only go on the trip with suitably equipped 4wd and at least one other vehicle. I speak from experience and have only got stuck once, through fault of my own and needed pulling out. I've crossed some of those rivers more times than I can remember.

I've had the luxury of following the bulldozer making a new track for me up the Wilber once, was a real laugh when he backed out of one crossing when the water was nearly up to the high drive on the D8H

Over seas owner isn't the problem.He believes in keeping access for people. Knew someone who worked there until recently. Managers wife is apparently a piece of work. High staff turn over and even had police to get ski field unlocked! Not a people person. Manager himself is ok if you can just get past the wife.

Had a mate abused by the wife that he hadn’t paid for the hut they used several months later, even though he paid the day they got back to town.

Sad to say I've heard similar stories

Only cross the Rakaia under a 100cu /secs=several streams to cross and when the west coast hasn't had rain for 3 days befor and unlikely to have rain 2 days after you left the area.Then you know the river not going to ambush you with high water.

Originally Posted by Trout

Only cross the Rakaia under a 100cu /secs=several streams to cross and when the west coast hasn't had rain for 3 days befor and unlikely to have rain 2 days after you left the area.Then you know the river not going to ambush you with high water.

You only want to cross in the middle of winter then....

https://youtu.be/t0RD7NVAuDk

i bloody love a good internet gossip session! everyone has a mate who has a mate that has had a bad experience. im not disputing any of those experiences, although as there are no first hand accounts here, ill offer one. ive never met the overseas owner, but have heard good things about him. i do know the manager and his wife personally, and have only ever known them to be very outgoing, friendly, and hospitable. sometimes relationships and/or communication breaks down between good people, and sometimes one or both parties are just genuine assholes. my humble, firsthand opinion is that they are not assholes, which leaves one of the other two options.

also, bear in mind they are in the business of running a farm, which happens to have a huge amount of recreation access (fishing, hunting, 4WD, trampers, te araroa walkers, several huts etc etc). thats a huge volunteer workload so people such as yourselves can enjoy the back country. when someone drowns their truck, or doesn't come back before the rain comes, or needs a ride down the valley they are always the ones to clean up the mess. so, if you are in the unfortunate position to have access denied, consider those cockups that have gone before you and have the humility to realise that maybe it's for your own good. or maybe they are bulldozing the track up the river (freshly done this year). or maybe they are lambing. or maybe there are other reasons that they can't be bothered to explain. or maybe you just caught them on a bad day.

Originally Posted by bang

i bloody love a good internet gossip session! everyone has a mate who has a mate that has had a bad experience. im not disputing any of those experiences, although as there are no first hand accounts here, ill offer one. ive never met the overseas owner, but have heard good things about him. i do know the manager and his wife personally, and have only ever known them to be very outgoing, friendly, and hospitable. sometimes relationships and/or communication breaks down between good people, and sometimes one or both parties are just genuine assholes. my humble, firsthand opinion is that they are not assholes, which leaves one of the other two options.

also, bear in mind they are in the business of running a farm, which happens to have a huge amount of recreation access (fishing, hunting, 4WD, trampers, te araroa walkers, several huts etc etc). thats a huge volunteer workload so people such as yourselves can enjoy the back country. when someone drowns their truck, or doesn't come back before the rain comes, or needs a ride down the valley they are always the ones to clean up the mess. so, if you are in the unfortunate position to have access denied, consider those cockups that have gone before you and have the humility to realise that maybe it's for your own good. or maybe they are bulldozing the track up the river (freshly done this year). or maybe they are lambing. or maybe there are other reasons that they can't be bothered to explain. or maybe you just caught them on a bad day.

Not saying it is the case with this property, but I do know of instances where fictitious 'lambing' ( only wethers are present in closed blocks ) access / crossing closures coincide with the opening of the High Country fishing season and then in Autumn there is a second extended 'closure' (for mustering) coinciding with the start of the Roar. Both 'closures' denying access by the public to publicly owned DOC administered crown lands. Yet during these access closure periods fee paying fishing and hunting guides have access with their clients across private land to the DOC estate, effectively capturing crown land for private hire during these periods. I have even seen an instance of a property not content with the 'closures' described above going further and breaking the law by padlocking a gate across an 'unformed public road' which provides an access corridor to the Public Estate. A letter describing the offence to the local Council bringing the desired result.

Originally Posted by Moa Hunter

Not saying it is the case with this property, but I do know of instances where fictitious 'lambing' ( only wethers are present in closed blocks ) access / crossing closures coincide with the opening of the High Country fishing season and then in Autumn there is a second extended 'closure' (for mustering) coinciding with the start of the Roar. Both 'closures' denying access by the public to publicly owned DOC administered crown lands. Yet during these access closure periods fee paying fishing and hunting guides have access with their clients across private land to the DOC estate, effectively capturing crown land for private hire during these periods. I have even seen an instance of a property not content with the 'closures' described above going further and breaking the law by padlocking a gate across an 'unformed public road' which provides an access corridor to the Public Estate. A letter describing the offence to the local Council bringing the desired result.

The aforementioned property actually relocated a gate across the public road, and moved the track after the gate by the upper homestead, and replanted the area so that no public access was possible. Even though 25m past, its a paper road all the way to Fanghill hut.
So only access is around the riverbed on the dozer track to boundary stream. Matter was reported to the council and nothing done about it as the manager had "arranged alternative access through the river", when in fact the alternative was useless if the river could not be crossed.

As mentioned, the first roar after new owners, there was actually fencing extending into the riverbed with "do not cross - mustering" signs on it. Since this is public land, photos were taken and it was reported. Now they continue to put them up but have a removable electric tape for vehicles to cross on the riverbed.