Thread: People don't listen.

Back in the days just after the Tongariro Power Scheme was finishing, and you could drive up the Waipakihi River a considerable distance, I was wandering on foot upstream, and was passed by 4 schoolboys in a brand new Landrover that Daddy had bought for one of them. About a kilometre above that, I noticed an oil slick coming down on the current. Turned a corner and here was the Landy, the diff. perched on a boulder the size of a dog kennel, with fluid leaking out of it. It was still there 3 days later. I'm assuming Daddy paid for a heli lift out of there.

Originally Posted by Twodiffs

Attachment 242462

Yep that's another pocketful of experience right there!

Originally Posted by Trout

Now thats a sand pit(paddock) what the f were you doing in there.lols

Well it was like this...we were at the hut and my wifes uncle had my son & I on the drambuie and a few other fizzies, uncle was heading up the river on his quad so son & I followed him (or tried to) to make sure he got across the river ok.
Pitch black and long story short we knew the bloke who had the digger not far away lol.

Originally Posted by Mistral

Yep that's another pocketful of experience right there!

Yep, wifey came looking for us on her quad after an hour or so..it's only 4km from the hut to a gravel road so we were late.....my boy whom was maybe 17 at the time & I had an extremely icey reception and were under instructions NOT to talk on the way back to the hut, my MIL wasn't too impressed either when we got back to the hut. As for uncle Gary..he was 70 at the time and on an 800cc Can Am, we have no idea where he went but the wife phoned his house to see where we were and he was tucked up in bed lol well before we were found. Now we all laugh about it.

so it was nearly one of them "hold my beer" moments LOL..... nobody died so chalk it up to learning/teaching the boy

Originally Posted by Ranger 888

Back in the days just after the Tongariro Power Scheme was finishing, and you could drive up the Waipakihi River a considerable distance, I was wandering on foot upstream, and was passed by 4 schoolboys in a brand new Landrover that Daddy had bought for one of them. About a kilometre above that, I noticed an oil slick coming down on the current. Turned a corner and here was the Landy, the diff. perched on a boulder the size of a dog kennel, with fluid leaking out of it. It was still there 3 days later. I'm assuming Daddy paid for a heli lift out of there.

One of Barry Crump's many wives wrote a book about her time in the hills. She was a true blue bush woman, and whilst walking the length on the North Island found herself walking down the Waipakahi river valley some time in the late 1960's. Came around a corner and found 4 x M41 Bulldog medium tanks grinding their way up the riverbed towards her. Their diff skid plates ran at about 2.5 inches of rolled homogeneous armour, so experienced no similar difficulties

Reading the hut book in the Kennedy up the Dobson has quite a few tales of woe regarding vehicles lost or stuck.
I have been up there a couple of dozen times and the best advice was from the old head Shepherd (if you cant see the bottom walk across first,stay out of the silt and if she floods give it two days after the water goes down).

Jet boats up the Waimak today while their truck n boat trailers getting towed to higher ground as the river is rising rapidly.People dont listen and they had plenty of warning on rising rivers.Bloody stupid idea going up a rapidly rising river.

Was my plan yesterday til the red alert flashed across my screen on the Ecan river flow site.Bailed.200mm on the divide and a banker.Two weekend warriors lost their boats and only to the grace of GC @ Woodstock were 3 parked up 4wd's salvaged in the nick of time with the tide lapping the sills.People don't listen.

Due to Charley Darwin's irrefutable law of inbreeding, I suspect this thread could well extend on going for many years to come.Spoze it keeps the insurance companies in paying work

Originally Posted by bluebaiter222

Due to Charley Darwin's irrefutable law of inbreeding, I suspect this thread could well extend on going for many years to come.Spoze it keeps the insurance companies in paying work

And puts everyone elses insurance up......

there was a wagon in waimak just downstream of SH1 this morning..was out by afternoon. river was dirty and flooded so no idea what plonker thought he was doing going going near it.