Land Rover Enthusiasts Club Rotorua: Desert Road Defenders 4x4 Muster

We had a very enjoyable and fun weekend recently at the Waiouru Muster close on 100 vehicles of all makes with 4 Landies from our club.

The base and camp site for the weekend was at the Karioi Domain on the foothills of Ruapehu.It was a great site with facilities in the domain hall, an interesting old building which had originally been a school. All meals were provided & served in the hall with army field tents for overflow. The view was amazing looking straight up to the mountain.

Saturday was spent entirely on army land with a few mud challenges and hill climbs thrown in. The Singapore Army was training in an adjacent area so provided us with the unnerving sounds of battle fire with the odd smoke bomb for variety. The day was clear again providing stunning views.

On Sunday we were taken over farm land to various points overlooking Waiouru, the Desert Road and Taihape. The day concluded with a late BQQ lunch.

Good fun, good company and friendly fellow campers.

But for four of us the weekend began with an exhilarating 2x2 adventure as follows:

The Old Coach Road Cycle Way

One of the first of John Key's 'Mountain to Sea' cycle ways - a 16k ride which begins or ends at Horopito and Ohakune.

No prizes to guess we started at the Horopito end which is reported as the more "down hill" way but once we got going there seemed to be as many ups as downs. Some of us walked some hills, some of us didn't - eh Mike!

The trail took us through various heritage features including parts of the original unearthed cobble road, massive steel viaducts, rail bridge remains, old campsites and somewhere a unique curved tunnel which we didn't manage to find. The surface was muddy and soft in places making the ride somewhat difficult. It is a much tougher ride than any part of the Otago Rail Trail where the surface is all gravel and the gradient easy.

It was fun, interesting and good to do, certainly glad we did it!