Waikato Run - Maungatautari Sprint 26th May 2014

Post by CJ » Tue May 22, 2012 6:31 am

yeah, that would be worse.

Post by **85AW20v** » Tue May 22, 2012 10:07 pm

CJ wrote:
85AW20v wrote:Whoever wants to take the gravel road could, and meet/wait at the intersection of Huirimu and Pukewhau roads. You could do the same for those who want to take the left turn at Kihikihi and meet/wait at the cafe at Wharepapa South.

Aotearoa Road after Wharepapa South has been a Targa stage in the past, as has Pukewhau/Mangare Road and the Waipapa Gorge after Waipapa Dam. If you get from Waipapa Dam to about a km from the Maraetai Dam access road faster than 4:57, you'll be doing better than the fastest Targa car

Thanks for the info so far.
have taken your advice on the gravel. Hadnt spotted that. Checked it out on Google and it looks really good road actually but i still would only want to do it in a car i didnt care so much about. It remains an option if some others want to take it.
However your suggestions for the other road are bit off. For one, our return road is through kihikihi, we start through cambridge, and the straights will offer a little difference from the other twisties. 2 hours of constant twisties can drain. We will have lunch in Mangakino as there is the hotel restaurant there where we are going to test out their burgers.
Sounds like you know some of these roads well. You need to set up your own course me thinks...

CJ

Didn't spot the start!! Just thought that as it was a Waikato run it would start in Hamilton!! Those who wanted to, could go straight ahead at Wharepapa South on the way back and meet you in Kihikihi. I know the roads having for worked for Corrrections and now Mighty River Power so use the roads for travel between Corrections sites and now powerstations. Also co-driving in Taga gives an insight into which are fun roads!

Post by **mickeyduck** » Wed May 23, 2012 10:05 pm

CJ wrote:2 hours of constant twisties can drain.

Mate...!!!?????? Maybe you need to trade that SW of yours for an AW? 2 hours of twisties is heaven!

Post by **lacham05** » Thu May 24, 2012 8:42 pm

SUPER fun road.
Used to go up and down this road (Kihikihi to Mangakino) at least every two months.
If any of you remember how low my car was from the spanner day at Glenns I can get up and down that road easy.

Might be different for the guys with body kits though not sure.

Super narrow down through the section by lake Waipapa.

Last time i was there my engine dropped a valve and blew a hole in the piston. more like a oil pump than a engine lol.
Wish i could make it.

Post by **mickeyduck** » Fri May 25, 2012 12:41 am

lacham05 wrote:SUPER fun road.
Wish i could make it.

Next time...? Chris is sure to sort some wicked runs to follow.

Ken and Barbie are coming. Nice! A minter AW if ever there was one. And two real nice bods included in the package. Bonus.

I better get a WOF tomorrow... This is going to be an awesome run.

Post by **mickeyduck** » Fri May 25, 2012 9:45 am

Whew. Got the WOF no problem.

Watch out Moolooland here we come...!

Post by **EssDub** » Sat May 26, 2012 12:36 am

mickeyduck wrote:Ken and Barbie are coming. Nice! A minter AW if ever there was one. And two real nice bods included in the package. Bonus.

As long as no more dodgy wiring jobs show up

Post by **JasonFriday13** » Sat May 26, 2012 9:10 am

I won't be attending any more, another problem has popped up with the car.

Post by CJ » Sat May 26, 2012 6:19 pm

Thanks to everyone who came along today. Really appreciate the Auckland crew coming. Really made it fun.
A chilly start to the day. The fog was making its presence known however we still had around 1/2 km visibility so it was fine.
My co-pilot pulled out the night before, (Dylan, youre coming on the next one!). So after a couple of missed turns i had to steal a stand in co-pilot who did a great job.
The road to Mangakino did not disappoint. The sky overcast, temp low and dead still wind conditions made the 2s run beautifully. Those NZ targa stage roads are a gem, and sometimes surprising when they dont have any warnings for corners.

Mangakino was welcoming and the burgers that the bar/hotel put on were INSANE.
I asked for a "double bush burger". I wont bother, only pics can really describe this...

A couple of photo opportunities in Mangakino

Now Ken and Barb have extensive knowledge of this area, so they led us back through the second stage of the run. They did a great job and knew a couple of great spots for photos. The terrain in south waikato is so picturesque, it felt like we were driving through ROHAN in Middle Earth.

Definitely think we will have to make this an annual event. Thanks guys and gals.
CJ

Post by **mickeyduck** » Sun May 27, 2012 12:48 pm

Man that was a dose of Moolooland magic! A brilliant run, thanks CJ.

And thanks too Ken for sharing a sliver of that massive store of central North Island insight mate.

We had a bit of drama getting down there - first thing in the morning the fog was thick as blazes and we couldn't do more than 80kmh safely so that slowed us down... However we got through the Lake Waikare road with an hour to spare so it seemed we were making really good time. We had passed a bunch of earth moving equipment and I figured we had time to double back and snatch a few good photos... Next time I get an idea like that I'll stop as soon as possible instead of thinking about it for too long cos as it turned out it cost us a bit too much time (sorry CJ)

But we did get some nice pics. Try this for size:

Click on the pics for a larger version, again to zoom in, then again to close. Use the "back" button to return to this thread.

You may notice Pieter's SW has an exceptionally small fog light...

The photo episode had its amusing moments (which I won't share here in any detail) but suffice to say that calls of nature, alarm systems and bulldozer owners were involved...

We got almost to the far end of the Waikare road again when we discovered we had lost 2 SW's. Which eventually turned up, one trying to use its under-tray as a bulldozer blade. Must have decided it wanted to grow up to be like one of those beasts it had just met. Anyway, with time now becoming a little more precious we were obliged to jack the SW up and surgically remove some under-tray.

We took some amazing back road straights (as per my map) to The Tron (a.k.a. Hamilton) but alas the fog again prevented our exploring their true potential. And then we took a wrong turn and had to figure out how to actually get to Glen's... Oops (again). Man do I need to get a GPS. Though the iPhone did kinda save the day.

We eventually rendezvoused with CJ, Greg and Matt outside Glen's, about an hour late. Major apologies chasps.

Mind you, by that time the fog had all but disappeared, thank goodness.

Off we went on a Moolooland mission, CJ leading the way and me being "tail end Charlie".

Now I have to say that the roads we explored were truly stellar. Good seal, lots of twisties, not too many sun-deprived (icy / slippery) patches, and the scenery! Wow. Nice.

There were valleys with the freakiest boulders and rock formations - some maybe 5 or 10 storeys tall. Check it out:

The other end of the same valley, looking back the other way. For an idea of scale, compare the height of the fence, mid pic, which is quite a bit closer to you than the rock pillar...

CJ finds a good pozzie up on the bank to take a few pics:

While the Mooloos look on...

Earlier in the day we had descended upon Mangakino intent on smashing Essdub's Ocker burger for a six. I reckon we had no problem there. I mean, you saw CJ's "Bush Burger" in his post just earlier eh? Man. He and I each had one and there's no denying that was one BIG burger.

It could only be eaten piece-meal. Unless you have a flip-top head...

Here's a snap of them that were there. From left to right, my wife and co-pilot Michelle (minnieduck), Greg (Bandasorus), Paul (Fourwalls), Matt (MattAW11), his mate who helped CJ out as co-pilot (you can't read pace notes, suss a GPS or cell phone, and drive at the same time eh), Chris (CJ) munching on his Bushburger, Kellan (what's your forum ID mate?), front to back are Katie, Ric (Bembot) and Pieter (pieter992), then Chrissie, Ken and Barbie (Ken & Barbie).

After lunch we headed down to Lake Maraetai where the view was lovely, with a paddle steamer (built in 1907) amongst other things. Good public loos there too in case you ever travel through... Here's a few lake-side pics:

: Otunui, built London 1907, Kellan and Chrissie at left.

: Matt's magnificent AW

Wasn't enough room to line our cars up. And Greg had headed off home again by now too so his car isn't in the shot, but here's a wee pic of the rest of our cars lakeside:

As I said Greg had headed off by now, and when we left the lake we lost some other crew too, as they were heading elsewhere for the night.

On the way back we went and sussed out the dam at Lake Waipapa - drove along it and took a few pics:

: Dam...!

: Ken, owner of maybe the mintest AW on Earth, inspects Matt's AW...

: This is Ken's one...

: Ric's SW

: Paul's SW

: Chris' SW. Calendar pic, surely?

: and my humble "Stripe".

This wee fantail got yakkin' with the beep my camera was making and buzzed around my head, almost settling on my shoulder. Love them wee things, cute as.

A little further up the road we stopped at a seriously freaky bridge that crosses a gorge - gorgeous view, but man was that high!

: looking sideways...

: and looking down... a LONG way down...!

Thanks again to all who came and helped make it such an enjoyable and memorable day.

Awesome run CJ - and yeah, an annual event it oughtta be, absolutely.

Video to come...