South Island Jimny Day up the Molesworth Station

The Suzuki community is awesome - tons of great guys and girls that all share a common interest - getting our cars dirty in some very remote places.

I put this day together to encourage people to get out into the mountains and learn a bit more about the capabilities of their Jimnys, and to see some of the amazing landscape that the Southern Alps have to offer.

Starting at 8am in Hanmer, we headed up into the Molesworth Station. We had a few stops along the way to drive over things, through water, up screes of gravel and to talk some shit. 

10 Jimny's came along, some were very experienced and some completely new to 4wding - it was perfect. The weather was ideal, with a 2 degree start to the day, in true high country form it became very hot and I got really sunburnt. Again! 

We stopped for at the Island Gully Doc hut, which is an amazing wee hut surrounded in towering mountains. 

We continued through to the Rainbow Road from here, taking in the huge landscape of Rainbow Station.  We stopped for some photos and a few people attempted a fairly tricky climb up a shingle scree, was cool to see a stock Jimny do so well!

Onwards and Westwards, we explored further into the mountains. What a place!

After a stop for lunch on the riverbed we headed back towards Hanmer and stopped for a paddle in Lake Tennyson, it was a hot day, so the cold water was pretty awesome.

Leaving the Molesworth Station, a lady flagged me down and asked for help - her and her family had managed to get their Escudo stuck in the middle of a large wetlands area, their Suzuki was a fair way off the road. 

Recovery time!

David pulled up in his highly modified Samurai winch truck and went straight in, balls deep, promptly getting stuck in the wetlands too. I tried to snatch him out, but no luck. Now two Suzukis were stuck.

The wetlands were so wet, that at one point Tyson was walking a rope out to the Escudo and fell into a wet hole up to his waist. Wet.

A Land Cruiser came past and was able to pull David out, but in the process, David's Samurai suffered a broken transfer case mount, so because un-driveable. But his winch still worked. 

We pushed the Samurai into place, run some ropes out to the Escudo, anchored with my Jimny, and the amazing monster winch dragged the Escudo through the shittiest boggy crap you've ever soon. 

With the Escudo now recovered, the adventurous family were able to carry on their journey. Frustrating to see that their small Suzuki had BALD road tyres and nothing that helped them explore further than a paved road.

David and Tyson rescued the Samurai with a trailer the following morning and everyone else headed back to camp for a cold beer.

WINCH TIME - this trip taught me that I need a proper winch. Something grunty. Keep an eye on the Build Section to see what I do for the winch setup! 

Exploring New Zealand is so much fun, but it's a lot more fun with friends 👍