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Wow, what a day! I had obviously forgotten how hard this track is, but I guess 15 years and becoming a parent can do that to you.

We caught up with Burt and the Shotover 4wd crew and headed up the valley. A gentle climb turned into a roller-coaster throught the tress before a sharp right straight up the mountain had forward progress down to pushing the scooters at walking pace, to the aroma of burning cluthes.

This is a serious 4wd track incuding steep rutted hillclimbs, boggy marshes and VERY deep mud-holes. Simon was the first to cave in and load up his scooter on the back of a 4wd. He may not have been the only one but he was the first, earning him the new riding name of Lightweight. (a bit of a come-down from Mad Max). If you ask him I’m sure he will give you a long-winded justification.

Burt and the Shotover crew were absolutly amazing, going far beyond the call of duty, especially when it was discovered that Shaun was not in fact in front of us as believed and after 5 hours, could now be anywhere on the mountain, with dark approaching and a heavy rain warning in place for the night.

By late in the day we were down to two running scooters (that we knew of), both of which were being ridden by the girls! with all the boys having to catch a ride with the very capable Pam. Dead scooters resided in the back of the monster Landcruiser with Burt heading back along the track to eventually find a tired but self-sufficient Shaun. That made three scooters that exited the mountain under their own steam.

Arrived in camp after dark to find Adrienne had set up base camp and had hot pizza in the oven and cold beers in the fridge… Legend!! Then we started the tradition of watching the day’s video footage before hitting the sheets.