You know how ten hours of towing 3 ton from Kerikeri to Whakatane can make you feel? Well I’m not about to tell you that we arrived in fresh and ready for a full on day… we were stuffed, and rightfully so. However, what I will tell you is that I’ve done that trip in quite a few wagons over the years and it’s a trip that I normally dread. Hauling over the numerous mountain ranges between here and there, dragging uphill at 30kph and starting a convoy that’s full of 'not so happy' people behind me. We completed that trip earlier this year and the Jeep just continues to impress me with its power, smoothness and fuel economy. 90kph (well that’s the legal limit) over the Brynderwyn’s with 3 Ton on the back is impressive in anyone’s language. We were loaded up as part of our North Island Road trip and it’s fair to say we looked like a family of five heading off to the camp ground. Filming is a lot different to camping, and we only take what we need, but we were still full to over-flowing. Up-hill and Down-dale the Jeep powered on and made this otherwise laborious trip into one of comfort and allowed us to turn our attention somewhat to the upcoming days filming.
Our road trip this year started in the Far North of Northland launching the 759 Stabi-Craft from the beaches and this is one of the places that really allows the Jeep to shine amongst it competitors. Beach launching is something that is to be taken very seriously. Many a keen fisho has had to walk to the closet farm to beg the farmer to bring his tractor down and haul the now wet 4WD out of the water. It makes for a great laugh back at the camp-ground... well for everyone except the victim that is. Because the Jeep isn’t a huge cumbersome wagon it means we can get our 3 Ton boat in and out of the water with surprising ease and the chance of getting stuck is reduced significantly because of that fact alone. That size is one of the things I really like about the Jeep for the other 320 days of the year when I’m not towing… again, I’m not having to lug a big heavy wagon around for no gain. Good on the fuel bill as well.
From there we were into the Bay of Islands and Auckland which saw some more typical concrete ramp launching but these busy spots do call for a particular reliability that a car and boat, that’s lit up like a Christmas Tree, needs to avoid becoming a ‘photo opportunity’ whilst spinning up on a slippery ramp. No problems at all. After Whakatane we headed for Wellington to fish with one of the local hero’s Pete Lamb and his freakishly big boat ‘Daniel’. Seeing the size of that thing eluded to the sorts of seas we might expect fishing out form Wellington but Pete just brushed off the 4mtr swell like a Browns Bay local might a 3 inch wash from a child’s dingy; hardy buggers those boys. After that it was the long haul back to Northland, this is where the Jeeps 'drivability' paid off. Instead of being at the helm for hours, all the crew want a turn at driving. In the pre-jeep days I used to get all sorts of excuses why the team 'couldn't' take a turn driving "I've never towed a boat", "This wagon is too big", "I'm drunk"....now days they fight to get behind the wheel. I reckon it's a combination of the smooth handling, the 'check out my ride' factor.... and seeing all the people that pull up alongside the ITM Fishing Show Jeep tooting and waving, only to see their face when they realise 'hey, that's not Matt driving?'
The remainder of the year saw us filming in Cairns, Gold Coast, Vanuatu, Oklahoma, San Francisco and our course our own New Zealand. We’ve had some awesome adventures in 2009 with one very memorable helicopter trip into the regions around Palmerston North to target the back country trout; and it was out of this world. A big thank-you to Darren at Brent Boddy Prestige for your support in helping this trip come together mate, but more about this next time.
