Inspiration...

I have edited my last video and have rendered it in preparation for uploading to Vimeo. Unfortunately I have used up my weekly allocation of upload space on Vimeo and so will have to wait until Monday before I can up load any more. So I have been cruising through Vimeo looking for other off roading videos and I came across this one. Can't wait to add more bits to my machine and get back out there again. I am currently discussing doing the 42nd Traverse with a friend of mine before April when the track is closed again to 4X4 traffic. So hopefully this will come off. In the mean time enjoy this video from Italy showing off the capabilities of the might Land Rover Defender!

off-roading italy from Olivier Depaep on Vimeo.

The Big One!

All I can say is I want to do this!  I found this today in my latest issue of 4WD Magazine.  I have already contacted them and am looking at a possible 2015/16 date.  I would love to go now...

The tour is fully catered, flights, accommodation, outward and return transportation of the car.  Only extras are fuel and some food.  If you are interested contact the site at http://rallytours.co.nz 
I know I am!  I have already contacted them...

Mountain Tracks Vol 2

This next video is taken from two different tracks on two different days.  I was just pulling footage from different folders as I created it.  So we go from bright blue skies to moody leaden skies in one jump.  I know we can experience four seasons in one day here, but this is not the case of a single day here!

In the second half of the video you will notice that Craig had to endure being the meat in a Defender 110 sandwich all day.... A situation as a die hard Landcruiser guy he did not really like, but we ribbed him all day over the radio anyway.  Our guide on that track and for the entire day was John from Maniatoto 4WD tours.  His knowledge of the area and his love for the history, especially the gold mining history, that is littered all over this range really made this day a day to remember.

Sadly for me I lost the entire MicroSD card's worth of footage of the ascent and river crossings that we did on this day.  In my haste to change batteries on the GoPro, I popped out the MicroSD card and as I put the camera back in the housing, bent the card beyond saving and eventually when trying to rescue it later, it snappped.  I still have the card and am still hoping that I can rescue the footage, which was epic as we still had snow on the tops of one of the mountains we ascended  and the weather was so dark the clouds descended and as we went over one saddle we were in the clouds and could see them racing up the windward side of the saddle only to slow into casual eddies on the leeward side.  Would have made for a great single video.

Despite the loss of that footage, enjoy this effort and there is more to come.  However, work is looming and time is becoming scarce!  So the videos might take a longer time to make it to the blog.  A drip feed rather than a flood!


Mountain Tracks 2 from David Kinane on Vimeo.

Messing About in Puddles...

Craig and I sought out as many wet bits as possible and loved driving through them.  I went through this one three times.  Boys will be boys...

South Island Off Road Adventure - Vol 1

I managed to coax the GoPro software into some form of compliance yesterday and have now uploaded the first of what will clearly be several videos of our off road experience in the South Island.

The video below represents just two tracks that we crossed.  On the section of track that features the deep ruts as we race on up to the sky, we were at 1690m.  I think that represents our highest point on the journey, it was also a lovely day.  We were not so lucky on other days.

Our track notes contained a wealth of information, but we had to hand them back and were asked not to copy them for IP reasons, which we respected.  The trouble with this compliance is that the names of the tracks do not necessarily align with the names of the mountains we scaled.  I will try to find out the names of the summits we crested and will include them on the map of our journey, which I will do after the videos have been uploaded.  In the meantime, enjoy this latest video.  The part of the video I have most trouble with is in chosing the music, it seems to take more time than the actual editing....

Off Road - South Island 2014 - Mountains Vol1 from David Kinane on Vimeo.

Mountain Tease

I did promise some footage of the mountains today, however, today turned into a technology shift day for the entire family, so I was caught up in configuring two new phones, de-commissioning a phone and configuring a new tablet!  In addition to this, the GoPro software kept crashing as I loaded the footage.  This is strange as the same clips and the same software worked perfectly yesterday!

So in desperation, I have resorted to using one of the GoPro templates to make a quick video to share, it really is a tease, there is so much footage to share that it is in danger of either becoming a full length feature or a mini-series!

In the mean time enjoy!


Mountain Video - Teaser from David Kinane on Vimeo.

Rivers

Part of the trip that we did was organised for us to travel with another car.  The purpose was for us to be able to help each other should we get into difficulties.  And as you will see later, we went over some pretty spectacular country.  I had hoped to create a video for each track that we did each day and most days we did two.  However the reality is that the perspective from within the car makes for pretty boring video.  If I had more time I would have set up the cameras outside the car and placed us in the environment, rather than have the environment pass by us.  As we already have plans to go back next season, we know what to do.

Each day we were given track notes and we used these to navigate the tracks.  On a couple of tracks we had guides to show us the ropes and show us the way and on other days, we were completely on our own.

The video below is a compilation of the majority of the streams and rivers that we crossed.  In a couple of clips there are internal reflections from inside the car.  After I saw these, I moved the camera to a higher position on the windscreen and removed the offending articles from the dash!



Rivers from David Kinane on Vimeo.

South Island Trip

We have been back a week now and miss the South Island!  We have both been resisting the urge to turn around and go back, we had such fun and saw such epic sights.  We covered 4700km in just 14 days.  It had been my intention to blog each days track and video whilst on the road, but such was our remoteness that even getting a cell phone signal, let alone 3G coverage was difficult.

In addition I took so much footage that I have been forced to cut heavily in order to not bore viewers to death.  Below are a few choice images I took along the way.  There is a timelapse movie in the wings and the offroad footage is also slowly making its way to Vimeo.

South Island Trip Begins

Day 1:  Auckland – Wellington

We departed for our South Island trip with a loaded car and full of anticipation.  The starting odometer reading was:

The drive south was an uneventful one.  We shared the driving, for one of us this was the first time they had driven the car! Getting the wheel back is proving to be a challenge!

The trip to Wellington is just an ordeal, a necessary evil to get us to our destination, but it still represents two lost or empty days of our holiday. The drive was pleasant we stopped for tea in Otorohonga and had lunch in Taumauranui.  Between Lunch and Bulls as stone was thrown up at us and we have a small chip in the windscreen on the drivers side!  Typical!  On closer inspection I am sure this chip can be fixed with a resin injection, rather than having to face a screen replacement.

The rain set in south of Palmerston North and stayed with us for the remainder of the day.  We crawled in traffic from Otaki south and turned off for the Hutt Valley at Whitby.  In Whitby harbor we were rewarded with the sight of a couple of Royal Spoonbills feeding on the flats.  Unfortunately I had no time to stop and take photos in the failing light.

We headed for Epuni and a short visit to the relatives.  At 10:00 PM we set off again for the Bluebridge terminal and our ferry.  By this time the weather had really started to worsen, the wind had picked up the rain had increased and the prospect of a rough ferry crossing beckoned.  Fortunately we had booked a cabin and an early emabarking  time so at least we could look forward to some sleep before departure.  The Straightsman, our ferry was late, so we had to doze as best we could in the car before we could get on board.  By 12:30AM we were allowed to board and get to our cabins.

We both fell asleep quickly and slept well through the crossing.  All through the night we were both aware of the ships movement but it was more of a gentle waddle rather than a rolling wallowing experience and facilitated sleep.

On arrival in Picton we were quizzed about the roughness of the crossing, based on the wind and rain conditions experienced in Picton overnight.  Clearly it had been a rough crossing but we had not found it so.