“On a Mish” #376 No Truck Gets Left Behind. Mid Canterbury 4×4 Park. Hakatere / Ashburton Riverbed. 10.6.2023. Looking back at all of the adventures I have been on with my cousin, it is amazing we have never been stuck in a very remote location. Like solo hiking, some believe going alone is very risky as you don’t have someone there to help you get out of a bind. Of all the terrain we have ventured into it would seem that the Mid Canterbury 4×4 Park would be the most challenging. Not only did the mighty Jimny get stuck, but also another fella would dig his truck into the mud and we knew that to keep our luck alive we needed to follow the mantra of ‘No Truck Gets Left Behind’…
A life changing injury was countered by the opportunity to not only go on missions in a little white truck, but also reconnect with my cousin. As kids we ventured as far into the wild as we could, and now as older kids we can do it with vehicles! Every trip has had its own unique events and every trip has been extremely enjoyable.
The missions into the wild haven’t been ‘child friendly’ so Adam hasn’t been able to bring his young son Elliot (Barry). For Barry to join us ‘on a mish’ we needed a close and easy location, and the Mid Canterbury 4×4 Park seemed like the best option for all involved.
The 4×4 park is located southeast of the city of Ashburton and another bonus is having whanau in that part of the country. Contact was made with my uncles, aunties and Grandmother who decided to join us.
The mish was now a family affair and as we cruised south from Christchurch Barry requested his favourite artist be played on the radio. There aren’t too many one year olds out there that DEMAND Post Malone’s ‘Chemical’ to be played at full volume. My little bro Barry is a real character!
We got to the entrance of the park and unloaded the Jimny off its trailer. At this stage we were the only ones there and we went for a quick blast around the area. The quick track check showed us we would be dealing with a lot of mud, and the Jimny would be working hard today.
The rest of the whanau showed up and we got to hoon around with them and give them a taste of what Adam and I have got up to on our outings.
In one place Adam explained how last time he was here he got stuck… and then proceeded to get stuck again! This was no issue as this was sort of part of the plan. The truck has many gadgets on it to help when stuck, and we assumed we would be out in a jiffy. Unfortunately plan A: The Winch did not work. We had to turn to plan B: Digging with the aid of recovery tracks. Plan B did the job and we got moving again, and just as we did one of Adam 4×4 bros showed up.
Now two trucks ventured deeper into the park and the terrain got much trickier. Old mate got stuck and we had to drag him out. Within minutes of the recovery the Jimny would dive into a deep bog and exit it a little worse for wear. It was now making a nasty knocking noise and didn’t sound good. Somehow we had to get back to the trailer, but before we had a chance to digest our situation, old mate got stuck again!
All we could do was worry about getting ourselves out, so with the knocking noise increasing Adam floored it and we bounced our way past our stranded mate. Taking the easiest line through the maze of muddy tracks, somehow we limped back to the trailer.
As we were packing up and leaving, old mate was calling his buddies looking for help. This just isn’t living the mantra of ‘No truck gets left behind’, so we grabbed tools and began the trek back to our marooned mate.
Boy was he happy when we returned! Unfortunately his friends had basically said they were ‘busy’. Once back at his truck Adam went to work with the recovery tracks and the spade. Then, with a lot of muddy effort the truck was slowly set free from its boggy prison.
I chose to walk back to the trailer as the eventful morning had taken its toll on my beaten body. It was lucky I did as I watched the now very free truck bounce its way over the 4×4 park like nothing had happened.
With all the soldiers back at base we could load up and start making our way back home. We said our goodbyes to whanau and our fortunate friend, and then settled in for the drive home. DJ Barry was on the job (until he fell asleep), and much like the drive down the little legend treated us with his favourite song, Post Malone’s Chemical… many, many times over!
