“On a Mish” #359 Permission Granted (Part One). Otematata Area. Northern Otago. 25.11.2022. Aotearoa became the land of farms once discovered. Because of its fertile land, a lot of the country is covered in paddocks, some flat, some not so flat. Some of the toughest farming is done in stations that border our wilderness areas, therefore permission is needed when crossing over, and unfortunately many don’t ask…
On a few occasions my cousin and I have had to cross over private land and found that a quick call to the station manager has not only confirmed our presence on the property, but also given us valuable information about the area we were going into.
An early-ish start had us leaving Christchurch bound for North Otago, and the massive Otematata Station. The station is many hours away from home, so we had plenty of time to get excited. Before we got to go off-road we needed to cover a great distance on boring old normal roads.
Along the journey we realised how much we love getting away from the masses and the busy roads really reinforced our ‘anti-social’ behaviour. With that said this mission was with a few members of the Jimny Club, so we were going to have company on our adventure into wild farmlands.
The trip south was made comfortable by the fact that Adam transports his beastly Jimny on a trailer, and so we sat in style in his Navara. On the trip south we came across a messy truck crash, which closed one lane on the Main South Road and caused major disruptions on the South Island’s busiest road. This really reminded us how much we love getting away from humanity and into the outdoors.
Nothing draws a crowd like a lineup of off-road Suzukis, and with the team together in Otematata we were now ready to go ‘on a mish’.
The gang headed west from Otematata Village and then turned off State Highway 83 and headed into Otematata Station. It was awesome knowing we were allowed to be here, and as we had paid a price per-car we were ready to get our money’s worth. Getting permission to head into one of the country’s biggest stations was a bit of a mish for Adam, but his hard work had paid off as we powered our way into the farm with the confidence of someone who lives there. Permission granted, proceed with care and excitement!
We came across a couple of the farm workers and confirmed that we were on the property, then we began our multi day adventure across the mountainous plains of Otematata…
