The road is just like any other gravel road ... that is, until one gets stuck in the first big deep ruts.  Apparently a year ago the ruts were only six inches deep.  On the day we travelled (Nov 2002), they were filled with water deep higher than the tail gate of the Jeep.  We could hear the exhaust's "blurb, blurb, blurb" and could see murky water seep through the doors.  Credit to the driver, we managed to reverse a bit and then powered through the murky "river".

Once we'd gone through, it's time to dig a trench and drain the muddy water down the hill so that we wouldn't get stuck again on our way back.  The road passes the largest wind farm in the southern hemisphere (see Jeep Jamboree page) and offers a great view of Palmerston North and the Manawatu on a clear day.  On a misty day like the one we had, it's eerie to hear the "chop, chop, chop" from the blades of the wind turbine without seeing anything in the surrounding.

"Let's get the spade out!"

"Not a sheila!"

"Hey! Girls can do anything!"

Murky water slowly drained down the slope

You take the high road; I'll take the low road

The low road certainly looks nicer, Kerry!

The muddy sammy is going to taste really nice!

Henry's attempt to power through the mud

Retried - same result on the way back