FANTASTIC 4WD TOUR

As the sun rose, four-wheel drives rolled into the Quartz Hill Station yard to start the hotly anticipated Windwhistle 4WD High Country Tour on Sunday, March 19th, a fundraising event for the Windwhistle Primary School.

After a cuppa and tasty muffin served by school parents the convoy set off, travelling through Quartz Hill. Within thirty minutes, they found themselves on a challenging track, climbing to a ridge line to be wowed with 360-degree views.

Winding down to the valley floor Colin Guild talked over the dedicated radio frequency about the 1973 snow, which impacted the Stations hugely, and the changes in technology, like weather forecasting, that now allow them to prepare for major storms.

This is a distinctive part of the country where the foothills meet the high country with varied and different ecosystems. Crossing onto High Peak Station, James Guild spoke of his family’s work on this station to protect certain areas under QEII covenants.

The convoy then descended into Snowdon Station, across newly sown paddocks to one of the most stunning lunch spots anyone could ask for. School families again greeted people with a gourmet lunch box to enjoy while sitting amongst the tussocks soaking in the views.

Roy Veronese and Annabel Tripp spoke during lunch about farming life on Snowdon Station and their work conserving specific areas of wetlands and bush.

When crossing into Dry Acheron Station, the landscape changed from tussock lands to more rugged and rocky. At the boundary between the Dry Acheron and Big Ben Stations, both part of the Coleridge Downs farming group, Tony Plunkett spoke of the cadet’s programme they run. This programme gives young people a pathway into agriculture.

The impressive moving catering volunteers met the convoy with afternoon tea on a terrace near the end of the track, which gave fantastic views of the Mt Hutt range, Rakaia River and the Southern Alps.

“This has been an incredible event for our whole community. We all take great pride in being able to farm in this area and we all care about the land we call home. We know some of you have travelled some distance to be with us today. Thank you all for joining us and supporting our school,” commented organising committee member, Georgie Harper

“We are all passionate about our little school, it really is the heart of our community and we must protect it for the future. Events like this show how special our whole community is, we all pull together and this makes it really enjoyable.

“Thank you to the landowners who opened their gates for us, to the sponsors who backed us and to all the volunteers; this would not have happened without you. We hope to do more of these trips in the future, so stay tuned,” Georgie concluded.