Te Puke: Climb every mud mountain

I have one hand on the gear stick, the other grips the steering wheel - my left foot hovers above the clutch pedal, my right squeezes the brake.

The engine is ticking over and my movement is restricted by an over-the-shoulder seatbelt a jet-fighter pilot would be proud of.

I know I'm on a dirt track in a purpose-built Suzuki Vitara four-wheel-drive, a roll cage surrounds me and I'm at the top of a small hill. My crash helmet fits snugly and a thick elastic strap keeps a pair of goggles firmly over my eyes. But these are no ordinary goggles. They are blacked out. I'm behind the wheel of a potential killer and I'm blind to everything around me. "Drive forward," my passenger commands.

I ease into first gear, release the clutch and move forward down hill.

"Slowly! Go left, soft left."

I'm in a vehicle called Wabbit Four at Hill Hoppers in Te Puke and this is some kind of palm-sweating endurance test before we take to the 3km, 4WD track proper.

For 10 minutes I'm given directions on whether I am driving up, down and whether I should steer left or right, accelerate or brake. In the back of my mind is the form I signed to say I'd pay for any damage I caused to the car. Surely someone's cruel idea of a joke.

"Stop! Reverse and go right, now forward, left."

My passenger has all the answers. But in a minute we'll swap places and I'll be giving the orders. I quickly find it's not as easy as it seems. But I have a good chuckle at my driver's interpretations of my instructions - especially as she doesn't know her left from her right.

We barely reach 10km/h, and walking alongside us is Gus Sharp - he later tells us the engine has a circuit breaker that he controls with a small radio transmitter on his keyring. He can stop the engine at any time.



After the fun, there's more fun - a 4WD trek where we follow Gus in his car all over the track for the best part of 40 minutes.

I floor it as we rattle down a bumpy hill, take a hard right and head for a water feature.

On the CB radio Gus offers the benefit of his experience.

"Whatever you do, when you're in the water don't stop as you will get wet pushing the car out."

My partner and I swap sides and she drives full on - water sprays our back-seat passengers - the children love it. We skid to a muddy halt on the other side and then see an almost vertical mound of earth at least 30m high.

"We're not going up there are we," I said into the microphone.

"You'd have to be mad to do that," said Gus as he roared off up the hill. "We're going down it."

It was here that I wished I had the jet plane that went with the seatbelt. We raced to the summit and saw an almost vertical drop down the other side - coming off the gas and pressing the brake pedal made no difference as gravity and the weight of the car took over. The laughter just about overtook the screams of fear as we came to a safe rest at the bottom.

The radio crackled into life: "Do you want to do it again?"

* Steve Hart was a guest of Hill Hoppers.

Adventure 4WD

Case notes

Hill Hoppers is at Longridge Park on SH33

Paengaroa, Te Puke

Ph (07) 533 1818

Email udrive@adventure4wd.co.nz

* What it costs

Adults $55, children $25. Booking is essential.

* Advisory

At Hill Hoppers you can drive the vehicle around the course or a guide can do the driving if you'd prefer.

* Other 4WD options

Extreme 4WD Adventures NZ

Peak Rd, Helensville

Cost: $60 driver, $20 adult passenger, $15 children, under-5s free.

Minimum charge is $120 a vehicle

Ph (09) 420 3050

4x4 New Zealand

Tancred St, Geraldine.

Scenic four-wheel-drive tours into the alpine regions of the South Island

Cost: Half-day tours start at $70 a person

Ph (03) 6938847.

Johansen Guiding Adventures

Settlement Rd, Pauanui Beach.

Four-wheel-drive safaris in the Coromandel region along tracks used more than 100 years ago for kauri logging and goldmining.

Cost: $280 a person for full day

Ph (07) 864 8731.

Far North Outback Adventures

Fryer Rd, Kaitaia, Northland.

Travel in a Nissan Safari to Ninety Mile Beach and Cape Reinga.

Cost: from $100 a person.

Ph (09) 408 0927.

* Search Pure NZ for a comprehensive list of 4WD operators.