Nothing but a club whore

The Auckland 4WD Club of the mid 1990s was a wonderful group … at least in my eyes because its calendar of activities coincided nicely with my interests, which were off-road touring and exploration with plenty of challenges along the way. But slowly its emphasis changed to winch challenges and tough ’wheeling. Nothing wrong with that, of course, and a real bonus for those who wanted to spend a pleasant day out winching in the mud. So I did what I said I'd never do and joined a single-make club, in this case the Land Rover Owners' Club of Auckland. I really had nothing against single-make clubs other than I always found it interesting to compare how different types of 4WD tackled the same challenges. The Land Rover club turned out to be a good choice and had some interesting trips, but I had to skulk away after selling my Defender 90 of 12 years and buying another make, to make matters worse an American one beginning with 'J', that many Land Rover owners love to hate! Fortunately for me, by this time the Auckland club had lost some of its hard edge and was now closer to the way it was when I first joined. So now I'm back, but I remember the LROCA with fondness and, as a way of saying thanks, offer these photos from the last time I was in Waiuku forest with them. The forest is located on the west coast south of Auckland and is not open to the public; that's one advantage of being in a club.