Molesworth Station offers abundant opportunity for New Zealanders and visitors to New Zealand to experience natural environments, rural lifestyles and natural history that few people get to experience. As New Zealand’s largest high country station it holds a special place in our history. Discover the magnificent scenery, unique plant life and the fascinating stories.
Bring your own 4X4 vehicle to drive in convoy style over some private farms as well as Molesworth Station, Rainbow Station, Mailings Pass and St James Stations. Follow our fun and informative lead guide to enjoy four days of driving in the fabulous unspoilt high-country regions, with towering mountains, meandering rivers and native beech forests through rolling farmland to the famous Marlborough vineyards.
If you don’t have your own 4WD, you can still join this tour.
Blenheim Railway Station
8.00am
Rich in history of the areas you are travelling through. Opportunity to speak and meet with local high country farmers. Meet like minded people travelling in your group and enjoy the personalised aspects of a small tour group where all the planning has been done for you down to the smallest detail. We are a QSI certified tourism business which means we have passed a robust assessment of all our business procedures and you can be assured you are purchasing a quality safe experience. Last but not least we hold a license to access Molesworth Station so you are guaranteed travel through the station when it is not open to the general public.
Make sure you fuel up before leaving Blenheim; Hanmer Springs has a Caltex petrol station as well as puncture repair and tyre changing facilities.
4WD with a high and low ratio gearbox is mandatory.
Ground clearance recommended of 225mm both front and rear of vehicle.
Tyres ‘all terrain’ tyres with a good amount of tread on them are required.
Low profile road tyres are not suitable.
All wheel drive SUV’s (Sports Utility Vehicle) are not suitable.
Please contact us if you are unsure if your vehicle would be suitable.
All vehicles must have a current registration and WOF.
You need to have a good knowledge of your vehicle and have some previous 4X4 off road driving experience.
Meet with your lead driver and other group members at the Blenheim Railway Station car park northern end at 8.00am, short briefing and introductions. Your drive starts by taking the coastal route around the Wairau Lagoons with its interesting history and wonderful views to your first farm track drive, then another farm with a good track and great views overlooking the Awatere Valley and Pacific Coast. Enjoy morning tea at a homestead before you head up the valley to drive up the highest accessible mountain road in NZ to look across at mountain ranges, river terraces and ocean views. Drive to a high country farm for a late lunch before driving to our overnight farm accommodation in the upper reaches of the Awatere Valley arriving about 5.30pm to unpack and enjoy a few drinks and a BBQ cooked by your tour guide.
Accommodation
Classic shearer’s accommodation on a high country station in the Awatere Valley. Individual bedrooms sleeping two people (mainly twin beds, please bring your sleeping bags, pillow and towel), bathroom facilities are shared and there is a large kitchen, dining room and lounge. Washing machine available.
Meals
Tea breaks will be served from our onboard supplies of locally roasted plunger coffee or tea and home baking from the cake tins. Lunch will be served on the farm. Two-course dinner. BYO drinks for evening dining.
After a hearty farm style breakfast we will set off around 9am to drive up the Grey River and explore the 35,000 acre station with the owner coming with us for the day. Morning driving includes river crossings, driving round spurs, through flat grassy expanses with a cuppa in a back country hut. The return route lets you enjoy the same country from a different perspective arriving back at the homestead for lunch. Back on the track again to drive along a ridge line up to a height of 5,000 feet with great back country views over neighbouring stations including Molesworth Station. Driving down from the heights back to the valley floor with a home cooked meal awaiting and stories of the day over drinks to while away the evening.
Accommodation
Classic shearer’s accommodation on a high country station in the Awatere Valley. Individual bedrooms sleeping two people (mainly twin beds, please bring your sleeping bags, pillow and towel), bathroom facilities are shared.
Meals
Your choice of continental or full cooked breakfast. Tea breaks will be served from our onboard supplies of locally roasted plunger coffee or tea and home baking from the cake tins. Lunch will be served on the farm. Two-course dinner. BYO drinks for evening dining.
After breakfast it’s time to see a piece of Muller Station with our host, share morning tea at a hut before we say goodbye and head toward Molesworth. See the original Molesworth cob cottage then head south into Molesworth Station. Enjoy a picnic lunch at the old Acheron accommodation house surrounded by nature and the extensive hills. Driving into Hanmer Springs via Jollies Pass around 4.30pm with time to enjoy the thermal pools or shopping before dinner.
Accommodation
The third night is at Hanmer Springs in ensuite motel rooms; situated approximately 100 metres across the road from the thermal pool complex, we recommend if you want to enjoy the pools, do so soon after arriving in Hanmer.
Meals
Your choice of continental or full cooked breakfast. Lunch will be picnic style enjoyed
Departing at 9am and heading into the backcountry over Jacks Pass, stopping to enjoy the scenery at various vantage points and investigate the numerous alpine plants on the way to Lake Tennyson, where we will enjoy morning tea with an amazing backdrop of mountain scenery. Highlights will include Island Saddle, the Tarndale Lakes, and Rainbow Station. Returning to Blenheim through the many vineyards that are creeping into the upper reaches of the Wairau Valley by 5.30pm.
Meals
Continental style breakfast served in your room. Tea breaks will be served from our on-board supplies of award winning locally roasted coffee or tea and home baking from the cake tins. Picnic style lunch. Dinner at own arrangement.
We thoroughly enjoyed the Molesworth 4WD trip with Chris. Awesome, interesting and well organised! Chris was part of the team from time of introduction, great company and very informative. We got to seriously use our 4WD vehicles, up steep slopes, river crossings etc. Meeting the station owners was also a highlight. Learning all about the day to day running of their stations, the history and statistics, was great, as was their hospitality. The food was the best and am sure we all packed on a little weight J
Would we recommend this tour? 100% YES. Will we do another? 100% YES.
The whole trip was 100% from start to finish. Country side hospitality from the vineyard and Camden , Upcot, Muller, and Hanmer motel owner and restaurant staff. Our tour leader Chris was very good and ran a great tour. A big thanks to you to for making it all happen .
Thanks once again to the station owners and the Hanmer people and big thanks to Geoff and Lee , and our leader Chris.
The trip was fantastic. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I’ll recommend this trip to people who I think will enjoy doing something different.
Chris was a great skipper and cook. Full of knowledge of the area.
My best part was going up and down Schooner Range. Doing that was well out of my comfort zone.
Thanks for a good getaway.
Thank you very much for a lovely trip through the Marlborough high country on our recent “tour”. It was great fun and ticked another on the “bucket list”. Sorry it has taken me some time to email you but I was reminded when our photo books of our trip came back. It is such beautiful ,majestic country and your trip is a great way to experience it. We were very lucky with the weather.
We did really enjoy the trip thanks. The scenery was wonderful and the opportunity to get into some of the back blocks of NZ was terrific. Meeting the landowners and hearing a little of their story was interesting. Thanks particularly to Geoff for leading the way. The country down there is so different from what we have up here in the north. And I think the length of the tour and distance covered was pretty well right.
