GPS gets toursists off track

Slow Mower
Good to have you on line.
Just shows what sort of idiots are out there - God gave us all eyes to read road signs and ears. Some people think they are technically TOO competent to use common sense. And he could not turn around - I have a LC100 and at a pinch I would turn around on most roads at some point.

The "male" called it a "Nightmare"? - Sounds like a great trip - lets get their track plot? Does however go to show that there is no substitute for a paper map and a compass:)LOL
Cheers
Greg

I think that instead of using a GPS to help him navigate, he just let the GPS loose and blindly followed it.

I believe those Navman type route finders do have the capability to say no to a particular road and the unit will then find another way around.

Why would you go touring and then drive at night?

I know the road well and I do not believe a word of the story that this driver is telling. I know it is not being misreported as I heard a radio interview with the driver. Even the run holder is reported as asking how the dumb ### missed the two road signs (about 2m x 3m) that advised the road was closed ! The road through the high country station takes about 4 hours and is normally open to the public from about November to March ($20 toll). It is a beautiful trip and you CAN turn arround almost anywhere. This couple arrived in Christchurch at about midnight, drove all through the night (heading for Nelson), returned to Christchurch and left to return to Australia with their pre-booked tickets 24 hrs later. If anyone knows the route you will be asking what on earth they were doing attempting to drive that distance when they only intended being in the country such a short time. I would normally allow about 8 hours taking that inland route from Christchurch to Nelson.

For those interested, I managed to find what is probably the 'original' newspaper report in a Nelson (NZ) newspaper. Here it is.......

GPS takes Aussies on off-road odyssey
27 October 2005
By ELEANOR WILSON

Getting from Christchurch to Nelson in four hours was "no trouble", Australian tourists xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx had been told.

The couple were yesterday resting after their hired car satellite navigation system took them on a 10-hour detour over one of the South Island's roughest passes, described as "a shingle goat track".

"I use GPS at home all the time. We take it for granted," said xxxxxxxxxx, 27, a criminology student from Brisbane.

Flying into Christchurch at 11.45pm on Tuesday, intending to drive to a friend's house in Nelson the same night, they hired a Mitsubishi Lancer with a built-in navigation system.

"We were going great guns until we got to Hanmer Springs, then we turned off the highway," xxxxxxxxx said.

The device had directed them on to a rough gravel track leading over the 869m-high Jacks Pass, following the Wairau River into the Rainbow Valley.

Hoiberg said within minutes they were worried something was wrong, but decided the road was too narrow and steep to turn around.

"We knew from the device we were heading north.

" We just assumed this could be a quicker route to another highway, but then it came up that it was 90km until the next turn," he said.

Fording rivers and streams in their car was "a bit hairy", said xxxxxxxx. The fact that it was "pitch dark" and they were "in a different country" added to their fears, he said.

With just three sweets to keep them going, xxxxxxxxx, 26, a medical sales representative, said they were too frightened to be tired or hungry.

"I don't know what was more scary, crossing the rivers or going on the narrow roads – one wrong move and you're off the mountain," she said.

It took them seven hours travelling at a maximum speed of 15kmh, and stopping to open gates, to get from Hanmer Springs to the Rainbow Station near St Arnaud, where they encountered a locked gate and waited more than an hour for someone to open it.

"He couldn't believe we did it in a car. His jaw dropped," xxxxxxxxx said of the worker who found them.

Mark Watson, of the New Zealand Alpine Club, said: "It's not the sort of road you'd like to take a normal car on."

Rainbow Station manager David McEwen said the road could best be described as "a shingle goat track".

"To say they're following their GPS quite frankly doesn't wash with me.

"They've gone past signs that said `Road Closed' that are 6ft high and 3ft wide and are illuminated."

The couple said they were taking to the road again today, returning to Christchurch for their flight home.

ooooOOOOoooo

Interesting isn't it, to get another 'slant' on an incident. Just goes to show you how stories/facts can end up on the 'cutting floor' and we can easily be 'taken in'.

10 hours of sex is not bad----Ithink we are all jealous!!

There are no river crossings ! There are a few streams about a car length in width and certainly no deeper then 1/2 wheel height. A couple of longer fords have concrete bottoms. Two rivers and several streams have very good concrete bridges. The road is not sealed but is kept in very good condition and should be considered as a 'back country tour' rather then a 4 wheel drive trip. Low slung cars may bash the exhaust in a few places but if the weather is good the road is a nice senic trip in mostly very barren mountain valleys beneath high rugged mountains. The weather can change rapidly in the mountains and you can get snow at any time of the year.