The Location
Below the Benmore Dam, on the shore of Lake Benmore in the Waitaki Valley. If you've ridden the South Island's High Country, you know why this is the spot. If you haven't — this is the reason you will.
This isn't a paddock picked off a map. This exact ground has hosted motorcycle rallies for decades — it's proven country for exactly this kind of weekend, with room to grow without losing the feel. Grass camping by the water, hard shelter nearby, and the Otematata township five minutes up the road.
Out the gate: the Benmore, Aviemore and Waitaki dams, Danseys Pass, the Hakataramea, the Mackenzie beyond. Tar seal if you want it, gravel till your arms give out if you don't. Big tussock country, big sky, and roads that make you take the long way home on purpose.