I breathed an enormous sigh of relief, before realising that I was now in an entirely new predicament, for instead of using the time constructively to reverse to a place where I could pass him, the driver of the jeep had simply sat there twiddling his thumbs, presumably laughing heartily at -- or possibly violently cursing -- my inexperienced efforts. I started to laugh myself, but with the kind of giddy delirium usually reserved for the clinically insane. He clearly expected me to reverse down the slope in order to find a place to allow him to pass. But I had had quite enough adventure for one day -- all I wanted now was to make it back safely to civilisation, which at that moment seemed about as likely as my becoming the new Skippers' tour guide.

So it was that I sat there, revving the engine in what I hoped was a threatening manner (but which probably sounded more like a 40-year old asthmatic clearing his throat), and advancing on the jeep as menacingly as is possible in a brightly painted 'tourist-wagon'. At this point the gods obviously decided that I'd had just about all I could take without sending me into a psychotic rampage, as he began to reverse. About twenty metres up the road we found somewhere that was just wide enough for me to squeeze past -- admittedly this entailed his jeep being at a 45 degree angle with two of his wheels half way down the mountainside, but he was the one with the four-wheel drive after all! As I slunk past, he proceeded to rant at me in what appeared to me, even in the dark and with my extremely limited lip-reading abilities, to be rather colourful language. Despite the fact that I clearly deserved this torrent of abuse, I flashed him my usual apology (a cheeky grin), and then very, very slowly made my getaway.

Needless to say then, while I would heartily recommend the awe-inspiring sights and (whimpering) sounds of Skippers Canyon to anyone who appreciates nature at its most achingly beautiful, history in astounding abundance, or the religion that is the Lord of the Rings, I would do so with the firm proviso that it's certainly not for the faint-hearted. I would go even further and suggest that unless you are an experienced rally driver with a very well serviced vehicle, you would be much better off taking one of the many organized tours. The staff at such places are always ready to give you helpful advice, which it's usually a good idea to take. For example, I really should have listened to the guys at one particular travel service who, in response to my enquiry as to whether it was illegal (or just plain stupid) to drive on the roads that the hire companies ban for insurance purposes, replied "It is not against the law in New Zealand to drive without having insurance. But driving on prohibited roads can cost you heaps. Why should you drive on restricted roads? Most can only be driven by 4WD or a tank."

But if you're a crazy adventure hungry fool like me, then try the canyon -- go on, I dare you. Personally, I'm off to get a very large drink and a map of all the widest, tarmacked roads in New Zealand.