With an excitement for cars from a young age, it was no doubt that Chris would soon turn his passion into an everyday reality. Growing up in South Africa exploring the safari it was embedded in him to seek adventure, but he quickly found that it was “off the beaten tracks” where the real beauty of mother nature was hidden which are generally places that are harder to get to so combining the love of cars and exploring Overlanding became his happy place.

​

Many jokes around the campfire had been made about creating an Overlanding store, with friends and family getting hyped up and pitching amazing ideas with what’s missing in NZ off-roading the aim was to always create a community like no other!

​

What is Overlanding? A way to explore the outdoors, self-reliant travel to remote locations where the journey is the goal and relying on the gear that you carry with you, in other words, “backpacking out of a vehicle”.

​

One of his lifelong dreams was to open an Overlanding store and connect with like-minded people to build a community around off-roading. Fast forward to now, waking up one morning and deciding to pursue his dream to live and breathe the lifestyle, with his partner Nicole by his side eager to help get the store up and running in just 3 short months Altitude Off Road was created.