Brigid and Ken Strugnell purchased their Amberley property in the mid 90’s as a bare block with few fences or trees, though the gorse loved the place. Naming it Parkley after Ken’s maternal Irish Grandparents property they set about planting and building first an accomadation cottage then shortly afterwards their family home.

Located just over 35minutes from the Waimakariri river north of Christchurch Parkley Off Road is conveniently located for driving from both South and North of Christchurch and indeed has course members coming from all over New Zealand. It has Companies and Govt. Departments recognizing the value of both good training and a venue that is safe while giving participants real world experience no matter their level of competence.
Comments received following courses back this up with the most common being the vast increase in confidence in them selves and the ability of their vehicle.
Equally heard is the retort as being the MOST ENJOYABLE training they’ve ever done!!!
Parkley Off Road grounds are maintained/groomed regularly to keep the conditions safe as well as tidy.
The obstacles change or updated and added to, allowing recovery and freshness for course trainees. Parkley Off Road has its own digger and 4WD tip truck to maintain and develop the obstacles for Basic, Medium and advanced level of training requirements.

Paramount to the success of any venue is the ability to use it under all weather conditions. Parkley has free draining shingle based soils that give both grip in wet conditions and reduce wear and tear. Parkley Off Road can be relied on to not have to cancel courses enabling confidence in arranging for companies and instructors. A huge benefit when considering the planning and organisation to get the 8-10 trainees’s together at the same time!

On our farm we run a Conference, Training and Demonstration and Evaluation facility for Off Road vehicles and other events/conferences. The focus is on rural though of recent times a number of businesses have found us a great place to hold a meeting for executives staff or customers. You’ll see in the photos long steep hills with good run offs, Mud slide for vehicle control in complete skid conditions and river bed driving and water crossings, sand driving, as well as forestry driving. We are on a dead end metal road that is excellent for unit standard metal road driving technique. It also includes a vehicle ford! Some car dealers have already been here as you’ll note in the photos.
The land was developed for my day job as a motoring writer in the rural sector over the past 26 years. As such I’m also often asked to speak to groups either using the property or outside functions. In the photos you’ll see we are used extensively by most Govt depts. and many companies both local and national as well as private organisations. I open it up to car dealers for their staff training and selected client demonstrations. Recently Toyota has used us for video and stills on their social media and brochures for the then new Hi Lux. The facility is NOT available to the general public or car clubs as they tend to destroy the very reason it is ideal for training or demonstration. I converted a shed I built, 9x8 metres 4.5m high as a training/lecture room with the added advantage that you can drive a Ute/SUV or LUV in to demonstrate on a dry concrete surface in any weather conditions. It has a kitchen and we also have a new Portaloo that is cleaned and sanitised after each function. The land is largely shingle based so while some areas can get too wet particularly the hills you can see in the background most of which we own, we’ve never had to cancel at the last moment due to weather conditions.

The venue holds 30 theatre style or 10-12 person classroom setup with tables as you can see. There is a 42 inch HDMI equipped TV and an electronic whiteboard with USB connection for stick or computer.

After each use I groom the land and repair where possible any damage ready for the next group.

Should you like to do a Training Course for 4WD/AWD LUV/Motorcycle Heavy 4WD Media Launch, Dealer Demo, Public Course, Staff Training or Fleet customers day I’d be happy to work with you to make it happen.We are 35-40 mins north of ChCh airport.

We include a morning tea that has some food supplied usually savouries. This is to stop people eating their lunch at morning tea time and then venturing off site to go to Amberley 10 mins away.
Other facilities/options
UHF Radios available
Drone filming/ footage,
My assistance as a demonstrator
Dinner Bed and Breakfast . 2 double rooms In our self contained Lockwood Cottage
Fencing Chemical Chainsaw and Tractor Drone course options with appropriate instructors
We can tailor packages to suit your requirements

Parkley proprietors do not conduct the training, allowing companies and organisations to select their preferred 4WD training company. We can help you or offer advice. Call or e-mail us if you want advice or help in arranging a course. Most training is done on a daily rate though some companies offer numbers based rates.