Sunday 9 September 2012

AGM Report

The committee and a number of members turned up on a sunny day to discuss the past year and consider actions for the future.

After the passing of the previous meetings minutes, John thanked those members attending and spoke about the good runs we'd had this year, the donations we've gratefully received from past members and that overall it had been a good year for the club.

Karen summarised the financial position of the club, and led the meeting through the report prepared by the club's auditor.

The current executive and committee then retired and elections were held. The executive were re-elected unchanged with John as President, Martin as Vice President, Thelma as Secretary and Karen as Treasurer.

There was some discussion concerning the non-appointment of positions (ie. Editor, Building Manager, Spares) at the meeting, this was explained to now be in line with the constitution (updated at the previous AGM) which allows the committee as a whole to allocate these positions as it sees fit. This allows members of the committee to 'play to their strengths' and allows a degree of flexibility that was in the past not available.

Bob then spoke on the remits presented in the agenda regarding fostering closer relations with the South Island club, expanding club membership and participation, and the upcoming Warrant of Fitness changes. These remits were all agreed with, and the incoming committee was charged with progressing these further.

In general business, a remit was tabled that the newsletter needs more articles and information, but that it was not necessarily the job of the Editor to generate every piece of information. All members present agreed. There was then some discussion around newsletter creation (email vs. paper), with Ant briefly detailing the benefits and shortcomings of each. The committee was generally tasked with actioning this in the future.

The meeting was then closed, and the members present took the opportunity to chat with each other whilst enjoying the coffee, tea, and food provided.

During the first committee meeting held on Sunday 2 September, the positions of Building Manager, Editor and Parts Manager were assigned to Bob, Ant, and Stephen respectively.

Tuesday 24 July 2012

John & Jan's Rally

Despite being an overcast and dreary looking day, we had quite a turnout at the Papakura RSA for the start of John & Jan's Rally with eight club cars, two  moderns, and a ring-in.

After a quick "Hi, how's it going", Jan began handing out our instructions and with it starting to rain we headed off. We quickly navigated south out of Papakura, through Ararimu and Paparata into Mangatawhiri on old State Highway 2. It's so quiet along there now that the highway has bypassed this section.

We navigated out toward the Miranda coast, then back inland to cross State Highways 25 and 2 in a roundabout route to our destination: Woodlands Cafe, where we met Andrew who had travelled in from Morrinsville.

Woodlands Cafe sits on State Highway 2 just after the turn towards Ngatea and is one of Karen's favourites, with quite a range of tasty food and good coffee. We all ordered our food and coffee (Martin ordering his standard breakfast of fare of bacon, eggs, hash and a beer - or so he tells me) and proceeded to eat, drink and wonder where Harvey had got to. Although cool outside, we were well cosy sitting in the room with the heat pump blasting out warm air.

Being well-fed and watered we all headed off (some to Pokeno for ice-cream, some to mother-in-law duty).

A fantastic outing, organised by John & Jan (Prefect Ute), Bob & Scott(?) (Prefect / modern), Brian & Bev (7Y), Steve (Prefect), Martin (Y), Chris & Jo (Prefect), Andrew (Anglia), Roy (Lanchester), Harvey & Irene, and Ant & Karen.

Saturday 16 June 2012

Ardmore Run

It was a fine but cool day as we all gathered at the clubrooms prior to heading off to Ardmore. John had asked one of his friends to bring his Buckler out for a bit of a run, and we all gathered around and examined and chatted about it (no photos, sorry).

After a little while, we all set off to follow John on a roundabout journey through some of the countryside of South Auckland to the cafe at Ardmore Aerodrome. We had a drink and bite to eat whilst watching the planes and listening to Paul's latest Trade Me exploits.

Later, we proceeded down to the Warbirds hangar and were able to wander amongst and examine the planes on display.

 

Wednesday 21 March 2012

March Photo Rally

Rather than following a list of instructions in order, this rally presented us with a list of photographs required. It was up to the driver and navigator to determine their own route from the starting point at Western Springs, around the city collecting the necessary shots, and finishing at the Chelsea Sugar works on the North Shore by a specified time. The area covered ranged from Onehunga through to Takapuna, but the allocated time was tight and made you choose whether or not it was worth spending 45 minutes in a cemetery looking for that elusive headstone. Additional points were on offer for various inclusions in your photos, eg. an asian female, a police officer in uniform, etc.

Karen and I went to Onehunga first (a shot of the navigator in front of the Historic Places Trust plaque at the Blockhouse) and worked our way back through the city via Cornwall Park (shots of the car being driven), Mt Eden (the kiosk), the Domain (both driver and navigator outside the Auckland Museum) and Parnell (more historic houses). Whilst at the Museum we came across a couple having their wedding photos taken, and asked if we could have our photos taken with the bride, who was of asian extraction. No problem, said the photographer; although it was hard to tell whether or not the happy couple were all that happy about it.

We then drove into the central city and parked close to the cemetery under Grafton Bridge where we needed shots of the headstones or plaques marking the each of the graves of Governor Hobson, the first lawman, and the first headmaster. This task was far harder than it at first seemed. The cemetery is very old, quite large and parts are exceptionally run down. I think most people managed to get 2 of the 3 required here - the headmaster seemed to be the most difficult to find, yet oddly it was the first I came across.

After this, it was across the Harbour Bridge with two sites left to visit but not a lot time in which to do it. We visited the small cliff-side area directly under the northern end of the Bridge and grabbed the shot of the plaque commemorating those who lost their lives during it's construction. With only 15 minutes left, we decided Lake Pupuke and the last shot outside the Pumphouse was unobtainable so proceeded to the Chelsea Sugar factory.

It seems that despite being directionally-challenged (yes, we led everyone on a scenic route to the post-event cafe), with our photo taking skills - or perhaps that should be our photo "non-deletion" skills - we managed to capture first place by a very close 1 point ahead of Paul and Delia. Others attending were Gavin, Bud, Brian and Bev, Bob and Gwen, and Ngaire.

Many thanks to Chris and Jo who organised an excellent run.

Tuesday 13 March 2012

Galaxy of Cars 2012

With a change of venue, and somewhat haphazard organisation by the Lions, my hopes were not high for this year's event. But surprisingly, we ended up with a primo site (under some trees) and the day ran reasonably smoothly.
Karen and I again arrived early and managed to get in before the queue. Early on, the entry process for display cars seemed to be much smoother than in the past. Some of those that arrived later however found that older cars were held up whilst a stream of modern Commodores were allowed what seemed like priority access!!
Despite some fears by the Lions that there was not going to be enough space for all display cars, there was room left over; and with a little better utilisation of the inner field of the speedway track, many more vehicles could have been on display.
The crowd this year seemed a bit smaller. I guess being held after Concours rather than before may have had some impact, but it's also quite likely that the $12 entry price put many off. Perhaps the organisers could be a little less greedy next year, and we may see a larger crowd again.

Monday 27 February 2012

Concours 2012

Another early(ish) start and again Karen & I were surprisingly one of the first to arrive, although not beating Dennis who was waiting just down the road from the entry gate.

We entered, parked, and when Paul arrived started setting up our new pop-up gazebo, along with walls. And not before time; just as we were considering attaching a wall, the rain started and two walls were quickly zipped into place. Fantastic!! Despite the rain getting heavier for about the next 10 minutes we were kept well dry. The rain did dissipate and the clouds eventually cleared so that the afternoon was quite sunny, but there was quite a wind all day.

We spoke to several past members, potential members and various people who grabbed photos, or shared stories of times past. In all, a good day.

Monday 30 January 2012

Kaiaua Beach Run

On what classes as an Auckland summers day, several of us gathered at the ClubRooms ready for an outing to a local beach (the weather is Karen's fault, she decided we needed new outdoor furniture). Taking into consideration the drizzle, it was decided that Awhitu may not be the best choice and that Kawakawa Bay would be a far closer and more appropriate alternative. We set off, with Brian setting a healthy pace in his 7Y.

45 minutes later we were at Kawakawa Bay and standing outside the local store. Yes there was still water falling out of the sky. A quick discussion and we set off for Kaiaua, where we are certain of shelter in the local pub for lunch. Again, Brian sets a cracking pace. With Karen and Jo following along in a modern, Chris and I separately have some fun skittering the back end of our cars around some of the corners in the wet. During lunch Bev comments that Brian drives too fast, and I said that I was surprised he was able to corner as fast as he was, to which he replies that he was just keeping the car quite finely balanced between too much and too little.

Anyway, we all arrived safely at Kaiaua after passing a group of motorcyclists, one of whom had failed to negotiate a bend and ended up down a bank - he seemed OK. Chris also antagonised some of the locals by apparently driving too fast past a funeral! But as I was saying we arrived safely and ordered lunch at the local pub, most of us opting for the fish and chips. After a bit of a yarn, we then proceeded back home via the Hunua Gorge.

Thanks must go to Martin (Y) for organising. A most enjoyable day was had by Brian and Bev (7Y), Chris (Y) and Jo (modern), Ant and Karen (Anglia), and Bud (modern).