Chris and Jo's Mystery Run

As it was a sunny day, Cornwall Park was pretty busy when we arrived on Sunday morning a couple of weeks ago. We met Chris and Jo, Bud and Thelma, Gavin and Sophie, Stephen, John, and Brian and Bev, along with Maxwell Smart and Agent 99 (Paul and Delia).

After standing around and chatting for a while, we were handed a couple of sheets of paper with about a dozen questions and the location where you would find the appropriate answer. This required plotting your own route to minimise travel time as there was a time limit of a couple of hours.

We pulled out the map, decided on a circular route from our start point to our finish point at the clubrooms. There were many areas of Auckland that I'd never seen (including some you probably wouldn't want to stop in) and after dropping one question as time was catching up on us, we arrived at the finish to enjoy a BBQ and chuckle at everyone's stories.

Eventual winners were Max and 99, who managed to answer all questions correctly and be amongst the first to arrive at the clubrooms.

Helensville Museum Display

We met early Sunday morning at Kumeu and drove from here out to Helensville Historic Museum for their Display Day (organised by the Kaipara Classic Car Club) via the back road - a pleasant 30 minute drive that comes into the back of Helensville.

Parked at Kumeu

After parking in the grounds, Karen and I wandered into town for coffee, and then ambled around all the shops before making our way back to the Museum.

The Museum display; Brian and Bev's 7Y at far right.

The rain held off until just before 3pm, whereupon we retired to the Kaipara Classic Car clubrooms for the prizegiving.

Brian and Bev's 7Y took out the trophy for Best Original Car; John and Jan, and Steven got medals for furthest distance travelled; and Bud received a medal for oldest attendee (despite his protests that he's only a young fella).

As the rain continued to pelt down, we said our thanks and left for home.

Concours 2013

An amazingly hot and sunny day meant the crowds were out. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for our cars, with only two examples on show - Bud and Thelma's Prefect, and Chris and Jo's Y.

As our usual site has no shelter from the sun, we moved about halfway through the day to a shady spot under the trees. Thanks to the American Muscle Car Club for allowing us to steal some of their space.

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.

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.

 

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.

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.

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.

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).

Thames Run

The 8am Saturday morning start was a bit too early for me, but Martin, John and the rest all departed close to the allotted time. Leaving the motorway at Bombay, they toured through the back roads towards Miranda, and then on to Thames itself.
First port of call was Seagulls, the 'recycling' store at the tip which recovers usable junk and on-sells it to customers. An interesting visit apparently.

Karen and I joined everyone around lunchtime at the next stop, the Museum of Technology based at the old pumphouse. This building used to pump a huge amount water from the various goldmines in the back hills out to sea. Most of the large machinery to do this is no longer onsite, but the original crankshaft, all 70 tons, was recently rediscovered and is still there. The custodians have also built and mounted in the original location replicas of the main flywheels.

We had a brief stop at the War Memorial Monument which overlooks Thames township, before travelling on up the coast to Terry and Joanne’s place. Here we were able to examine the treasures in Terry’s garage, while Joanne made tea & coffee, and provided some munchies for everyone.

Despite being a cool-ish day, we had a good turnout with John (Anglia Tourer), Martin (Y), Chris and Jo (Y), Harvey (Y), Bud & Thelma (Prefect) Paul & Delia (modern), Brian &  Bev (modern), Karen & Ant (modern). Andrew also travelled over from Morrinsville in his Prefect.

We then left in dribs and drabs from Terry and Joannes and made our way back to Auckland in the late afternoon.

Galaxy of Cars

Entry time to display at Galaxy of Cars is supposed to be well before 10am when the public descends, so we planned to arrive at around 9am. Driving along Great North Rd, through Pt Chev just before 9, we came upon the queue to enter the site. Yep, the queue was all the way along Motions Rd, past the Zoo, and around the corner into Great North Rd. Hmmm, that’s not good. Worse still for a car that needs to be started off a jump pack (I mistakenly left the dash light on from the last escapade—oh no !!).

Not fancying sitting in a long queue and letting the old girl heat up unnecessarily, and not yet having had the requisite morning coffee (or breakfast), we decided to head back to Pt Chev and grab some food and caffeine from a local café (The Corner Café, Pt Chev Road: reasonable coffee, good eggs, but the bacon and French toast could’ve been cooked to be a little more crispier).

About an hour later, having had our fill, we decided to try the MOTAT Meola Road entrance. It seemed that many others had also had the same idea, and I think the guy on the gate had pretty much had enough of people trying to get in that way. So it was back to Motions Rd, from which the queue had mercifully disappeared. Unfortunately, the messy organisation remained and we were initially refused entry until we fished out the parking card and whinged about not wanting to sit in a queue for goodness knows how long at 9am in the morning.

Anyway, we did manage to get past the militant gatekeepers and proceeded to our allotted space to find everyone else had set up and were having a natter. John and Jan had arrived around 7:30 am (crikey - that’s barely daybreak for me!!) to grab any bargains that may have been on offer at the associated swapmeet. From the sounds of it, they must have been just about the first people there.

Opposite us with a huge turnout was the Jowett / Bradford club who picked up 2nd prize for club display. One-time member Mike Brain was just down from us with his Bradford pick-up, complete with a running Bradford display motor on the back. This motor ticked over all day, and attracted plenty of attention from the crowd. Terry and Brenda were also attending in Terry’s Bradford, parked just across from us. We caught up with ex-members Gary and Raewyn Norton who had their usual spot with the Stationary Engine people.

It was quite a warm day, and around 3pm after the presentations, people began to drift off home.

30th Anniversary Dinner

The club recently celebrated it's 30th anniversary with a weekend of gatherings, and reuniting with past members. On Saturday night, approximately 50 past and present members enjoyed a dinner and the chance to reminisce about days gone by.

Founding members Murray Richards and Gary Kelly, with Life Member Estelle Sinclair.

Some of the past and current members at the anniversary dinner.

AGM Report

This was the first General Meeting to be held at the new clubrooms. What a difference to be able to make tea and coffee on demand, along with heating pre-frozen savouries.

Apologies were submitted, and the minutes from the previous meeting were accepted as read. Ant rambled on about the process involved acquiring the new building at Kellow Place and the hours that several members invested to ensure the move happened inside the short time required.

This year two trophies were presented. Bob Cleland was awarded the Road Runner Cup for the most enjoyable run; this was for the rally around the Pukekohe / Pokeno / Rangiriri area late last year. The Most Dedicated Member trophy was this year awarded to all those members who assisted with the shift from Pooks Rd to Kellow Pl. Every member involved contributed in their own way and this year the trophy recognises the efforts of all involved.

The sitting committee then retired; nominations were called for and in some cases voting took place to determine the new committee for the coming year. Details of the new committee can be viewed inside the front cover of this magazine.

The floor was opened for general business, and discussion took place around the need for the committee to structure itself slightly differently to spread the load a little. Those members present agreed to allow the committee to discuss and assign these new positions as it sees fit.

The meeting closed, members then had the opportunity to chat amongst themselves whilst munching on hot savouries and having the odd cup of tea or coffee.

All Ford Day - Hamilton

This took place on the 28th of July at the Claudelands Event Centre Grounds the actual event centre in the last few years is undergoing massive rebuilding and the cars are not in one place as before but spread out around the grounds at the rear of the building. As we do not know who is coming and all arrive at different times our little cars are scattered about and not in one area so we cannot put on a proper display.

When we arrived at the BP Service centre at Drury there were no other cars there so as we knew John was going a phone call to Janice confirmed they were already on their way down, so we departed for Hamilton. We took down the clubs large stationary flags plus the individual windscreen banners, which we gave to members who did not already have one to keep, to use at any future events they go to. It was a very nice day, with the sun shining and little wind; there were a lot of cars and people and several very expensive food stalls. A lot of people looked at our vehicles and we made contact with several prospective new members and two people (non-members) asked about selling their cars.

The crowd started to thin out about 2pm and the prizes were given out, during the day an official came and gave Bud a bottle of Amorall Protectant Gel 500mm for us being with our vehicle to answer the public's questions. After the event was over we went and had lunch at the Cooks Restaurant, this is the 2nd oldest building in Hamilton.

All and all this was a worthwhile day as we met two prospective members who we gave membership forms to, old members we only see here and have two cars that members can possibly purchase.

Thelma

The Night Run

This interesting night run was organized by Martin Healy and started at the Club Rooms, around 6.30pm.

After leaving the club rooms the instructions took us to Great South Road, along past where the old ferry used to be up on blocks (now completely gone) past the Happy Days Restaurant with the bright green Neon lights, then into back streets between the Great South Road and the Southern Motorway to Hill Road, which took us across the Motorway at Manurewa past the Botanic Gardens down the hill to Alfriston School.

At this point we turned right and then left along a road which was quite dark to a T junction where we want right again to follow the route over the railway line into Papakura, all the time we had to think of questions Martin might ask us when we got back.

In Papakura we went along past the Big Grocery Store around past the Police Station, turned right, around the round-a-bout right through the town to the new McDonald's, opposite Foodtown where we stopped for hamburgers and Coffee etc.

Karen came in with Ant she had been to Hamilton to the car racing. He had waited back for her at the start.

After the stop at Papakura we continued along Great South Road under the motorway and turned towards Weymouth on Mahia Road.  Then on a series of roads that took us back to the Club Rooms.

On the way we were supposed to think what the answers to the questions were going to be, that Martin was later asking us to determine the winner. Eventually we arrived back at the Club Rooms and had coffee while Martin asked the questions, which decided who was the most observant on the run, like what colour were the neon lights at “Happy Days” and how many speed humps on a certain road. I forgot to write down who won but I am pretty sure it was Ant and Karen, and also John and Janice were up there as well.

Those who came along were Ant and Karen, Chris, John and Janice, Bud and Thelma, Steven, and Martin and his friend Josh. This is the first time we have had a night run for a long time, as having somewhere lit to leave and come back to was not feasible before. The run was all on mainly secondary roads and side roads so we kept completely off the motorway system all together which was good.

Thelma

Karaka Day Out

The weather was beautiful sunny and warm no rain in sight, Bud and I went for am drive after we left the venue and I don’t think I have ever seen the surrounding area so dry and white, there was very little grass in the paddocks.

I personally thought there were less public attending as other years, as these displays are more or less the same each time, people seem to give some of them a miss as the entrance fees mount up for a family, and there has been the Kumeu Hot Rod Event, Galaxy of Cars at Western Springs, Concurs at Ellerslie Race Course, and Pukekohe Swap Meet Display all since Christmas.

We had an area in the middle of the paddock, and managed to fit in Leonie, 37 Ford 10; Dennis, 46 Ford; Bud and Thelma, 1950 Prefect; Paul and Delia in their Prefect. John brought three cars with members of the family and Brian as drivers (the convertible, Anglia and Prefect) and Steven his 1940 Prefect. In all we had a good display with our new blue windscreen sashes and the blue corner flags in stands.

Thelma.

Concours d'Elegance 2010

This was held as usual at the Ellerslie Racecourse in Auckland. We were at the rear of the grounds next to the turnstiles the opposite side to usual, next to the fence. As it started to rain we switched our site to across the street under the trees. It was next to an entrance turnstile and we could shelter under the roof.

The members that came with cars were Dennis (46 Ford), Steven (49 Prefect), John brought his Anglia Tourer, Chris (37Y), and Bud and Thelma (1950 Prefect). Paul and Delia and Ant and Karen also came along without their cars so we had quite a good showing.

There were some very nice displays the Mercedes Benz group had huge bunches of red roses and ribbon like material on their bonnets as the theme was Valentines Day. The Triumph Stag also had a Valentines Day display. The crowd did not appear to be as large as usual but we had some interested people looking at our cars and I think some new contacts were made. They had the usual event of cars competing against each other in a cordoned off area to see who was the fastest around an identical course. One of the cars came to grief, didn't stop when he should have.

Most of our cars were gone by about 3pm.

Galaxy of Cars

This is one event where we can usually guarantee a good turnout of cars, this year we had twelve in line along the back fence of where they usually hold the Swapmeet.

The Swapmeet was transferred to a small area where we usually are along the fence at the side of the large building containing the main aircraft display, (which was greatly reduced inside for maintence) near the train station.  Most of the Swapmeet seemed to be General items, not many part related.

As Motat is in the process of redesigning and building new buildings, most of that area was cordoned off by a large fence. We managed to get the biggest turn out of cars for our club events during the year like always.

Paul and Delia brought their beautifully restored Cortina (not their official club car); Harvey, Model Y; Bud and Thelma, 1950 Prefect; Brian, 7W; Dennis, 45 Prefect; Chris, 37 Y; Cynthia, 54 Popular (former member); Peter and Janet, 53 Prefect; Les and Leonie, 37 Ford 10; John and his family, Anglia and Tourer; Steven, 49 Prefect.

Other members were also there but without cars, I saw Mr. and Mrs. Cleland, Martin, and Terry and daughter Brenda, who were with the Bradford section. The Bradfords had at least 26 cars and a great display. They were the overall winners again this year.

This is usually a good day out for members as they bring along a picnic, its not too far to go and all the cars of various clubs are there to look at, so perhaps you will be able to make it next year.

Auckland Luge Video

Riding with Ant down the luge track at Auckland Luge during the recent club run.

A Country Run

On a lovely spring day the club did its September run, devised by John and Bob to areas south of Auckland that had seen fighting in the Maori Wars.

The run took us into Drury to St. Johns Anglican Church 1862 where women and children took shelter while soldiers protected them. This church was built on land set aside by Bishop Selwyn.
There is a monument at the rear erected by officers and men of the 1st Waikato Regiment, which was mainly recruited in Melbourne.

From there we proceeded south to Runciman to the Pukekohe East Presbyterian Church which is on a high position to give a good view of the area. It was built in 862 of Totora and Rimu on
the edge of a volcanic crater, and was the scene of a violent battle 14th Sept 1863 between the Kingite Maoris and seventeen men who held the position until help arrived from Ramarama and Drury. There were many Maori casualties, six of them are buried near the church there is a large stone memorial in the church grounds, but there were a lot more taken away, at one stage during the battle a Kereru flew on to the roof and stayed there awhile. There were no European casualties even though the stockade was not finished as well as the defenders would have liked and the Native Bush came up too close to the church.

From there we went down Harrisville Road through Tuakau to Alexandra Redoubt Road tom the Cemetery at the end of Alexandra Redoubt Road. This cemetery is named after King Edwards VII wife and has a lot of restored fortification for the Maori wars visible and one and possibly 2 VC winners buried here. It was built in July 1863 by part of the 65 regiment it is on a hill 300 feet above the river. In the cemetery there is a large monument to the British soldiers who died in the district in battle it was erected in 1915 by the NZ Government.

The next stop was the Queens redoubt in Pokeno there is not much to see here there is a wall and not much else but it was the headquarters for the British invasion in the Waikato it was
finished in 1862. It was a very large fort it was never attacked, the first advance into the Waikato took place on 12th July 1863 from here place as the war moved south the troops reduced and the buildings sold off by 1864 the area around the Fort was for sale. The site is having work done to make it a Major Historical Place.

From there we proceeded south along the southern Express way to just south of Mercer to the Whangamarino Redoubt which was situated on top of a very steep hill just above the Waikato River where they had two 40 pound Armstrong Siege Guns which came up the river on the Pioneer a paddle steamer. Installed to shell the Maori settlement near where Meremere is now. The guns had come from Sydney on the ”Curacoa”. This was a ship designed to be used in shallow waters, the iron turrets on the deck contained guns one of these turrets now stands at Mercer as the lower part of the 1914-18 soldiers memorial.

From there we went for a drive around Meremere exiting at the rear and driving parallel to the SH1 so we could have a good look over the new race track being built there (Hampton Downs) on the old swampy ground. By devious means we ended up at Rangiriri where there was a question relating to sailors and their ships, there were a lot of ships on the river at the time.

After Lunch we made our way over the river to the Glen Murray Road, then by Churchill Road right through to Pukekawa. We then made our way back to the river and once across the bridge
turned towards Tuakau then we followed basically the same route back to Pokeno that we had used in the morning. Where those that wanted to had refreshments, went to the market, ate ice cream or bought some very expensive Pokeno Bacon, before making there own way home. Pokeno is a town that has reinvented its self since the highway bypassed it very successfully
its always crowded.

Thanks to the organizers.