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.