A MaGic weekend
it was. We gathered at the Southern Autobahn on Friday morning to start at about 10.30am.
The weather was overcast with showers predicted. We had pondered over which car to use,
the A Roadster or the BGT and decided to take the A, hoping the weather would be kind to
us. Heading south to Rangiriri we took the road
down the western side of the Waikato River, through Huntly West, Ngaruawahia, Whatawhata,
etc. The weather started to deteriorate as we neared Otorohanga so it was time to put the
roof up – just in time – a huge shower rained down on us, with more to follow.
Raewyn said, "See, we should have used the GT." The lunch destination was the Kai Café at Te
Kuiti where we caught up with the rest of the troops. Onwards to Horopito with a gravel option at
Ongarue. Here the Barbarich's MGC was observed with smoke coming from the right hand rear
brakes. Tony said that the same problem had occurred with the left rear brakes before the
start, at Manukau City. Most of us met up again at the famous Horopito
wrecker's yard, one of my favourite places on earth. Sue Courtney told us we had plenty of
time here, 1 hour! What !!! From past experiences I need at least 4 hours here, Sue.
As usual I left Raewyn in the car with her
crosswords and magazines while I headed to the reception. Here, Peter Crawford had
negotiated $2 entry per person. While queuing to put my $2 in the well-marked tin provided
I saw in front of me, Ernie Martin throw his two $2 coins into a large folded flap rubbish
bin below. Much laughter erupted all around as he told the proprietor she would have to
retrieve them. A senior moment, Ern? Onwards and up stairs to the 'smaller stuff'
department with hundreds of items on display, then to the workshop area where lots of
older vehicles were being worked on, next to the huge outside area of wrecks - hundreds of
them. For us older ones a lot of reminiscing – "I had one of those Snipes",
"They had a large back seat", "That 2 door Minor you carried your own
blanket", "Look how that British chrome lasted", etc etc. Time to move on, been here nearly 2 hours,
only seen a third of it. Certainly no MGs or parts anywhere. Along with the Martins and
the Judges, we were last to leave. We then travelled to the Peaks Motor Lodge,
Ohakune, where a lovely BBQ evening meal was served and the first day's events discussed
at large. Back to Gentle Annie Trip
overview Rex Benns |
