New member Campbell Sutton, in his Austin Seven, competing in the regularity event in the Wellington Branch gymkhana held in Mangaroa Valley on Sunday 24 March. (Photo: Kevin Clemens)
Clubrooms:
Place (East end Jackson Street Petone)
Postal Address: PO Box 38-418, Petone Clubrooms Phone: 568-7463
Email: wellington@vcc.org.nz Webpage: http://www.sporty.co.nz/wellingtonvcc
Phil has sent this in lieu of his normal contribution.
The Rally Committee has proposed a weekend away, similar to “Toms Tour” except that the plan is to go to a location away from home and use this as a base to explore other parts of relatively nearby country.
DATES: September 20th,21st and 22nd, leaving on 23 September.
THE PLAN: 20 September: Drive to Dannevirke to accommodation. 21 September: Depart about 9am to go on a run of approximately 100 miles and visit places of interest. 22September: Depart about 9am to go on a similar style run to some different places. Then on 23 September: Depart for home.
ACCOMMODATION:
The Destinations Motor Lodge has been block booked – a total of 12 units - for each of the three days providing a choice of a studio, or one and two bedroom units. The Owner has agreed to hold the block booking until July so it would pay to make your arrangements as soon as possible. There are other Motels and accommodation available but the “home base” will be at The Destinations Motor Lodge from where we will leave each day to go on the above runs in a leisurely fashion.
OTHER DETAILS: It will be compulsory to attend a happy hour at the end of each day to enjoy the company of your fellow travellers, followed by your choice of dining in or out. Your choice of vehicle –the only stipulation is it has be to Club eligible – and it can be two, three or four wheels.
There will be no backup vehicle so it is up to you to ensure roadworthiness.
PLEASE ADVISE SECRETARY ALASTAIR OF YOUR INTENTION TO ATTEND AND CONFIRMATION TO HIM OF YOUR BOOKING
SUNDAY 21 APRIL:
OPTIONAL BYO LUNCH AT THE CLUBROOMS FROM 11.30.
LEAVE CLUBROOMS ABOUT 1PM.
INSTRUCTIONS WILL BE EMAILED OUT BEFOREHAND. THE RUN WILL TRAVEL AROUND PLACES OF INTEREST IN THE WELLINGTON BAYS.
FINISH AT MINT CAFÉ IN KILBIRNIE FOR AFTERNOON TEA
What did you get up to with your old vehicle in the last month or so? It’s not like you were not short of choices. Joanne and I went to Feilding to have a look at the Steam Traction Society's operating weekend and we were very glad that we did. They have a great way to get people, especially younger ones, involved. Under supervision you could have a go at steering any of several traction engines around their large paddock and a good number of those we saw up on the footplates were of school age. (See photos, page 18). Their smiles showed that they were enjoying themselves too. How can we in the VCC do something similar to get some hands-on involvement in our hobby?
Needless to say both Joanne and I took a turn, Jo on the largest engine running, while I tried a more modest sized one. Having done this we now have even more respect for the drivers and firemen of the engines that are driven around the streets of Whanganui during the Vintage weekend amongst regular traffic. To say there is a bit of slack in the steering is an understatement and the only braking is by changing the valve settings to reverse the engine. All this with a flywheel right in front of you, the driving wheel a couple of inches from your left foot, and on the engine I "drove" no seat, with only the steering wheel to hang on to so keeping your balance became quite important.
They also had an operating sawmill and a rock crusher, all powered by traction engines. The rock crusher seemed to have great appeal to the children as well, as they could grab a few large rocks from the pile provided, drop them in and watch the machine effortlessly pulverise it all up.
We had no traction engines at the gymkhana, but thanks to Coral and Phil we did have a very large paddock at our disposal. Following the running of the four tests, I was pleased to see that some of the future owners of our vehicles were able to make use of the paddock for some driving experience of their own; for me that was the highlight of the day.
Details of our April run are on page 5; and see also information on the weekend-away trip in September which is being arranged by Phil.
Regards, Neale
On FEBRUARY 28 Brian and Gill Ward hosted their annual barbecue. The event was a smorgasbord for petrol heads, art lovers (Brian carves and paints and Gill collects art and glassware), and model train lovers, not to mention the wonderful food put on (Denise made the prawn salad, also a work of art!).
Many thanks to Brian, Gill, Denise and helpers for their hospitality!
This was the 20th motorcycle tour organised by Aaron Janes. It was a ten-day event from Friday 15th to Sunday 24th March. Ashley Blair, who was going to the BSA rally in Waimate and then joining us, never left home due to clutch troubles with his bike so we were down to eleven riders and two in the backup van.
The tour commenced with a ferry crossing and ride to Kaikoura. A few riders missed the cuppa stop at Okiwi Bay, so were at our destination when the rest arrived. The second day we rode via the Leader Road to Waiau and on to Reefton, visiting Cathye Haddock’s memorial site at Goose Bay.
Day three was busy: First a visit to the Greymouth Hydralink agent to see an amazing collection of motorcycles, mopeds, model aircraft, a microlight aircraft, model cars, and other stuff all crammed into the building – so much so that you couldn’t actually inspect most of the bikes. Nothing restored or on the road but a mind-boggling visit. Then off to Westport via lunch at Punakaiki.
Day four had us ride to Karamea, returning with a visit to Granity School to give the children rides around the grounds, and up to the
Visiting Granity School, between Westport and Karamea.
South Island T20 Motorcycle Tour, Continued from page 8:
Day six was a short ride to Collingwood but had us visit the Ngarua Caves on Takaka Hill, Murray McLean’s motorcycle collection/ business, and the historic Post Ofice at Bainham, before reaching camp. And day seven was the trip onto Farewell Spit, followed by dinner at MAD Café – a very unusual experience. Day eight saw us ride back through Motueka to visit Dan Tibbs and his collection, where we were joined by the local Classic Bike Club. Then off to our digs in Nelson.
Day nine was firstly a visit to Higgins Heritage Park, Wakefield, where there was an open weekend. A huge number of tractors were lined up around the grounds, a traction engine pulled a trailer full of passengers around the grounds, and there were buildings with trucks, steam engines and boilers, workshops, model railways and more. Lunch there, then off to Blenheim via SH6. Day ten – ferry at 2pm. But a chance meeting at dinner the night before became an invitation to visit Barry Hutchison and his collection of AJS and Norton motorcycles, all in great original or restored order. Then to the ferry and home.
South Island T20 Motorcycle Tour, Continued from page 9:
The only bike to require rescue services was Peter Simpson’s Matchless, which twice required a short tow after oil escaped. He completed the tour without further difficulty. He also managed to acquire not just one, but two, big tanks for his Matchless to replace the small tank currently fitted.
By Trevor Barnes.
Mark is a very rich, but very unassuming man. He and his partner of 60 years, Dorothy Spotswood, are well-known in Wellington for their philanthropic projects, many of which stay under the radar. He was an interesting speaker - he has been involved in skiing, tennis, hunting and business. He is also a petrolhead, as a motorcyclist from way back, with a Ferrari Dino, a Gull-wing Mercedes and three Roll-Royces in his stable as well as the gleaming 1957 MercedesBenz 190SL which he brought along to the club night (see page 11). His philosophy includes the fact that he won’t say “Can’t”, and that he usually manages projects himself to ensure that money is wellspent, rather than allowing others or Government Departments to “waste time and money” doing them. A typical example of his attitude is the time he abseiled over the edge of a thirteen-storey building - to put in fixings a metre below the roofline himself -
Talk by Mark Dunajtschik, continued from page 10: rather than waste money putting scaffolding up that high! He told stories of the building of Wellington Children’s Hospital and that he is now involved in some construction at Hutt Hospital.
Mark arrived in NZ in 1958 at Queen’s Wharf, walked to Evans Bay the same day and got a shipwright job using a Cincinnati Milling machine that no one else knew how to use! He later had both a day and night job in Petone at the same time - only two hours sleep! He set up a business, PrecisionToolmaking and sold that after 25 years to his nephew. In the late 1980s he started investing in property and since then his philanthropy has become well-known.
One of his best stories involved an early motorbike trip. He wanted to take it on a boat to Singapore but the price was high. However there was a free luggage allowance so he took the motorbike apart, packed it as luggage and put it back together after reaching his destination. This demonstrated that he always tries to find solutions. Thanks Mark for an extremely interesting talk!
By Angelica EdgleyMark and Ray discussing cars at the March club night. Mark arrived in his lovely Mercedes -Benz.
I wish to report that we had a very successful Executive meeting in Christchurch over the weekend of 16/17 March. The meeting was attended by 29 of our 36 branches and many observers were present.
The written reports from the various management roles were received with a few additions added along the way before we moved on to General Business.
Gareth Wishart, MD of Innovation for the HW Richardson Group gave a very interesting presentation on steps they are taking to transition their truck fleet across to a Hybrid diesel/Hydrogen fuel system. The impact on emissions for this country are significant and they are making a huge investment personally to achieve this. One truck converted removes carbon emissions equal to that which 17 electric vehicles do when replacing petrol/diesel cars. This is where the government should be placing its efforts rather than targeting just petrol personal vehicles. We can see that when it comes to fuel emissions there is more than one way to achieve the goal.
As well as locking in 25 August this year for our National Daffodil Day, Kaaren Smylie reiterated the importance of all branches having the event on the same day so that we all convey the same message throughout the country. A new national poster is also being produced. The main focus should be about creating exposure for our club. We were also brought up to date on changes to the Club Procedures Manual (CPM), previously the Branch Manual then renamed the Club Manual. Diane Quarrie gave a presentation on the new format and how it will work with an index that will allow a simple click of the mouse to take you to the relevant section required. Past President Diane has been focussed on this mammoth task over the last six months and her efforts will make life easier for those who access the CPM from time to time. Our expectation is that this will be loaded on to the website over April.
The main topic that was discussed and workshopped over the two days was changes to our constitution. Wellington Branch had requested that we take time to understand what the issues were with our current
Executive Meeting Summary from pg 12 - by President George Kear constitution and Alan Thompson, Wellington’s delegate, used a power point presentation to deliver a very well put together discussion paper. Their motion to allow for more discussion around this was passed, which then opened the floor for each branch to raise concerns. A summary of the issues raised at last year’s meeting was read as part of this. The end result was an overwhelming majority voting to change away from our current 46-member committee being responsible for the governance of the club.
A vote was then held to determine the makeup of a new 12-member National Committee using results of workshopped questions from the previous year. As the new structure will have six new Regional Representative positions on the committee, each representing a group of branches, we went on to determine suitable boundaries for those representatives covering the branches. Each Island was discussed individually to create boundaries that were considered best for the branches, and also taking into consideration that a new Representative needed to be able get around the branches as required.
We then broke up into groups of six to further discuss and answer questions, focussing on the finer points and what was important for each branch. These findings were recorded and will be considered in creating the new document.
We also welcomed Garry Jackson, President of The Federation of Motoring Clubs, to bring us up to date on the final wrap up on the survey completed last year. He also advised that now that the final results from the survey are in, lobbying within government circles has commenced. The total dollar spend from the recreational vehicle sector has now come up to $16 billion annually so it is expected that FOMC should get a good hearing.
It was a busy two days, and with the dinner on Saturday night and breakfast on Sunday morning being catered at the Canterbury Branch premises, the conference type meeting over the weekend allowed for plenty of catching up between delegates and members.
(Now please read the Wellington Delegate’s Report on page 20)
Did you know that 17th century Dutch windmills have steering wheels? Well they do, and there is a photo (page 13) to prove it. If you wanted to nitpick, they are actually called capstan wheels, and are used to rotate the whole top part of the mill, including the sails, to face into the wind.
The first hour of our visit to Foxton was a guided tour of the wonderful replica of a 17th century Dutch flour mill. It was built between 1998 and 2003, by mainly volunteer labour, using NZ-grown timber and traditional tenon joints secured by wooden pegs. It is fully operational, producing a range of wholemeal flours which can be purchased in the ground-floor shop. It is thought to be the only operational windmill in the southern hemisphere, with the closest neighbours being in Taiwan and the USA .
The sails are a whopping 23.5m long, and who knew that there were so many different types of wind? To an experienced miller, the wind in Foxton is apparently very different from the wind in Wellington, and especially the winds in Holland. This is useful to know if you ever find yourself in charge of a $1 million dollar windmill on a windy day, with only a hand-operated band brake to stop it from taking off.
Believe it or not, there is a worldwide shortage of trained millers, and many opportunities exist for experienced millers to travel around Europe operating traditional windmills. The Foxton mill has five trained operators, all volunteers, and the youngest is still a teenager.
Our next stop was the Flax Stripping Museum and a talk about the flax industry, which employed more than 1000 people in Foxton a century ago, along with a busy port and railhead exporting flax fibres to Britain, Australia and the USA. We saw the last operational flax stripping machine in action, very noisily beating the flax leaves to remove the non-fibrous material and release the strands of strong white fibre. We also had a demonstration by the last remaining "scutching" machine, which polishes the fibres and removes any short ones.
After all that milling, stripping and scutching, a very welcome lunch was served in the on-site De Molen cafe. Our thanks go to the many volunteers in Foxton who keep all this history alive and happily give up their time to make it so interesting for visitors to learn about.
Left: The strands of stripped flax, still wet, come out of the stripping machine on the chains. This machine is extremely noisy when operating!
Left: Inside the windmill, using two small grindstones, the miller explains how the flour is ground between two stones and then forced out through the spiral patterns. The real millstones are inside the circular wooden casing. Note the beautiful woodwork in the mill.
“No you can’t hold the egg on with your other hand! And I’m timing you.”
Top: Light Up But Don’t
Toot! Stuart guides Ian.
Centre: (Easter) Egg and Spoon event.
Bottom: Dirt flying behind Ray in the regularity event.
Photos this page: Kevin Clemens
was great to see several children attending and taking part.
Meeting Monday 25th March: Twelve people attended.
Past Events.
BSA Rally Waimate 15-16 March: Ashley was unable to attend due to mechanical troubles for the B33.
South Island T20 Tour 15-24 March 2024: A separate report is provided for the Motoring Spirit (see page 8).
Coming Events.
Whanganui Autumn Trial 20-21 April: Trevor Barnes and Paul Switzer are attending and have booked accommodation.
Manawatu Motorcycle Rally: October. (No date yet)
Wairarapa Mid-Winter Trial: May (No date yet)
Taranaki Rubber Duckie 21 September: (Third weekend)
National Motorcycle Rally, Manawatu: January 2025. All bikes must have a current VIC.
This meeting was hosted by Canterbury Branch at their McLean’s Island facilities. Wellington Branch was represented by Alan Thompson (Delegate) and Phil Kidd (Observer). Much time was spent discussing minor administrative matters. This report only includes the few key items and messages from the meeting.
National Rallies. The following bids for National Rallies were approved:
National Commercial Rally Oct 2024 - North Otago; South Island Easter Rally 2025 - Canterbury; North Island Easter Rally 2025 - Waikato; VCC AGM 2025 - Waikato; VCC AGM 2027 – Ashburton. Constitution. The President set out the timeline to date for the progress of the review of the national Constitution. Wellington Branch made a presentation in support of their motion to not continue to consider options to re-structure until the Exec Committee had discussed and agreed what was the problem we were trying to solve. This motion was passed.
The discussion that followed failed to stay on topic. Delegates mostly talked about solutions and failed to identify what they thought the problem was. Little contribution to identify what the problem was came from the wider Management Committee members. The discussion was terminated by the Chair without any definition or agreement as to what the problem was.
The timeline for completing a new constitution was set out by the Chair. Much was made of the little time that was left and of the need to make decisions at this meeting. Wellington had already pointed out that the minor changes that we must make could easily be done and filed within the required time. Any further update to our constitution (address a structural change) could be made and a new constitution filed at any time thereafter. Ie, take whatever time needed to get this right, there was no need to panic!
Branch Delegate Report, continued from page 20:
The Chair then put the motion to restructure into a single tiered model as proposed. This passed by a 28 to 8 majority. Note: The 28 votes included the votes held by the Management Committee bloc. This meant that the Branch vote was 18 for, 8 against (10 absent). One of the 10 Branches not attending had tabled a letter supporting the restructure, one was known to be against, but the position of the other 8 branches is unknown. These numbers do suggest however that achieving a 75% majority when Members vote on the re-structure might, as Wellington Branch have suggested, be a challenge.
Discussion followed on which of the three models should be adopted for the single committee structure. This would comprise six regional representatives who would each look after a regional group of Branches. The question that Delegates were asked to consider was on what basis the 36 Branches should be divided up; eg: geographically or proportionally? After some discussion and fine tuning of boundaries, the geographic model was voted in.
Note: this puts Wellington into a group of eight lower North Island Branches from Taranaki and Hawkes Bay south. Our region will represent some 1634 of the 8383 VCC membership (20%).
There was some uncertainty as to whether the Regional Rep would hold only one regional vote, or a vote for each of the Branches that they represented. The Chair indicated that it would be multiple votes if that was what the Exec wanted.
A question was tabled to the meeting regarding Regional Reps. This was “Who in this room would be willing to take on a role of Regional Rep”? Very significantly, not one hand in the room went up.
Note: This probably reflects the daunting prospect of all the time, effort and travel that will be required on top of the challenging task of representing the views of up to 7-8 individual Branches on every voting issue. Has the Exec just voted for six regional roles that no one in the Branches will be willing to take on, even the existing Delegates?
Workshops were held to consider some of the detail of the new structure including meeting frequency and venues. The
Branch Delegate Report, continued from page 18:
Management Committee is to collate the outcomes of the workshops and include these in the development of the new structure to be written in to a new constitution.
National Daffodil Day. A total of $80,000 was raised from the 2023 Daffodil Day. Some concerns were raised about the lack of support from the local Cancer Societies. There was quite a bit of discussion about the suitability of August for the event, but it was generally accepted that the options of other dates were very limited. The strong preference was for all clubs to stay with the August date.
Federation of Motoring Clubs. The President of the FoMC gave a presentation of the survey they have undertaken. The report is now completed and available on their website (and all members have been sent an email with links to the documents—Editor). It provides detailed information on the metrics of members vehicles and will be used to support the objectives of the FoMC in representing motoring club’s interests. The final economic contribution of members and their vehicles was assessed at $18.5 Billion.
A new on-line “Branch Procedures” Manual will be available early next month.
A big increase (+$80,000) in the costs of Printing Beaded Wheels is expected as a consequence of needing to change the company that does the printing.
Andrew Zammit, son-in-law of Phil and Coral Kidd, died last week after an illness.
Wellington Branch sends condolences to Phil, Coral, Rochelle and their families and friends.
During the Annual Riley Rally 2024: Above: Concours display in Ohakune - a good collection of cars from the 1930s to the 1960s. Then via the Gentle Annie route (from Taihape to Napier) with an afternoon tea break at the Springvale Suspension Bridge.
Above and Below: At the Figgery Café at Te Mata Figs.
CONE ART by Claire Benge
We recently travelled up the North Island, but delayed and frustrated by the roadworks to the extent that our trip took nearly an hour longer than usual. All the way up there were speed restrictions and cones but, on the actual worksites, very little activity. There were lots of workers leaning on shovels or chatting with their mates, and engineers or supervisors walking along the road looking at plans or talking to others of ilk. There were also a plethora of abandoned diggers, bulldozers and trucks, presumably waiting for their drivers to come back from leaning on their shovels to actually do some work.
But the worst was the cones – hundreds of them, stretching for miles before and after the worksites, both sides, crossing from one side to the other, and up the middle. Closer to the worksites there would be one-way signs controlled by stop-go people, who might give you a friendly smile if you waved a thanks but usually looked totally bored out of their trees and who would blame them.
We observed a new thing - the work sites had long strips of road before and after the work sites, controlled by the lights or stop-go people with large queues waiting for their turn to use the dictated route. Not only that, but the drivers of the cars waiting at the other end glared at you as if their delay was your fault. Then you were relieved to see the end of the queue coming towards you only to have to wait for one or two sheepish vehicles or a work vehicle. The cones were not just in straight lines, but wriggled from one side to the other as the siteworks shifted across the road. They were far more close than they needed to be and formed amazing patterns as they weaved along and around the various blockages. Waiting, and travelling in the lanes, the cones were the only entertainment as you followed the car in front of you.
ART - Continued from page 24)
We decided that the placing of the cones probably made the job more interesting. Sometimes the placements were so intricate we were in awe of the artistic skills used. We came to the conclusion after the 84th lot of roadworks (well it seemed like that many) that it was a new art form, and that roadworks weren’t the most important part of fixing the road. Therefore we suggest that ‘Road Works’ should be renamed “Cone Works” and become a new form of art work!
It was only a matter of time - first hybrid, then electric, and now vegan!!
If no details are provided, check the VCC website or contact Wgtn Branch Secretary for details/entry forms.
Wgtn Branch April Run: Sunday 21 April (see page 5)
BYO Lunch to the clubrooms (optional), ready to leave 1pm for a trundle around the Wgtn Bays to places of interest, finishing at Mint Café in Kilbirnie for afternoon tea. The instructions will be emailed out beforehand.
We are having a good old-fashioned run along 30 miles of quiet country roads, all tar-sealed, all between Waikanae and Otaki, and all without touching SH1. In fact, the ideal roads and the perfect excuse to give your classic/vintage car an outing before winter.
Along the way, we are stopping to have a look at a 92m-long suspension bridge, built in 1916 and described as "one of the most spectacular bridges in the world" by the website <www.dangerousroads.org>. Don't be put off by the name of the website, the bridge is still in daily use, being the only road connecting Waihoanga and its 100 or so residents with the outside world.
After the run, lunch is at the Longbeach Cafe at Waikanae Beach. Further details will be emailed to everyone on the Kapiti email list and to any other members who let me know they are interested in coming along. Also, please let me know if you would like to be added to the email list for details of future events.
Philip Pearce: Email nzpearce87@gmail.com
5 - 6 April Waikato Branch - Mooloo Meander Motorcycle Rally.
20 - 21 April Whanganui Branch - Autumn Motorcycle Rally.
26 - 28 April Manawatu Branch - Highland Fling, Feilding.
26 May (Sunday) Wellington Branch - Ladies Rally. This will again finish at Mac’s Slabs in Paraparaumu Beach, and there will be judging of the baking there.
24 August Wellington Branch - Daffodil Day Display (note this is Saturday, whereas the official National Day is Sunday).
20 - 23 September Wellington BranchManawatu Meander (see page 4 for details).
2 November - Wellington Branch Annual Rally and Dinner.
26 October - 17 November: Wellington Heritage Festival: Wellington Branch will be involved in some way, probably on Sunday 3 November (as part of the Annual Rally Weekend).
Visit the VCC Website: VCC.org.nz and click on “Membership Benefits” for details on various benefits and instructions on how to apply for them.
Want to see your club event photos in Beaded Wheels magazine? Please send them to our branch reporter John Stokes - he is always keen to use members' photos to support our branch report. People AND cars! For print publications, they will need to be at least 300KBthe bigger, the better!
Please simply email them to John at tourist.times@xtra.co.nz
Please include your phone number in the email and a brief description of each photo.
If
Club nights are on the 3rd Tuesday of every month in the Clubrooms, Halford Place, Petone (Eastern end of Jackson St) starting at 7:30pm
The Clubrooms are also normally open for casual gatherings on Wednesdays from 9:30 to 12:00, and for Noggin and Natters on Fridays 7:30pm.
Motorcycle Meetings are usually held on the 4th Monday of the month at the Butcher and Brewer, 75 Jackson Street, Petone at 7:30pm.
