NAVIGATOR’S RUN// By Paul Eager
A leisurely 1.30pm Sunday start to what turned out to be a very pleasant and sunny Hawke’s Bay day as we gathered at Anderson Park to be given a briefing on the principals of straight-line navigation, silent check points, and other mysteries of route finding. About 14/15 “competitors” headed off on the first straight-line navigation section, albeit with one or two extra clues – the occasional road name on the notes, and a briefing note to stay our side of Church Road. At Church Road we changed to the section two instructions, straight forward as opposed to straight line, that took us to a cul-de-sac in Pandora where Graham Smith wanted us to drive forward exactly one rotation of the wheel – probably more easily done if you knew the tyred diameter of your wheel and could instantly calculate 2πr in your head. I couldn’t, and didn’t even remember the formula until too late. Further down the road, Kevin McGrath interrogated us on some map symbols, and then Pauline gave us our instructions for sections three and four. Three was using the type of symbols Kevin had tested us on, although he had put in a deliberate mistake to try and send everyone into the airport. The correct route took us through Bay View and along scenic Seafield Road back to Puketitiri Road. Section four then sent us along Puketapu Road, but with a catch – spotting “silent
July 2021
check” signs along the roadside and noting the names on our score sheets. The five signs were car names, although some people were convinced there were in fact only three. Final destination was the club rooms, where almost everybody turned up eventually for afternoon tea and prize giving. ‘Almost’ because the consensus was that Hans and Mercia had been at the start but were missing at the finish – there was a rumour that their car was last seen outside the pub in Bay View…..…. First prize was won by Barrie and Lyndsay Browne in their Anglia - last to reach the clubrooms but with the best score, so there’s proof of a famous proverb. Second was Paul and Hilda Boylan in their MGTD, and third Paul and Carol Eager in their Rover 3500. And I gather Graham and Lyn Bowker should perhaps also have won a prize for Navigator’s Matrimonial Stress. So, the British cars won the day in every respect! All in all great fun overall and an excellent day – many thanks to the Smiths and the McGraths for all the work put in to organise it, because it was clearly a lot of effort.
