PHOENIX Number 291 DECEMBER 2019
PAST EVENTS Looking Back…. The Great All-Day Dargaville Tour – 17 November This from the worthy organiser, Mike Greig.
Report on the Great All-Day Tour. (Must be read with imagination as I did not take pictures) One has a duty while on the committee to provide events for members. I decided to put on an event and this was followed by asking oneself what will it be. I was in conversation with a fellow Velo owner in Devonport a short time later about things wheeled and he described a collection he had visited recently. I took down the details and contacted Mr. Andrew, living near Pouto, south of Dargaville. The collection was a few miles from home and would take near three hours to get there and another three on the return, so most of a day would be used up hence the choice of name for the event. It was a chance for members to get a few miles up on a vehicle of choice since most have sheds bulging with an assortment of two, three and four wheels. Faced with this problem I took the BMW bike as it was in need of a good run and the collection had bikes. I rode up with fellow Velo owner, Terry Bracey from Devonport who was getting more miles on his new Triumph 900. We motored away and waited at the Dargaville Museum, the starting / rallying point that overlooked the Wairau River and the town. The area was well known for the fishing in pre contact times, later a centre for the timber trade and the influx of Dalmatians, and one of the largest harbours in the southern hemisphere. It was a select group that attended, with only three non-pensioners. Laurie arrived with the MG C type with traditional coffee paraphernalia, Peter Benbrook came with Mike Hope Cross and Norm Holloway who lives near. Great to see Norm out with the Branch and he supplied his own three wheeled transport. Father and Hamish Andrew came, good to see this active combination at many of the club events. Vaughan came in the modern as the Hotchkiss was having minor surgery and in the wings (somewhere out there) was Max Jamieson in the Delage who finally arrived with minor delays and accompanied adventures to relay. As we left half the team took a turn to the wrong. I was in this group and arrived late very humiliated. When I dismounted, I found that the formal introduction had started with the traditional mihi or greetings with the Andrew iwi finding connections with ancestors and whenua (land). The discussions were as active as those at any marae or powhiri and we saw the importance of familial connections and land. Into the shed we moved and before and above were the cars, tractors and bikes well set out and complete. Near 50 bikes including a Brough Superior, (? 6/80), Vincent, including a Comet with chair and a Black Knight with full fairings, Square 4 Ariel , one with chair, Gold Star, single and twin, more Matchless and AJS’s than you could shake a stick at, Velocette including a Thruxton , Venom, Viper and MAC. Triumphs with a boxed 70’s Tiger 750 still in wrapping in its shipping P a g e | 10