Far North Focus
March 2021
Southern area pot luck lunch had a breath-taking bonus in Kae Bond’s begonias.
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The Vintage Car Club of New Zealand
Far North Focus Who’s Who for 2020/21 Chairman
Winston Matthews
win@matthewsvintage .com
09 4060203
Vice Chairman
Dave Duirs
dave.duirs@xtra.co.nz
09 4061288
Secretary
Gloria Cormack
m.g.cormack@xtra.co.nz
09 4077255
Treasurer
Robyn Mackay
wmackay116@gmail .com
09 406 1955
Club Captain
Warren Mackay
wmackay116@gmail.com
09 4061955
Editor
Peg Hills
comstockdowns@gmail.com
09 406 1077
Communications Officer
Ruth Reid
r.t.reid@xtra.co.nz
09 4060 392
Beaded Wheels Scribe
Dave Duirs
dave.duirs@xtra.co.nz
09 406 1288
Area Rep North
Ruth Reid
r.t.reid@xtra.co.nz
09 406 0392
Southern Area Club Captain
Murray Cormack
m.g.cormack@xtra.co.nz
09 4077 255
Committee
Murray Cormack, Robyn Mackay, Winston Matthews, Graeme Moore, Vince Mason, Mike Pooley, Gloria Cormack, Warwick Woollams, Warren Mackay, Dave Duirs, Keith Lyndsell
Building Officer
Warren Mackay
09 406 1955
A full list of elected officers is circulated with the minutes of the 2020 Annual General Meeting
Club meetings on the second Tuesday of the month at the Aurere Clubrooms at 7.30pm.
CLUB CLEANING ROSTER 2019-2020 During the month, and preferably before the main calendar event, please give the clubrooms a thorough check over, as in: Clean the toilets and hand basins, check kitchen, window ledges etc, and sweep the floors. Window cleaning, washing walls etc will be done at working bees.
Note any required maintenance and pass on to the Building Officer– Warren Mackay, ph 09 4061955 If your date doesn’t suit you, please swap with someone else. For any other enquiries please contact the Club Captain.
March N & V Mason July
C Brownlie
January
D & P Hills
August
D & D Duirs
February
Graeme & Margaret
September
Graeme Moore
March
N & V Mason
October
Everyone– working bee
April
R & W Mackay
November
R & W Mackay
May
M & T Deverell
December
Graeme & Margaret
June
P O’Dell
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Calendar of Events 2020 / 2021 March 3rd
Mid Week Run
Murray & Gloria
April 17th
Brian Parker Rally
Murray & Gloria
May 9th
Mother’s Day Run/Lunch
Terry & Sue
May 11th
Club AGM
Everyone
June 26th
Molloy Trophy Run
Rex & Sandra & Team
Monthly 3rd Sunday
Taipa Bay Caffeine & Classics
Rosco
Ramada Resort, Taipa Monthly 2nd Tuesday
Club Meeting Aurere Clubrooms 7.30pm.
Brian Parker Memorial Rally Saturday 17th April 2021 Meet at the wharf car park, Totara North, at 10.30am for an 11.00am start. The rally is approximately 90km long, with a good deal of unsealed road.
Finish at Matthews Museum– complimentary afternoon tea. FNVCC Clubrooms open from 5.15pm for BYO drinks, fruit punch available. Dinner to follow. Food and hot & cold drinks available at lunch stop
Entries close Friday 9th April Entry form is on page 8 of this Focus
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The Vintage Car Club of New Zealand
From the Chair…….
As I write this please forgive me if I seem a bit grumpy! After 10 days with no land line or internet or eftpos for the museum and then Spark sending me a bill for $800 including a call they said was over 12 hours long!!!!!!!!!!!!!! However it is being resolved I hope as the line is being fixed today. Well we seem to be back to normal with the odd Covid case, unfortunately this is going to be the way of the foreseeable future and may affect some coming events.
Thanks to Fiona for providing a great lunch in such a pleasant outlook. It was good to pass Rosco’s Vesperadoes Tour to Invercargill when we were travelling in the South Island, between Hanmer Springs and Springs Junction, with a toot and a wave as they went on their merry way. It’s a pity the Mangonui Waterfront Festival has been cancelled– maybe next year.
Many thanks to Tom and Margaret for organising Happy Motoring, a relaxing enjoyable day to the Far North. What a tremendous improvement Fiona and family have made to the old police house and Jail. It would be a pleasure to spend a night in the old jail now!
Win
Remember the Taipa Bay Caffeine & Classics 3rd Sunday every month 10 to 12.30 Next date Sunday 21st March
We were all new members once ; Please extend the hand of friendship to all who come along after you. Go on– I dare you
My grateful thanks to Marg Ilton for stepping in to produce the Focus last month. Our weeks-long battle with Vodafone is over– not sure who won– and things seem to be back to normal. Peg.
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Northern Club Captain’s Report….. The events of December and January have been well spread for lunch including Paua pies, which reported on and all went well with Xmas and Summer 29 of us enjoyed on the deck with views of picnic which Robyn and I had a bit of involvement with. Houhora Harbour and Mount Camel. Thanks to Winston for support and organisation. The event in March of Mangonui Waterfront Festival on The February run up North organised by Tom and Mar- Saturday 6 March has been cancelled. garet Deverall was well supported with 10 vintage cars and a couple of moderns. Tom and Margaret’s daughter Happy motoring Fiona welcomed us to her home and prepared a lovely Warren th
Southern Club Captain’s Report….. A big thanks to our hosts Kae and Paul Bond for a great Okaihau. Hopefully we can enjoy the potluck lunch at Waimate North. A brilliant day and the social aspect and also find out more begonias certainly were a hit. about the small towns in Northland which we just take for granted and drive on by. The potluck lunch on 26 March will be at the home of Matt and Bev Sharpe near Haruru Falls. We look forMay will involve a visit to the historic Ruapekapeka Pa ward to this get-together, further details later. site. Following this, a look at Kawakawa around the shortest day in June, for a nosy on its coal-mining past Please see the Brian Parker Memorial Rally entry form and other local activities. Hope these are of interest to in this Focus for Saturday 17 April. We have tried to our membership but will definitely be very casual runs. encourage more support for this event by avoiding a competitive rally drive, and enjoying touring scenic Many of you have travelled extensively, or have had a Northland. The competitive aspect of the event will be good catch-up with family and friends over the summer undertaken in Winston’s museum, with a series of period. With autumn approaching hopefully we all can questions on the exhibits. Please support this event. enjoy our varied club outings. th
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Wednesday 3 March will see the start of the informal midweek events. A separate email will be sent to all members, giving the details. It will be based at
Drive safely, enjoy,
rd
Murray
Tractors large and small, and mostly mature, parked up at the Hihi Motor Camp on the 18th of February. They were taking part in the Big Feelings Tractor Trek, raising money and awareness of mental health issues in young folk. They had set out last year to go from Bluff to Cape Reinga, visiting schools along the way, but Covid had stopped them at Auckland so they decided to finish the job this summer. Some had come from Wanganui and the Waikato to take part.
The Humvee that was part of the procession.
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a passerby regarding our Holden resulted in a trip down memory lane, as further discussion revealed that we had both attended Taipa School many years ago. It really is a very small world!!
Far North Run 20 February 2021 th
What great weather we had for our Far North Run organised by Tom and Margaret Deverall and a good turnout with 10 vintage cars and a couple of moderns. A total of 29 members taking part.
Last to leave, we were off to our final stop at Pukenui, for lunch. The venue was Tom and Margaret’s daughter, Fiona’s villa. The property was We met at the Awanui Sports complex at 10.30 for originally a police station and jail house and is bea chitchat before being sent on our way for a reing renovated by Fiona and her family. It is a big laxed tour of local places of interest. project. The first stage to be completed is the jailhouse and a lovely big deck with great views of the Houhora Harbour. There was a huge grassed area where we could have picnicked but we all fitted comfortably on the deck out of the sun and Fiona had prepared a great spread of sandwiches, mini paua pies, quiches and mince pies as well as a lovely chocolate cake and a fruit bowl.
First stop was the Unahi wharf which was originally used for the shipment of produce from the Awanui Dairy factory. The wharf is very dilapidated but Tom informed us it is due for a major upgrade After lunch we were treated to a tour of the villa costing a few million dollars. Sadly none of us had and a wander around the grounds through to the any fishing gear because there were lots of mullet neighbouring reserve. under the wharf. It was a great day. Very relaxing and social. Thank Next we did a bit of a back track and headed out you Tom and Margaret you did a great job. via Spains Road where there was a stop at Lake Robyn Ngatu for some, although others chose to head straight to the Waipapkauri Ramp and a wander on the Ninety Mile Beach. There, a comment from
Naomi, who sent the photos, writes that bananas such as these are growing at Fiona’s property, and more will be planted as they are needed for the real fruit ice cream being produced by them.
I went to a vintage car rally and noticed a name-the-car competition. I thought the vehicle looked cute so I guessed its name was ‘Sarah’ and submitted my entry. Later the judge announced the answer over the loudspeaker . ‘The car is not a Sarah, as one person thinks,’ he said, ‘but is, of course, a Lotus Esprit.’ Stephen Mithan
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From ‘Evergreen’ magazine, an excerpt from a story about the Saddle Inn, in Blackpool:
“ The Saddle served as the heart of the agricultural communities of Marton before the area was eventually swallowed by the urbanisation of Blackpool. As with other such country inns, it hosted auction sales of farms, cottages and land. And in the event of a death in the locality, any inquest was usually held at the inn. “In 1842, The Saddle itself became the subject of an auction when the then owner, Mr John Watson, put it up for sale. In 1874, another sale held at The Saddle made the news when it resulted in the deaths of two men through excessive drinking. Thomas Cartnell, a labourer aged 42, and John Sanderson, a farmer aged 27, attended the sale where a an abundance of gin, rum, whisky, port and sherry was laid on. “The Preston Guardian for Saturday, 26th December 1874, reported the two men continued to imbibe the ‘cheap drink’, and the auctioneer remarked that Cartnell was getting ‘very fresh’ and had to be taken out of the room, with Sanderson following him. Both of them ended up slumped and taken home in a cart during what was a cold night. When lifted out of the cart, they were dead. “At a coroner’s inquest, the jury concluded that ‘The deRendezvous at Dargaville ceased died from congestion of the brain, produced by the excessive use of ardent spirits, aggravated by exposure to the cold”
Three Rules for Life 1
Money cannot buy happiness, but it’s easier to cry in a Mercedes than on a bicycle.
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Forgive your enemy, but remember his name.
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Alcohol doesn’t solve any problems, but then, neither does milk. Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint. Mark Twain
The Far North Branch of the VCC does have a policy that pets are not brought to any Club events. We do ask that this policy is respected.
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CLUB SHIRTS AVAILABLE: Contact Ruth- see her at a meeting, call her on 09 406 0392, or email her at r.t.reid@xtra.co.nz There will be samples at the Clubrooms to try on for size. Cost is $30-$35, depending on size.
FAR NORTH VINTAGE CAR CLUB
BRIAN PARKER MEMORIAL RALLY Saturday 17th April 2021 ENTRIES CLOSE FRIDAY 9th APRIL 2021 Format:
Meet at the wharf carpark at Totara North 10.30am for an 11am rally start. The rally is approximately 90km, with a significant proportion on unsealed roads. Both the morning and afternoon sections are touring only, giving the vehicle occupants the chance to view the varied landscapes of the Far North. The drive section finishes at Matthews Vintage Museum Aurere for a complimentary afternoon tea. Following this the competitive section will be undertaken in the museum, where there will be a variety of questions on exhibits. The FNVCC clubrooms nearby will be open at 5.15pm, for a dinner with BYO drinks at 5.45pm. (Non-alcoholic punch will be served.) Food and hot and cold drinks are available for purchase at the lunch stop. Please Note: All arrangements will be subject to any Covid requirements. Conditions of entry: • Vehicles must be entered by a financial member of the VCC of NZ. Winner to be VCC eligible vehicle. • Driving licences and membership card must be carried. • We look forward to Members from other Branches participating in this Rally. (In the case of the Rally winner being from another Branch a Miniature trophy will be presented so that the major trophy remains with the Far North Branch.) ENTRY FORM 2021 Name of entrant: ......................................................................................................................................... Address: ...................................................................................................................................................... Telephone numbers: ................................................................................................................................... Name of driver: ............................................................................................................................................ Name of navigator: ...................................................................................................................................... Passenger(s) names: .................................................................................................................................. Make, model and year of vehicle………………………………………………………………………………….. VCC Membership number: .......................................................................................................................... Entry form to: Murray and Gloria Cormack email m.g.cormack@xtra.co.nz or 50 Davis Strongman Place, RD3 Kerikeri 0293, by Friday 9th April 2021. Phone 09 4077255 or 027 385 3795 Payment to: Far North VCC Kiwibank Account No: 38 9001 0577961 00 by Friday 9th April 2021. Reference: BPMR plus your surname. * Entry fee per vehicle:……….$5.00 $ 5.00 * Plaque (optional):...………... $5.00 $ * Dinner...............@ $30 per person $
* TOTAL AMOUNT PAID $ .............................
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Ophir bridge and Galloway station– no traffic and no trains. Rocky still waits hopefully.
You will have been following Raewyn and Rosco’s adventure to the deep south. This is how they were looking at their stop in Mangonui on day two. It was a great project to take on, and we’re so glad you were well enough to enjoy it Raewyn– long may it continue.
Vesparados take a break
First flat tyre, south of New Plymouth.
A bit of fun in Alexandra. Mission completed: 3,000 kms on our Vespas and the odd step through, 18 days non stop, except for the odd flat tire and need of extra oil and our sleep overs at most of the old pubs along the way that still have beds and food, so it was sorta like a Pub Crawl.... and one hell of a lot of fun!! The bonus was that we have raised over $7,500 for Far North Hospice and we were humbled by the support and generosity along the way. Cheers. Rosco and Raewyn.
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