Monte Targo – Central Otago Branch

Special, who tends to treat the white pegs with a lordly disdain, actually stayed on the course and scored 19.

Stage three was a new one, with a judicious mixture of muddy swamp, Austin 7-high reeds , a nasty turn and then a stop/start on a steep shingly climb. The organisers presumed most would get to the shingly climb, thus the stop/start, but the nasty turn turned very nasty and slippery indeed, so very few got beyond that, and if they did, met their demise at the stop/ start. A low scoring stage especially for those that started at the end of the field, with the muddy swamp claiming many victims.

So going into stage four, Jelfs Shelf, many competitors were muddy but unbowed, to misquote Invictus, not a state of mind the organisers were aiming for, but a bit of thinking and strategy is always needed on this time honoured stage, and proved to be the undoing of many. With steep ascents and descents, some mud and a tricky hairpin, this stage has it all, but the old campaigners did well, and quite a few scored 20. It’s great stage for spectators and hecklers, but not for those with a wide turning circle or a sensitive nature.

Lunch time meant repair time for some and then it was down to the far end for Newells Nemisis, and once again, the old hands tended to get 20 far too easily. The first turn claimed a few victims, and lots of bouncing was needed for the track, but the final hill was far too dry and next year, guess where a stop/start will be?

However, quiet confidence quickly turned to gloom as competitors walked or perhaps waded the course on Stage six, and after the first car sank up to its hocks at 16, the organisers and the crowd settled down to enjoy a classic mudplug type stage. The competitors were very sporting and charged at the morass at maximum rpm, and it became quickly apparent that standing behind a car meant a substantial drycleaning bill. Remarkably no engines were completely destroyed, but George Kear did regret removing his front mudguards at lunchtime. I have seldom seen a muddier person.

No one got too stuck getting back to terra firma, and the warmth of the Anglers Arms at Sefton was a welcome refuge for all. The highly desirable Old Boot Trophy is to be shared this year, as Gordon Dacombe from Nelson in his Morris Sports and Lance Braid from Hokitika shared first place, with posterboy Avon Hyde only three points behind, in third place. One of the Molyneux brothers, in his Covid Special Model A won a bottle of wine for embodying the Spirit of the Day, which means he was grinning all day in a not very competitive car, and having the time of his life. And that’s what Balcairn is all about.

MONTE TARGO 2020

Central Otago Branch Words Graham Taylor and Don Yeaman Photos by Lynne Yeaman

An idea came to me during lockdown. I hadn’t had a good vintage drive for a while and came across the Banks Peninsula Monte Carlo rally rules. With some tweaking to allow for a shorter time duration, the rules went out in Puff n Stuff in May.

Fast forward to the event which substituted for the Daffodil Rally, 17 cars and crew arrived at Cromwell via the Haast Pass, Crown Range, Lindis Pass and Moa Creek, one of which was a compulsory passage. After that it was a matter of making up 250 points; there were three real dogs and two look-a-likes worth 20 points, coffee 10, NZ flag 20.

The aim was to do something with a difference, cars were all over the place and only came together occasionally. The Cardrona Hotel was the most popular coffee stop, then the finish at the Cromwell clubrooms, where there was swapping of stories and lunch.

Yogi the teddybear added a valuable 20 points to the authors score.

From left to right are Rod and Ann Corbett, Mike Elliott, Pam and Jerry Vaughn.

Our route was Hawea Flat 20pts, Tarras 50pts, Cardrona 50 pts, Crown Range (compulsory) Gibbston, 20pts, dog (Harold) 20pts, two of New Zealand flags 40pts, car ’79 Mini 1000, 40pts, coffee 10pts. There was quite a bit of juggling as the 250 pts was a bit tricky, and our second dog had other plans, one entrant had a china dog, another a stuffed (knitted) dog. Both were within the rules, so will we have a vintage hearse next time? Needless to say everyone finished on 250 points as the judge’s decision was final and he couldn’t add very well either.

DAFFODIL RALLIES

Will we do it again? It’s relatively easy to set up, caters for those who enjoy a blast and a bit of fun. British cars like that, we can make allowances for the two American cars, almost a colony anyway, and not a French one in sight. We’ll have some tougher rules to keep Lex Westoby happy next year.

In addition to what Graham has said, we (the Yeamans) were invited to add our two cents worth. Lynne and I both liked the idea from the start and spent a few evenings each doing our own interpretation of what we thought we needed to do and what we thought we could get away with. Then of course we had difficulty in agreeing on the best route. Part of the decision was, whether we wanted to travel as far as possible to get our points, or did

we keep it short and pick up our points as quickly as possible.

As the TR2 had let us down on a couple of occasions recently, we erred on the side of caution, and took a relatively short route as follows; Wanaka to Cardrona (50pts), then over the Crown Range (compulsory) then at the bottom on the Queenstown side we turned around and went back over the Crown Range again to Cardrona (another 50 pts). Or as the Irish would say “Just to be sure, to be sure”. We stopped for coffee at the Cardrona pub, where we met three other couples from the competition. Then back past home and a quick pit stop (compulsory according to Lynne because of the coffee stop at Cardrona) and then over to Tarras (50 pts) and down to Cromwell for lunch.

Our tally was 150pts, as above, plus 40 for the TR2, 20 for our passenger Yogi (a teddy bear), New Zealand flag 20 and two coffees 20 for our total of 250 points. The TR2 behaved very well and had a great day out. Would definitely do it again.

s Taupo members about to deliver Daffodils

Despite the cancellation of our National Daffodil Day a few branches managed to maintain the momentum gained over the last few years and still held successful local events. For more details see individual branch reports in Idle Torque.

s Gisborne: From left: Kent Wilkinson, owner of the 1941 Ford 1-ton truck, Tairawhiti area manager of the Gisborne Cancer Society Lianne

Jenkins, Gisborne branch Daffodil Rally for

Cancer co-ordinator Graeme Revell, and Rick

Brenchley, owner of the 1954 Chevrolet sedan.

Photo Rick Brenchley.

GISBORNE BRANCH

On Sunday, 23 August, 56 vehicles took part in our fourth annual Daffodil Rally for Cancer run to Tolaga Bay, where entrants enjoyed an ice cream or a cup of coffee and a chat before returning home. Vehicles ranged from a scooter to an exarmy Unimog truck, with everything in between.

An impressive $735 was raised from car and bike enthusiasts who enjoyed lovely weather for the drive.