The mates at the summit of Danseys Pass.
EASY RIDERS WORDS AND PHOTO ALLAN HARDACRE
Allan and Dennis and John and John and eventually Judy, journey to the National Veteran Rally in Gore. A plan was hatched by John Callesen to take the 1918 Cadillac and as a travelling companion our 1915 Dodge roadster to Gore for the 2020 National Veteran Rally on the 16-18 of October 2020 and thence on to the Prince Henry tour based in Te Anau. In true Callesen style the route was not going to be straight forward and of course the weather in October is not always the most predictable or clement for veteran motoring. The ladies decided that this was too hardcore for them so Dennis Milne dug out his winter woollies to come along as co-driver in the Dodge and John Hastilow from Christchurch was to join John in the Cadillac in Blenheim … Good, everyone happy? The Dodge left Palmerston North on time to catch the Bluebridge over to Picton but unfortunately the Caddy had to stay behind to attend to a sudden petrol tank leak. Was this fright at having to keep up with a Dodge? A slightly bleary-eyed John turned up at about 2.00am in the morning and after a briefish kip and a solid breakfast we all set off in the misty rain up the Wairau valley to Reefton. Thankfully this was the only mechanical glitch in somewhere around 2600 miles of motoring. At Reefton the rain was very persistent and quite wet. The good things about Reefton were the very friendly motel owner at the Lantern Motel, the good meals (and beer) at the local pub and later the gin dishdillery (sic) where we stopped to buy some treats for the other halves at home.
44 Beaded Wheels
HOKOTIKA As we moved west the rain became denser and more horizontal and it was generally decided that we had to stop off at Blackball for some restorative fluids (for the drivers that is). As we went further west the weather became … well more West Coast like. For the run between Greymouth and Hokitika it was impossible to determine rain from sea spray, the windage on the Dodge was quite exciting as well … not! It was good that Dennis was sitting on my left (the down-wind side) otherwise he might have given up then and there. However, after a glass of wine and a surfeit of the local delicacy, whitebait pizza. Away from the coast the weather improved, the mood of the team picked up, and by the time we were heading into the hills we were enjoying a beautiful day. Our route eastwards followed the Bealey River and on up into the breath-taking scenery at Arthur’s Pass. With the hood up on the Dodge I was a bit nervous about the destructive looking beaks of the Keas that mobbed us when we stopped for the morning coffee, but all was well, like the tourists up there they also just wanted to admire the cars. A stop for cheese, delicious cheese, at Geraldine and if you are down that way you must stop to buy some, no lots, of their epicurean cheddar and gruyere. Then it was on to accommodation in lovely warm sunny Timaru, with a visit to Dennis’ son Mat and to Gavin, another keen vintagent. Gavin had a collection of Dodges, clearly a man of impeccable taste though his latest purchase was a Chrysler, but that is OK, they’re from the same stable.
