C LU B L I F E : M A N A W AT U / W A N G A N U I / TA R A N A K I
INTERCLUB • VOLUME 19, ISSUE 1 - 2013
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Club founder last of the originals A group of South Taranaki Tourers has kicked their club’s 20th anniversary year into gear with a five-day ride around “the top of the South”. The origins of the group – which is an adjunct of the South Taranaki club – date back to 1993 when Roger Malcolm and a few friends rode in the Cold Duck rally. Because they were all on Japanese bikes, they were called ‘The Jap Crap Boys’ by the other riders. Roger wasn’t overly impressed with that name and, after some discussion, they formed the South Taranaki Tourers. Seven years later he approached the South Taranaki Club and the Tourers became an adjunct. In the same year, 2000, the club held its first rally, the Clubman 2000. Roger Malcolm is the only original member still affiliated to the club. The Tourers’ current president, John Elmes, says membership now sits around 60. A monthly newsletter reports on rides, club members and upcoming events. In the club’s annual Poker Run rally, entrants draw a card at each of five stops and whoever has the best poker hand at the end wins the $500 stake. It has become something of a “must do” event in recent years, attracting up to 95 bikes and riders from many parts of the country. The Tourers’ annual “hard arse” event involves breakfast at a specific destination and a ride of at least 800km. They also try to have an overnighter ride each month, and take part in several charity rides (the Coast to Coast and Chateau to Plateau are two) to help community causes such as the rescue helicopter.
As 2012 was the South Taranaki Club’s centennial year, the Tourers decided to have a Show’n’Shine on a Friday night. Thirty bikes were on display for
Over Sixties ‘big family’ get out and about for good times
They sure know how to have a good time at the Palmerston North Cosmopolitan Club. This joke from the club newsletter gives an indication: “A doctor on television said that, to have inner peace, we should always finish things we start, and we will all have more calm in our lives. I looked around my house to find things I’d started and hadn’t finished. So I finished off a bottle of merlot, a bottle of chardonnay, a bodle of jin, a butle of wum, tha mainder of valiuminun scriptins, an a boks a chocletz. Yu haf no idr how fablus I feel rite now.” Another indication is the regular good times the Over Sixties adjunct has on its trips. One of the organisers, Lorraine Jones, says they arrange a fortnightly or monthly day trip away, unless they have a group from another club coming to spend time with them. Then every year, usually in March, they march off – well, they bus off, actually – to some far flung part of New Zealand, or that island off the West Coast with all the bananas and funny accents. The yearly trips are usually for a week. Adjunct
members suggest places they might go, and the committee makes its decision. Then members offer bright ideas about motels they know of, good places to eat (or drink), and interesting places to go while they are there. This is where another of the organisers, Betty Green, comes into her own. “She’s good on her computer, so she can do all the bookings,” Lorraine says. “She’s so helpful. I’m supposed to be the secretary, but when I wasn’t well last year, she did most of my work as well!” And that seems to be the way this group works. Camaraderie is the thing. Of the 86 adjunct members, some are quite elderly, and don’t get out much, so this gives them something to plan for. New members join from time to time, and haven’t been to some of the places the group has been to already, but that’s no problem. If they had a good time there before, then they go there again. One of the group, Paul Richardson, is a bus driver, and he takes them anywhere they decide to go. “Were like one big family, says Lorraine. “We have a lot of fun.”
PALMERSTON NORTH COSMOPOLITAN CLUB
club members to view. As John Elmes says, some observers would have noticed that not all bikes are equal – the display included sports bikes, cruisers and classics, along with a few trikes for good measure. PHOTOS Above: Bikes on display at the Poker Run. Right: South Taranaki Tourers president John Elmes (left) and club founder Roger Malcolm after a run.
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