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Regional Ramblings Wellington

   

Run to Manfield, November 23, 2003.

We had planned back in the dim dark days of winter to make the most of the summer sun in November.  We were to head across to Riversdale on the Wairarapa Coast for an overnighter at the beach.  I don�t know about your part of the country, but Wellington�s summer so far has been unpredictable at best. So, needless to say, enthusiasm for a windy and maybe even wet weekend at the beach was not high. 

Being pragmatic, and knowing it was the Whittakers Classic Motor Racing weekend at Manfield, our intrepid area coordinator cancelled the plans (got on the phone � again!) and reset to meet at 8.30am Sunday morning to head off to Manfield.

It was great to catch up with a couple of new members, Ken Whitcombe (series 5 SW20) and Scott Edwards (fresh from Napier I think) as well as one we haven�t seen before (David Etchells in his AW11).  Colin Dilworth started with us but had to turn back at the Paekakareiki Hill as he was on call (great new number plate that, Colin �IM GURU�) where, no doubt, he had some fun pretending he was a targa car.  John Howell had a leave pass and a visiting club member from Christchurch who came along for the ride.

We took the opportunity to travel some of the back roads through to Feilding at an easy pace, as not everyone knew where we were going.  We arrived to a fairly fine and pleasant day at the track and settled in for the day�s racing after the usual inspection of the cars already in the carpark.  For those of you who haven�t been to this meeting before, I can recommend it as a really great day, well worth the $15 entry fee. We even spotted the red AW11 of Otaki club member Keith Heginbotham in the officials� area.  Keith was one of the flag marshals for the day�s events.

Debbie Morris

Performance Car Show, October 4-5, 2003

The MR2 Owners Club received an invitation to be part of the �Capital Corvette Performance Car and Bike Show� held in Wellington over the weekend of October 4 and 5, 2003.  It seemed like too good an opportunity to miss, so we contacted a few club members to see if they wanted the chance to show off their cars for the weekend (the downside was they were all without their vehicles from Friday night through till Sunday night!).

After a bit of organising, the club display was made up of Diane Matheson�s lovely yellow MR2 Spyder (complete with hard top), John and Lynelle Howell�s Black SW20 T, and Matt McQuillan�s silver AW11.  A bit of begging, borrowing and stealing saw us set up with a portable table for the MegaRun forms, membership forms and some sample magazines as well as a display stand for photos and facts.  The latter was achieved after a few hours work by Noel Morris, the Wellington area coordinator.

The finished result, as you can see, was a wonderful advert for the club, although I think the Ferrari (or maybe the yellow Lamborghini) was the star of the show.

Debbie Morris

Whangamomona overnighter, August 16-17, 2003

We had been there before but there was a bit of interest from other parts of the country so we decided to give it another try.  Off along the �Forgotten World Highway� to Whangamomona for the weekend.

Where is it?  State Highway 43 between Stratford in the Taranaki and Taumaranui, and it is a real experience. 

The road has to be one of the best MR2 roads in the country (there is a small unsealed section of around 11kms), the scenery is unbelievable and worth the trip by itself, and there can�t be many places like the Whangamomona Hotel left in the world!  The best value dinner, bed and breakfast in the country, providing you get in early and get one of the good beds that is.

The Wellington contingent dwindled to being made up of Noel and myself, Michael Aitken and Diane Matheson.  We were joined by four cars from the northern part of the island including Lesley & Rex and Kevin & Karen from the Bay of Plenty.  We were hoping to meet up with some of the team from the original run (Bruce Williams from the Manawatu and Bazza Brett from Stratford) but work pressures made this impossible this time around.

Dinner was just like we remembered it - more food than you could eat!  Roast ham with all of the trimmings followed by a huge dessert, then a cooked breakfast in the morning before we headed back to Stratford for coffee on our way home.  There was a bit of excitement during the night � one of those wild winter storms meant that the power went out in the hotel � not to worry, seems like it happens in that part of the country.  The candles came out and everything continued in the bar like normal.

Debbie Morris