**Coromandel Explorer - Overnighter** 5 OCT All welcome

[mickeyduck]

As I said earlier, this was a truly excellent run CJ, hats off to you mate. Brilliant roads, great weather and great company. For my part, a HUGE "thanks" to all who came and made it such a wonderful weekend.

I had hoped that Colin (the somewhat less cheeky one, the one from Wellington) had a good run home but alas that wasn't to be and now he is in need of a donor AW. I have to say it was great to see him again and frankly I'm gutted that for him such a primo weekend had to end so poorly. If anyone has an AW for sale at a good price, or even the front end of one, please let him know eh.

http://mr2.org.nz/phpbb3/viewtopic.php? ... &start=174" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Good to see Chewy rock up from Rot-o-rua (phew eh!) and real nice to see Jim and Danusia again too.

Michael and Rowena from Papakura tagged along on their first run. Hope you guys had fun? It was great to have yas there and I hope we see you guys again on a few more.

David and Paul met us all at BP Drury and we all did Ponga Rd together before they had to naff off and leave the rest of us to it. So to it we went. And what an "it" it was! It was awesome.

Saturday smiled on us and the roads were as good as the weather. But the fun didn't stop there. We feasted at Greg and June's place in Pauanui and after lunch he imparted gems of wisdom regards wiring and such. Now don't get me wrong, those gems really are worth squirreling away... but we did have a few laughs in the process too. Greg delights in a sense of humour and our time there was simply full of it.

Warm fuzzied and rested, we checked into our motels then met up for dinner at Shells restaurant in Tairua, a place CJ had sussed. Very nice indeed. Dizzy Blondes went down a treat (that's beer folks) as did the meal and dessert. Those cherries on the chocolate tart...! Num!

Sunday we had breakfast at Pepe cafe. Mmmm, eggs benedict... Then we headed off to Cooks Beach for a stroll, a chin-wag and a feed.

Next we wandered into Whitianga where Chewy found something to chew. Then we moseyed on again and found ourselves on some of the most epic twisties east of the west.

Of particular woohoo value is the road that takes you over the top from Te Rerenga to Coromandel township, as seen in the wee video I posted earlier. Not the only worthy road though by any stretch...

Anyway here's to doing it again some time. If you didn't make this one I'd sure recommend you try to make the next. Brilliant. Thanks CJ. And thanks again to everyone that came.

[mickeyduck]

Meeting up at BP Drury...

At Greg & June's in Pauanui. Greg's immaculate SW admired by us all.

Greg had a tree that reminded me a lot of my eldest lad's haircut.

It was a blast having my lads and Michelle all there for this run.

At Pauanui beach.

"Founded"...? OK there's a whoops. That should say "Foundered"...? But hey, whatever...

I once watched a 17 foot fizzboat swamp and sink right there in that channel. Freaky.

When we were parked up for brekkie in Tairua Chewy's lid caused a bit of a stir, with this young chick shouting to the rest of the street "Wow check it out I wonder what's under there...!?!"

I think he needs to add a proximity sensor that makes the MR2 sign start flashing.

CJ's red rocket was looking as good as ever. I really do admire those tail lights. Nice.

Colin's AW was the only one of its kind on the run. And a fine example it was too. I sure do hope he can put the skinniest humpty in history back together again... Too good to say bye bye too eh.

Michael's 2 said boo to Tairua too. Nice tidy thing it was I thought too.

Heading back from Pauanui to Tairua there's a gas station with a hard case old distant ancestor, so we stopped for a shot with the old relic in the background.

The view from our motel kitchen window in Tairua...

Breakfast at Pepe's in Tairua.

Shell's restaurant where we had dinner (recommended) with an 86 parked out front (one of the few cars I'd own if I couldn't have an MR2)

Cook's Beach:

The cute wee birdie in this pic was a noisy bugger but then who could blame him what with that silly woman's terrier harassing him...?

And as for this guy, well he simply wouldn't clam up..! LOL

Video to follow...

I hope everyone else had as much fun as I did...? That was a good weekend.

[Credible]

Great writeup. Thanks Charlie.

(That should ensure larger numbers on the next one!)

[Benckj]

Very nice shots Charlie. Hopefully, Otago can pull some pics togther from thier Christmas run up lake Hawea to the Dingle Burn. Somehow I don't think our cars will remain so spotless though as the road is gravel and very dirty. Thanks for sharing with us.

[MichaelR2]

We had a awesome weekend! Thanks C.J and the rest for coming along. Keen for the next one. What happenes to Colins car??

[*84vvt]

I bumped into some armco on the return trip Im ok but the car looks a little sad .
Damage is not coast effective for a repair so looking for a good rust free shell
so I cam move parts from one car to the other .

[mickeyduck]

...looking for a good rust free shell...

And being an AW in the North Island, therein lies the problem.

What you need is one from Christchurch with a buggered engine.

[CJ]

I also would like to say a big thanks to all that came along. It was a bunch of fun, awesome roads and i think we were lucky with the weather too. Although the number of cars made for an easy group to muster, i sure hope we get a few more next time.
Heres a few pics from my camera.

Meeting up at BP.


Early Sunday morning i went for a quick cruise up to Tairua beach as i hadnt checked that one out last time i was there.




As you can see in that last shot there is quite a steep mountain there. Its called mt Paku. As theres houses up there, i decided to see how things looked up there.



For lunch we stopped at Cooks beach




Craig was showing me how a stick can not only find water, but other valuable things.

[mickeyduck]

Nice pics CJ.

OK I'm working on a video...

It's evidence that Greg is into a good joint (maybe that's why he lives in the Coromandel?)

Craig is into acid

and the rest of us are into speed...

Oh yeah - the cops are in on the action too. LOL.

BRB

[mickeyduck]

Apologies if the volume's a bit low. But hey...