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Rally Report - Autumn Three Day Run
Tony and Leigh Craythorne, 1952 Austin A40 Sport, Hartleys Road, Pig Saddle approaching Whitecliffs.
The Autumn Three Day Run
Words and Photos Andrew and Kama Morison
The Autumn Three Day Run was organised by Graeme Sword and family. This was the 12th Multi day Autumn run, and the final run to be organised by Graeme Sword, making it just that little bit more special. 40 VCC cars with approximately 100 people attended. The Autumn weather was a perfect backdrop for the three days, making it a memorable run that everyone seemed to enjoy.
Saturday 24 April
The run started at Cutler Park, McLeans Island, at the Canterbury Branch Clubrooms. There were cars from a variety of years arriving which made for interesting conversations, connections, and viewing. The oldest vehicle was a 1922 Fiat 501 and the newest vehicles were from the 1980’s. Tea, coffee, and of course some biscuits,
Hartleys Road, Pig Saddle near Whitecliffs, Marty and Judie Christie 1957 Vauxhall Velox.
Claremont Castle, Timaru.
were served, while people registered and listened to the briefing.
The run began at 10am. There were two routes, a long and a short route. The long route of 70 miles drove through the shingle Pig Saddle Road into Whitecliffs. This was a great photography spot as the vehicles passed on the dusty gravel road. The short route drove via Coalgate and joined the long route vehicles at Methven Visitors Centre for lunch, tea, coffee, raffles, and of course more biscuits.
After lunch the cars drove to Geraldine, via Mayfield and Arundel. Many of the drivers stayed at the Geraldine Hotel where an evening meal was served, followed by music and dance.
Sunday 25 April – ANZAC DAY
The Geraldine ANZAC Day parade started at 9am and was attended by the majority of the rally participants. After the parade, participants met for a briefing at the Fresh Choice carpark. There was a short and a long run to the 137 year old Castle Claremont just west of Timaru. Cars were photographed as they arrived at the castle. The sun was shining, the Autumn colours were plenty and the cars looked their best. At the castle there was a sausage sizzle, lunch, tea, coffee, and cake. There was an opportunity to view the inside of the castle, and an interesting talk was given by the current owner Bob Young on the history of the property. More photos were taken. There was a lovely atmosphere and participants seemed to enjoy the relaxing afternoon.
The afternoon run went through Timaru, Winchester and back to Geraldine for dinner, drinks, the raffle prize draw, and celebrations for Graeme Sword and his years of running the Autumn run. There were many conversations about the fun that has been had on the Autumn run over these past years.
Monday lunch stop at Plains Railway and Historical Museum, Tinwald.
and numerous cups of tea before a briefing at 10.30am. The cars had three routes to choose from, all finishing at the Plains Railway and Historical Museum, Tinwald, Ashburton. Here participants had the opportunity to look around and enjoy the Museum before eating BYO lunch and heading home.
We enjoyed taking the photos, eating the biscuits, and listening to all of the fun stories participants shared. We hope that someone will want to take over the reins of this enjoyable Autumn run in the future.
Tony and Annette Meikle, with Nancy McSaveney 1957 Vauxhall Cresta, Castle Claremont gates.
Words Barbara Hill
It’s not often we get overwhelmed with articles but the autumn run must have been worth the effort of attending as we received two articles on this event.
Around 100 participants met at Cutler Park on Saturday 24th April for morning tea and a chat before leaving at 10 o’clock. There was a choice of two runs, one with some shingle roads and one without. The routes took us on attractive back country roads through Courtney, Waddington and Coalgate on our way to Methven where we ate our picnic lunch at the Methven Visitor Centre. In the afternoon we made our way along the inland main road to Geraldine where we stayed in various accommodations for the weekend.
On Saturday evening we met at the Geraldine Heritage Hotel for a delicious meal followed by musical entertainment.
Many ofus attended the Geraldine community’s Anzac Day service at the
Michael Pidgeon and Louise Russell, 1922 Fiat 501 entering Castle Claremont.
Cenotaph in Talbot Street. The local community members and organisations were well represented, with a wide range of age groups participating in the service. During the service we were surprised by the flyover of an Air Force Hercules 40sqn plane.
Following this service, we took part in either a short or long run, using interesting roads which were our route to Claremont Castle on Mt Horrible Road inland from Timaru. This magnificent 14 bedroom home, presently owned by Robert Young, is 134 years old. It was built, using local granite, for George Rhodes and his French bride. During the 20th century it was bought by the Catholic Church for use as St Joseph’s Novitiate as a home for the Marist brothers. Those of us on the run were able to take the opportunity to look over both the inside and outside of this very interesting building, which apart from being a comfortable home, also has a large function room, a chapel and an outside swimming pool, as well as attractive gardens. Then we shared a barbeque lunch which was prepared for us by Julie and Graeme Sword and their team of helpers. After that, our vehicles were photographed, with their owners, in front of the castle. These photos have also formed the basis of the 2022 calendar which Graeme has Sunday’s events were completed with another delicious meal at the Geraldine Hotel.
On Monday we returned home via Tinwald, Ashburton, where we visited The Plains Vintage Railway and Historical Museum. This museum is situated in well maintained grounds with neat tidy buildings housing, among other things a Pioneer cottage complete with furnishings and household equipment of yesteryear, an historic church, vintage steam engines, tractors and other farm implements, trains, fire engines and firefighting equipment.
On behalf of all those who attended this weekend, we would like to sincerely thank everyone who contributed in any way to making this such a special and memorable event. We especially want to thank Julie and Graeme Sword and their daughter Debbie Morison as well as Annette and Tony Meikle, for all the work that they did to make the weekend such a success. We all enjoyed the delicious baking that they provided. We appreciated that Andrew and Kama Morison took great photos during the weekend.
