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Safari Whangaui 2021
SAFARI WHANGANUI 2021//
By Mercia Paaymans
DRIVE IT BREAK IT FIX IT REPEAT
This report has been compiled by Mercia Paaymans and will self-destruct in oops sorry… focus! THE 2021 SAFARI… HIGHLIGHT OF MY YEAR! When I think of the word safari I think of Africa, big game, entertainment, exotic people and places and yes people we covered all of this, New Zealand styles!
We all met up on Friday at Zinc café in Waipukurau for a welcoming hot drink and some top nosh. Trevor and Lyn welcomed us, gave us our formidable rally notes( which I might add were on point EVERWHERE WE WENT!!!) and we headed southish- travelling on new roads for many of us. So nice to get off SH2 and enjoy the verdant fields of green. The sunny weather continued as we passed the beautiful Woburn house and Oruawharo Homestead and headed through Dannevirke onto more rural roads and we wended our way up and over the Saddle Road to enjoy lunch at the Ashhurst domain. Best fuel economy was reported by the Rover 14 and 26 Buick. We then journeyed to Wanganui via Marton and masked and dangerous we checked into our accommodation. Saturday was another corker day and the safari ing continued. Firstly we covered the exotic people part- the Wanganui market
was a busy place, lots of local creative artists, cooks gardeners, it was relaxed and vibrant. Many of us indulged in the pastime of mooching and shopping. Next we headed down SH3 to Tom Cloustons property in Turakina. As we all assembled the unique letterbox whetted our appetite of things to come.
So much memorabilia collected by father and son, SO MUCH- hard to describe so overwhelming! Literally something for everyone…. SERIOUSLY it was impressive as well as this were a selection of cars from hot rods to vintage vehicles. So my pick of the vehicles was the 1906 Darracq called Lily dressed in red with brass highlights, she had a great story.
Purchased by Toms father in 1957 she was stripped down and stored in ammo boxes for 60 years, she was put together and it has all the original speedo, clock and windscreen. What a HONEY! Lunch was at Paloma gardens which I am definitely going back to as the unique plants and creative plantings need a quiet half day to really enjoy. It is a spectacular privately owned Garden of National Significance. Continuing on we visited Bruce Ardells property and were able to see the commercial side of his parts business, all family run and not a computer in sight.
Bruce gave us an interesting talk about his history and made us very welcome. Again another extremely interesting shed to visit. We were lucky enough to view a part of his eclectic car collection. From fire engines, tractors to Skoda’s and Rolls Royce. Even a cannon! Trevor made the car pick from this shed -he liked the 1600 Cortina no particular reason, he just loved it
Dinner was – this is the entertainment part- was at Carolines Boat Shed Bar- it was a satisfying meal with great service and a big thumbs up for the Eaton Mess- a dessert beloved by all…. Ok some! Ok mainly me and Jo. Then later by Alistair, Jean, Kevin and Sandra! Sunday- a bit of drizzle actually it was raining quite hard and was cold! And then I lost my pen- what’s with this? It was here yesterday, did it grow legs? It required a deep dive (think Ghost in the Shell people) into the handbag … successfully located I was ready to scribe. We started at Hinemoa Boyds property viewing her and her late husband’s Ed Boyds collection- this is a work in progress a museum creation, the memorabilia and cars were interesting and created great discussion amongst us all. A highlight was the amazing car graphics that were up on the walls they added so much to displays as well as all the nooks that had surprises in them, telling us about the history of Wanganui. Hans car pick was the 1962 Bambina, it was a hot yellow and just made you smile. A wee climb up the hill and we viewed Ian Chamberlan’s vehicles and in particular a rebuild of a 1906 Arrol Johnson. He is one clever man! The weather continued to close in as we travelled about 100 metres up the road and visited Richmond Harding’s collection of aviation memorabilia and aviation history. He regaled us with stories of his flying history and kindly supplied us with a welcoming hot drink and biscuits. The most poignant display I viewed was the topdressing tribute to all the pilots who had lost their lives during top dressing and related accidents, it was sobering to read so many of these men died in this industry. So I approached Malcolm, whose pick was the Spitfire, as he has always wanted a ride in one of these British planes.
Our final shed was Ian and Frances Higgins property which hid a collection of iconic speed machines!.Paul gave a great introduction and we drooled over this collection- definitely a fast and furious selection. Pauls pick was the 1968 Chrysler 300 Red soft top- it was immaculate, you could eat off the motor!
Lunch divided us, some went to the Bason Botanic Gardens, others to the Wanganui VCC rooms. Ian Higgins kindly opened up for us and we even got into the parts shed! The final meal was at The Wanganui RSA for a great meal and prize giving. We were joined by Bruce and Jenny Ardell and Ian Higgins which added to the enjoyment. We have been encouraged to get involved in the annual Burma Rally in January 2022. On behalf of everyone I want to thank Trevor and Lyn Charman on a fantastic job, everytime I go on these safaris I find new places I want to re visit and explore. I think we can tick all the boxes exotic people tick and places/ collections tick, big game, big cars tick, Africa/ Wanganui closeish tick. Thanks to everyone for getting on board and getting out there, if you didn’t go …..come along next time!
