2 minute read
July Midweek Run
It’s a special day today. Special for a number of reasons, apart from every day being special. By 10am at the clubrooms, cars were arriving in numbers and by 10.30am we had 33 club members and a visitor from the VCC in Nelson. Dale had read about our impending visit online and dropped in to join us. Well done Dale. The sun was shining and today we are off to visit Ralph Bennett’s latest ‘project’, at his lovely property at Lake Okareka. A 1953 Humber Super Snipe that he had recently(ish) purchased from the South Island. How lucky he was to find this car with a fresh WOF, but he counted 13 major issues, any one of which should have precluded having a sticker on the windscreen. “Never mind”, somebody jokingly quipped “we should take the details of the issuing garage for our own benefit”… :) Ralph was quick to point out that this is not going to be the full strip down restoration he carried out on his Buick. More like a recovery. However, he has already undertaken some pretty serious work. I’m sure we will all follow Ralph’s progress with keen interest. After taking in the stunning view of the lake, glistening in the morning sun and being entertained by many Tui’s, Bellbirds and Waxeyes drinking from a trough, we headed on to Marty’s garage close by. Marty has just taken the serious step of doing a full restoration on his 1963 MGB. He has his work cut out but you can see that he is relishing the challenge.
By 12.15pm everyone headed out to The Landing Café at the edge of Lake Tarawera, for lunch. Geoff, the proprietor of the Landing had very kindly offered to open the café specially for us. We had
given him an estimate of 24 people but was most anxious when being told we were now 34! Would he be able to cater? While the service was understandably a challenge, the meals were excellent.
Another special thing about the day was that we got to celebrate Ralph’s 90th birthday (yesterday) with a very tasty carrot cake. We all enjoyed a slice then sang a hearty rendition of Happy Birthday. A BIG Thank You to Ralph & Marty for sharing their projects and to everyone who participated and made it such a great day. For those who couldn’t, make it, we missed you. Please forgive me for not naming everyone who attended but it was excellent to see many who have not been on the recent runs. All up, I counted 14 club cars and 7 moderns. Oh! and we have a new baby in our midst, yet to be named. A glorious Rover 3.5, to Michael. Both doing well… :)
