Another year has raced by, and we are hunting out the decorations for our cars and those fancy shirts for our Christmas event.
Those from the east and south of Auckland convened at the Rose Gardens in Parnell for a preview of the decorating efforts. Debbie and Chris’s blow up Santa was making his third annual appearance. Chris was adamant that he had Santa sorted and there would be no issues with staying inflated this year. Sadly, Santa did have one short malfunction but that was quickly overcome. Chris also provided us (and the passersby) with a Christmas soundtrack – he may have lost some points for playing Snoopy’s Christmas, just after Trevor told us this was his least favourite Christmas song. With a limited turnout at Parnell, prize giving for the best dressed car and people was postponed until we arrived at the Brigham.
We set off for the Brigham. I thought we were going to go over the Bridge and then west, but a convoy of SLs headed up the western motorway, with us in pursuit. This was almost our best convoy for the year, until blowup Santa slowed things down a bit and the convoy split in two.
We arrived at the Brigham, where the other attendees slowly dribbled in. One of our number arrived with a Police escort which didn’t set him up for a good night. Janine showed off the pictures of her “self-erecting Santa” which is too big to fit in any of their cars, so wasn’t eligible for any prizes.
It was a good idea to delay the prize giving as Cornelius definitely set the standard for best dressed person – though the standard could be debated by some! Blow up Santa finally won on the day, despite the musical interlude, and may be able to relax next year!
It was a pleasant evening to sit outside and enjoy the conversation. As ever, the Brigham provided a generous table with the Christmas fixings.
Thanks to Pree for organising and Trevor for stepping in on the day.
Looking forward to some holiday driving and seeing everyone in the New Year
Philippa West
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