Finally the day of the Southern Road Rally arrived, the first event that Daryl and I have organised. There was a bit of work but not as much as we thought and quite fun driving the roads time and time again. We settled on what we liked doing and enjoyed, then went with it. Believe it or not there was not a domestic the whole time. We even made our children do a test run, in the dirty old Ford, to make sure the instructions were easy to follow and correct. There was a minutes panic due to the level of the tide but that was all ok on the actual day.
After a week of watching the weather swing between wet and dry, the day dawned wet. Didn’t seem to worry anyone though as we had a brilliant turnout of 18 cars. Thank you everyone.
The BP Drury meeting place provided a great spot to meet and fill up on both petrol and coffee if needed, while eyeballing the other car clubs – Porsche, Mazda and Ford were also having a day out. We hope the first question at the starting point made everybody’s brain start working.
The roads from the motorway to Manukau Heads gave all style of drivers a chance to enjoy the different conditions with some 3rd gear corners. The quiet country lanes also gave us a chance to drive in convoy.
How could anybody resist the cute historic church which was our first stop. Great photo opportunity with the cars. Then onto the Lighthouse with a brisk walk up the steep path to the top to see the stunning views. The lighthouse is one of Auckland’s hidden gems with great views over the treacherous Manakau bar. Picturesque on a fine day, deadly on a stormy dark one.
The return journey south offered a great view east of Auckland city. So close, but a world away with the near empty rural roads we were driving on. The return trip with the detour down to Te Toro boat ramp once more gave those speedsters a chance to get their cars up to pace. The week before, with the kids, it was a king high tide and the columns were all but submerged so uncountable.
The final leg to the carpark gave us a chance to all catch up and drive in a convoy to the Kentish Hotel back in Waiuku for a lovely lunch. Some of the husbands also enjoyed doing donuts in the gravel. You know who you are Daryl and Chris.
The questions were just a bit of fun to keep everybody entertained. Seven cars got all questions correct. After pulling names out of my Mercedes hat, first place went to Leigh and Kelly Jackson and second to Don and Lyn Parlane. Excellent work guys. I had written up a kids quiz too with little Miss Cleopatra being the only participant. First time I have ever seen her go all shy when she got her prize.
Thank you Leigh and Kelly for opening your home so we could finish the day with drink and laughter. Also thank you everyone for coming out on such a rainy day. It gave us both a lot of pleasure that you all enjoyed our run, and motivation to do another one.
Janine Jeffery
Click here to view the photos on our Gallery page.
