Commercial and Veteran Rally Report November 2022

Thank you to all the effort Colin and Judy Winter put into this event. Not sure if it was the wet drizzly weather that put people off but our stalwart Colin Pearce and his trusty 1914 Sunbeam weren’t going to give in. Having arranged for Peter Daniel to navigate, they were the only veteran vehicle to drive out to Aramoana for a picnic lunch, which had to be had in the comfort of the hall. Kevin and Denyse Priston also came out in their Model A delivery van. Then there were the three enthusiastic motorcyclists who came along for the ride. By the time lunch and the remains of morning tea were finished the clouds were starting to lift and the sun started to dry up the rain. So, thank you to the 5 entrants who attended this run. And to Kevin for arranging the lunch venue at the Aramoana Domain. By the way– the new children’s playground there looks really good!

The first rally for the year appeared to be a huge success with entrants coming from all directions to start at Sunnyvale on a beautiful sunny Dunedin day. The large number of non-registrations made it awkward for the organisers when it came to ensuring that there were enough rally instructions, and also for catering purposes. Thank you to those of you who registered your intention to attend before the rally. On the day, there is no photocopier available for printing off more instructions – please let rally organisers know in advance of your attendance.

With 31 entries there was a great selection of vehicles of all ages, Mini’s, Vauxhall’s, Hillman, a couple of Model T’s, MG, Chrysler, Morris, and Austins, to name just a few. It was nice to see some of our newer members in attendance as well.

The route took us from Sunnyvale through Fairfield, turning left to head towards Old Brighton Road and Waldronville, out toward the sea and up Blackhead Road. We then headed down Ravenswood Road via Isadore, and down onto Victoria Road, along Tomahawk Road and onto Hunt Road to bring us onto Highcliff Road. We passed a few of our members’ places of residence en route as well. We were treated to amazing clear views as we motored along the top road toward Portobello. By now we were parched and stopping for an icecream was a high priority! Bryan and I had entered our newly purchased Model T tourer and the driver and it are still getting to know each other, so some of those hills were a bit of a challenge as the driver made himself familiar with that Ruckstel Diff! Icecream finished, we headed back towards the city via the bottom road, sharing the road with numerous cyclists and walkers, passing through the collection of villages and the Macandrew Bay beach which was packed with swimmers. Yes- we were the last to arrive back at the clubrooms for afternoon tea. That was okay because we really enjoyed being able to drive with the hood down with sunscreen, sunhats, and short sleeves.

Congratulations to Merv and Lynn Thomson on earning the G.C. Jackson Memorial Trophy and to Andrew and Donna Roxburgh on their 1982 Yamaha XJ750 with sidecar, earning the Mary B. Jackson Trophy.

Thank you to Kevin Mason for setting the route and to Bill Veitch, Ross McTaggart and Bill Partel for overseeing the event and putting on afternoon tea. Marion

New member Peter Stephenson in his 1925 Austin 12/4

Jackson Rally January 2023