October 2024
A 1954 MG owned & enjoyed by Bob & Debbie Francis
Secretary
Treasurer
Who’s Who for 2024/2025
Ilton
Committee: Winston Matthews, Murray Cormack, Keith Lyndsell, Tom Deverall, Naomi Mason, Steve Edwards, Margaret Deverall, Margaret Ilton.
The full list of the elected officers is circulated with the minutes of the 2024 Annual General Meeting
If you notice any required maintenance at any stage for the Clubrooms, please let Steve know about it.
Steve Edwards 09 401 6239
Next Club Meeting
Saturday 12th October 1 pm
Caffeine & Classics
3rd Sunday every month 9.30 to 12 Next date: Sunday 20th October
Ka Uri Awanui
Dunny Run
Saturday 19th October
Kawakawa Bowling Club 10.30 meet
October
12th Saturday Monthly Meeting 1.00 pm
Parts shed open at 2 pm.
19th Dunny Run
20th Repco Caffeine & Classics
November 1-3 Nov Far North Tour [Northland]
9th Monthly meeting 1 pm with Parts shed open at 2 pm.
9th? November Wheels of Mayhem
17th Repco Caffeine & Classics
December
14th Saturday 10 am Morning tea & monthly meeting starting at 10.30. Potluck Xmas lunch to follow the meeting.
January 2025
4 th ? Jan Taipa Show and Shine
18th Saturday Picnic
19th Repco Caffeine & Classics
February
8th Saturday Monthly Meeting 1 pm with Parts shed open at 2 pm.
16th Repco Caffeine & Classics
22nd Saturday Northern Captain’s Run
March
8th Saturday Monthly Meeting 1 pm with Parts shed open at 2 pm.
Southern Captain’s Run
16th Repco Caffeine & Classics
April
12th Saturday Monthly Meeting 1.00 pm
Parts shed open at 2 pm.
19th Saturday Brian Parker Rally
20th Repco Caffeine & Classics
May
11th Saturday 1.00 AGM Meeting with monthly meeting following AGM.
Parts shed open at 2pm.
12th Mother’s Day run
18th Repco Caffeine & Classics
Monthly - 2nd Saturday 1.00 pm
Club Meeting @ Aurere Clubrooms
Monthly - 3rd Sunday
Repco Caffeine & Classics @ Ka Uri Awanu+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Club Notices
Far North Tour Dunny Run
Saturday 19 October.
Meet at the Bowling Club at 10.30.
Bring your morning tea.
Leave at 11.
There will be a catered lunch at the end of the run.
Email to come with further details re cost. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The history of the Dunny run…
This is an event where the Far North Branch and the Northland Branch compete for the Dunny Seat Trophy. This event was initiated upon the opening of the famous Hundertwasser toilets in Kawakawa.
The Vintage Car Clubs were invited to participate in the opening celebrations. We have an interclub activity to commemorate this event and a toilet seat was donated for the competition trophy. The organising of the rally will alternate each year between the Far North Branch and the Northland Branch.
WANTED:
Austin A55 suitable for parts to complete a restoration.
Any condition, any place, suitable offers to Malcolm 021 153 3582 or dino.porter@hotmail.com
Club Uniforms …Refer to email for sizes and prices, please.
Far North Tour
The tour will take place on Saturday, November 2 and the night away will be in Paihia.
The meal on Saturday night will be at the Scenic Hotel and they are also offering accommodation at $175 for those who wish to stay there.
Breakfast is available at $25pp if required.
As an incentive to stay, the Scenic Hotel offers free accommodation to the lucky winner of the best car (their choice) for those who stay the night.
If you wish to book you should do that directly by phoning 09 402 7826 or emailing boi@scenichotels.co.nz
Entries close 18 October. An email has been sent with details of the tour and the entry form.
[If any FNVCC member is doing the tour and has a spare seat, Max Allan will be ‘home & carless’ and would like to accept an offer from you.
Pse email Max…linallin@hotmail.com]
Chairman’s Report
The Father's Day Rally was a most enjoyable day out.
Starting with a short run from Mangonui to Hihi for a shed visit to the O'Dells where we saw an interesting variety of vehicles.
I was impressed with the double-decker storage.
From there we proceeded up the road to the Butler's Point Whaling Museum where we had a picnic lunch before looking around the historic museum and original cottage and gardens.
Our guide gave us a very well-presented and interesting commentary while we had our lunch.
After her commentary, Steve casually began asking questions about the day thus far, which in fact, were to determine the next winners of the Father’s Day Trophy!
Congratulations to Kelly & Joss Archer who won the Trophy for the second year in a row.
After the trophy presentation, we were free to wander around the grounds, the more adventurous going to the Point and also the Pa site.
For those who missed the visit, the museum and grounds are well worth a visit.
These are by appointment only.
The committee had a long day sorting through the new Club Constitution and Bylaws, and our Branch Constitution.
There was a lot of detail to go through, but we only came up with a few details on the Club documents.
The Branch documents took a bit longer as there were a number of details to fill in on the drafts.
At our September meeting, these were approved for submission to Head Office, who need more details of our name change.
Following the meeting, Marg Ilton had arranged for a presentation on 3D Printing and information on Jensen Motors – interesting to see what can be done (and by local people too!).
Ken Spence, who operates Far North 3D Printing.
October's Run will be the Dunny Run, joint with the Northland Branch.
I hope we can get a good attendance for this run, starting as usual in Kawakawa.
In early November, the Northland Branch has the Far North Tour. I understand that this year it will be centred on Paihia.
I hope some of our Branch will support our neighbours in their event.
Keith
Northern Club Captain’s Report
I take a moment to acknowledge Brian Walker’s passing. His fun outlook on life and outgoing personality will be missed. My thoughts are with his family. His passing will leave great gaps for those who knew him well.
Our members, the Club, and all vehicles were a special part of Brian’s ‘every day’, as his photo board at his service showed.
With daylight saving taking us back into the dark and Xmas looming, there are busy times ahead.
We had a very successful ‘Working Bee’ near the end of September with about 17 members turning up. It was a great social time too and at the end of it, the club rooms looked pretty smart! Thank you to Dennis, the farm owner, for spraying the grounds for us. Unsure who did it, really!! but very grateful to have it done.
Also a big thanks to the members who came along, I appreciated you being there.
The Father's Day run organised by Steve and Stephanie was a huge successthank you Steve and Steph. Tom & I are sorry we missed it.
We have the Dunny run organised. Saturday 19th October, it is. It’s central, to cater to both the Far North and Northland clubs.
We will be starting from the Bowling Club area at the southern end of the town of Kawakawa.
We have a planned luncheon at the end of the rally. At this point, we don’t have a price but it will be very reasonable.
More to come re this rally, closer to the date
There's ‘behind the scenes’ work going on with two or three club members organising mid-week runs, which are proving very popular.
If you have any suggestions of places of interest, and there’s bound to be plenty of them - can you call me on 0275442003- so I can plan & organise more mid-week outings.
We get lots of keen folk on these trips, so put your thinking caps on for the coming year please. We would love to have some fresh ideas to plan with.
Thanks.
Robyn has worked steadily to organise the club tee shirts etc for us to purchase. They look very smart.
Thanks for your input, Robyn.
Don’t forget to contact Robyn with your order.
Marg D
With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.
Rememberwhen…
“The most important step a person can take.
It is not the first one, is it?
It’s the next one.
Always the next step.”
Brandon Sanderson
Far North Caffeine & Classics
Another stunning Awanui morning greeted the Classic & Caffeine troupe for their September meet.
Eleanor Roosevelt
The First Motor Trip to the Far North
By G E Alderton
….I think that night we felt like the village blacksmith: something attempted, something done, had earned a night’s repose.
Next morning we got the blacksmith to work and bandaged up the machine as well as possible and had some of the parts that had shown some weakness, strengthened.
We started back for Mangonui, taking with us Mr Evans, the king of these parts, as far as Awanui.
Approaching the hills on the return from Awanui, we noticed a heavy shower falling just about where A.C. has said we were going. “If this clay hill was wet, it would be a terror for the machine.”
And that shower did just fall on that clay hill.
It was most fortunate for us, because we were getting every kind of possible experience. We ascended part of the hill till we struck a sideling, and here the machine would not grip at all… it skidded and threatened to get over the bank. We roped the wheels, which took about an hour and found it an excellent exercise for compelling patience. The machine still refused to budge. Then we gathered fern and laid the track right up the hill to get the wheels to grip. This succeeded but it exhausted a lot of the steam power, and the climb was very slow. We had nearly reached the top of the hill when the water ran out!
Again we had the satisfaction of knowing we were adding to our stock of experience. Of course, we did not want
any more scorched boilers, and as this was a record-making trip, a little trouble was of no particular moment.
There was no water within three-quarters of a mile and that, down a gully about 500 or 600 feet below. The weather was steamy hot – like a vapor bath – and when I saw A.C. lumping two buckets of water up the hillside, it struck me it would be very good business to put a price on that steam car just then.
But I did not want to own that car. I had no use for that machine – it had no charm for me: in fact, I was beginning to think we had undertaken an impossible tour in this toy five-horse steam car. It was merely a runabout machine intended for town work.
But, excelsior, we had to go on.
A horseman fortunately turned up and he kindly went to the nearest farm and got us a tow horse. We were towed up that hill, and getting on the metal road again we managed to crawl along without further mis-hap, having to take the steep hill approaching Mangonui, at night.
We had to pass two teams on the narrow sidelings which we did without accident, though the horses snorted and reared with fright at the puff, puff of the steamer.
The same two ubiquitous commercials were back at the hotel again, and had, of course, told the hotelkeeper that we “were coming,” and from what they had told him, he expected us in about a week’s time.
That was the initial part of this record trip, but the remaining part of the journey had some real incidents in it.
To be continued
Butler Point
