Central HB VCC December 2016 by Vintage Car Club of New Zealand

December 2016

CENTRAL HAWKE’S BAY BRANCH of the VINTAGE CAR CLUB of NZ (Inc) Lamb Country Branch Email: centralhawkesbay@vcc.org.nz

Contributions should be emailed to the Editor no later than (25th of each month)

Club Nights

7.30pm 3rd Wednesday of every Month

joycecalder@gmail.com

Coming Events Saturday 3rd December — Waipukurau Xmas Street Parade — Theme — “Under the Christmas Tree”. The branch is putting in a float to the Xmas Parade, along with a few of the members cars. The float will consist of an old Ford AA Truck on my trailer and decorated as per the theme. There will be a working bee to put it all together in our driveway on Saturday morning for those that have time to help [from 9.00am]. The parade assembles from 1.00pm, with kick-off at 2.00pm in Kitchener St. For further information please Phone Rod McKenzie 06 858 9562

Sunday 11th December

Waimarama Xmas BBQ Run

CHB members please meet at the River Tce, Swimming Pool Car-park at 9.45am for a 10.00am departure. For members coming from Hastings/Napier areas please meet us at 11.00am at the grassy area by the entrance into the river on Kahuranaki Rd at the foot of Waimarama Rd turnoff. If you are late make your own way to 8 Moori Rd, Waimarama, via a detour to Ocean Beach.

Postal Address 94 Mt Herbert Road Waipukurau, 4200 NOMINATED POSITIONS CHAIRMAN Bruce Poole brucepoole@xtra.co.nz 06 858 9940 SECRETARY Shirley Foot

jsfoot@xtra.co.nz 06 858 8301

TREASURER Suzanne McCool 06 856 8087 pandscool29@gmail.com

Please Bring with you a $5.00 value wrapped Xmas present per person marked with either M(male) or F(female) for Santa to distribute later in the day. Plus your own chairs, cutlery, CLUB CAPTAIN Rod McKenzie plates, glasses etc and BYO liquid refreshments. rod.mckenzie.wpk@xtra.co.nz We will be having a shared BBQ so would you please ring Suzanne 856 8087 or Shirley 858 06 858 9562 8301 by 5th Dec with numbers attending and whether you are bringing a salad or dessert. The club will provide the BBQ meat. COMMITTEE Merry Christmas Suzanne & Peter

PROPOSED TRIP TO THE WAIOURU MILITARY MUSEUM—John and Shirley

John Foot V.I.C. (I.D. Card) Coordinator jsfoot@xtra.co.nz 06 858 8301

Friday 24th March 2017 Travel to Taihape and visit some of the local V.C.C. members premises in the afternoon.

Lynn Cross secross@xtra.co.nz 06 858 9814

Saturday 25th March 2017 Travel via back roads to the Tangiwai rail crash memorial then on to the museum for lunch. After lunch we will do the Museum tour which will be followed by the behind the scenes tour. Each tour takes 1 to 1 ½ hours.

Peter McCool pandscool29@gmail.com 06 856 8087

Sunday 26th March 2017 We will travel South to Gravity Canyon after which we will travel via back roads to come out on the Napier Taihape road approx. 5km from the Ngamatea Station turnoff.

Barry Smales barlyn@clear.net.nz 06 858 9956

The total cost for the museum guided tours is $25.00 per person If you are interested in doing this tour please contact John or Shirley Foot. Phone 06-858-8301 or Email jsfoot@xtra.co.nz no later than the 30th November 2016.

From the Editor The Central Hawke's Bay Branch of the VCC would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and please extent these greetings to all your family members. We have certainly had a great year of fun with a great group of people, motoring around Central Hawke's Bay and beyond. The winter months have been kind to us too as we did not have to cancel any runs during the year because of the weather. The daffodil run in September was interesting. We all set out on a beautiful fine warm morning, met, and had coffee and a catch up in a great little cafe in Waipukurau, however later in the day while picnicking amongst the daffodils we all had to run for cover, some of use were not so lucky as the thunder boomed and the lightning flashed over head, we were pelted with hail stones and the rain came down in buckets, “we all got a bit wet”. That’s vintage motoring for you!! All Great Fun. A very big thank you again to all the members who put there best foot forward to organise Special Events and the Clubs monthly runs, all have been varied and interesting and we all appreciate the time and cost spent going over the runs making sure the instructions are accurate and the runs enjoyable. Another big thank you to all members for the interesting articles sent through for ‘The Bleat”. We do very well for a small club now. There are just so many beautiful cars out there with very talented skilled people behind them who have put so much time, energy and money into restoration, these stories certainly make you feel admiration for their dedication. Always looking for new idea’s for ‘The Bleat’ so please don’t hesitate to put yours forward. A Merry Xmas and a very Happy and Healthy 2017 to you all. 1947 Austin 8 Sports

Vehicle year, make and model Name Badges. This is an optional idea from Michael Harding. If you wish to have the details of your vehicle on a separate badge, we can do this for you. The cost is $12.00 per badge. It will look just like your name badge but your name will be replaced with your vehicle details. Michael has a sample. Please contact Scarlett McKenzie 06 858 9562 if you wish to order one/two/three? depending how many vehicles you have!

The Roy Savage Collection of Classic Cars Auction: Sunday 4 December 2016, Southward Car Museum, Paraparaumu Up for Auction are Jaguars, Triumphs, Rovers MG’s, Morris Minor, and other marques Roy Savage’s interest in machines and automobilia started when he was a young boy spending many of his holidays with his cousins on their family farm. He helped with the daily farming routine and thrived on handling the various implements and driving the farm’s vehicles. A driver’s licence at the age of 15 enabled him to ‘adopt’ his mother’s Morris Minor and, soon, the proceeds from various after-school jobs allowed the purchase of his first vehicle, a James 125cc motorbike; this was later upgraded to a BSA B31 350cc. A sports car seemed to be the next logical step and an Allard Palm Beach filled that bill until marriage and a growing family meant a series of more practical cars were required. Below are just some of his cars up for Auction this Sunday.

Sunday 8th January 2017 – Beach Run The Wairarapa Branch of the Vintage Car Club has arranged to go to Akitio Beach for lunch on Sunday 8th January, and the CHB Branch have been invited to join in with them. The lunch venue will be at the Akitio Community Centre at the beach which will be handy if the weather is not so favourable. Members of the Austin Club will also be attending the picnic run. Arrival time at Akitio is suggested for around 11.30am. You have a few choices of how to get there. (a) You can join with the Wairarapa folk who will be having morning tea from 9:30am at the home of Jim Chalmers at 96 Huxley St, Pahiatua, and then travelling out to Akitio via Pongoroa. (b) Our branch will travel to Akitio through Wimbledon and Ti Tree Point, getting away from the Memorial Hall car park in Waipukurau at around 9:30am. (c) You can return to CHB either by the same route we travel out on, or by passing through Dannevirke. This route is not all sealed surface. (d) Dannevirke domiciled members can follow the route via Weber and Waione to Akitio. You will need to bring everything with you in the way of picnic baskets, drinks, and bi kini’s. Be sure to have plenty of fuel as there is none available as far as we know on the route. The distance to Akitio from Waipukurau is in the region of 80km [50 miles in vintage talk!] Gary Lang, Wairarapa VCC Club Captain 06 376 8520 Rod McKenzie, CHB VCC Club Captain 06 858 9562

Your branch magazine is on the web Many branch magazines are now available for reading on the Vintage Car Club of New Zealand’s website. The magazines are published as soon as they are received each month and can be accessed by going to http://vcc.org.nz/ and clicking on News from our Branches down the left side of the homepage. To go to your chosen magazine either click on the magazine cover or the underlined date of the publication. This will take you to the magazine and by clicking on the small square next to the + sign you can enjoy a full screen reading experience. In time we hope to be able to publish all branch magazines each month. Enjoy your reading. Ross Holden Communications & Marketing Officer Vintage Car Club of New Zealand (Inc.) Phone 021 2638488 Email: comms@vcc.org.nz

January

December

CHB Branch

Events Calendar

Sat 3rd Waipukurau Christmas Street parade with the

Other Events 4th

Waiparapa, Mauriceville Fair

11th

Horowhenua, Christmas Party

theme “Under the Christmas Tree”.

Sun 11th

Christmas Party at McCool’s Bach Waimarama.

Mon 19th

Committee meeting at McKenzie’s residence.

Sun 8th

Run with Wairarapa branch to Akitio Beach. Details on Page 3

1st Jan. Taihape Gumboot Rally

Wed 18th

Club night dinner and meeting. May be a film will be shown.

Jan 20th to 23rd. Veteran and Burma Rally at Wanganui. Great Parliamentary Tour Sunday 29th Jan to 5th Feb Email: 2017parl.tour@gmail.com

March

Feb

29th Jan. Wheels with Attitude display in Dannevirke. 20th Year. Aussie cars featured.

Wed 15th

Sun 5th Feb. Manawatu Veteran Rally

Club night dinner and meeting TBA

Wed Art Deco weekend (Entry forms are now 15th Sun available from the Art Deco Trust) 19th Mar 4th

Ormondville Railway Festival [Bill Rendle will advise later]

Wed 15th

Club Night Dinner and Meeting

Sat 24th Club Run-weekend to Taihape and Waiouru Sun25th Organisers John and Shirley Foot Model T Ford Club Rally in Waipukurau. CHB VCC to assist.

April

Fri 31st Sat 1st April

Chairman's Chat When this report comes out it will be December and only a couple of weeks to Christmas. With a busy month ahead I will reflect on November and the highlights were the Veteran Rally, Fifth Birthday Rally and Dinner. A great big thank you to all the committee members for the hard work which made a well run and smooth operation. From the Friday night get together at Rod and Scarlett’s home to the excellent runs and lunch at the Patangata hotel and the dinner and prize giving at the Waipukurau Club. In talking to several of our visitors, they really enjoyed the weekend and if we continue with the same format they will be back. Great feedback and good to have. Also a big thank you to our Norsewood members, the Malcolm’s and the Cheer’s for a fun day. Wonderful gardens and sheds and good company for the day. To those local members who did not enter you missed a very enjoyable weekend and the guest artist, Bettina Mc McCullough from Woodville, who created three great paintings which were auction off at the end of the evening. Our President, Dianne Quarrie, cut the birthday cake and presented the prizes and then gave a very good speech on the merits of using our old cars. We are very fortunate to be able to use our cars when ever we like as one day we might not be able to. We have a full calendar up to the end of January so get out and enjoy. In closing I would like to wish each and every one of our members a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Enjoy the break with families and keep safe on the roads.

Merry Christmas Bruce Poole CHB Branch Chairman

When insuring your valuable items (property, car etc) with Vero, quoting the CHB number (39) results in a commission being made to our Branch.

Thank you for your ongoing support. 5

A Photo Can Turn Into A Thousand Words - An Affair With “Yellowbird”

- by Bruce Poole

The photo at the end of last month’s “Chairman Chat” brings me to this story. It began with a Hawke's Bay Safari Rally (1996 – 97?) when we met up with a chap named Peter Russell, of “Woburn”, of Hatuma Road in Waipukurau. (I suspect that he was driving the 1930 Frazer-Nash (chain drive) formally raced by Sir Malcolm Campbell at Brooklands.) The rally started at the ‘Noggin & Natter’, which was at a hotel on the corner of Rangitikei and Featherstone streets in Palmerston North (now McDonalds) and proceeded over the ‘Gentle Annie’, with grass growing in the middle of the road, to Taihape on the first night. Then back to Napier for the final dinner at the Cabaret Cabana on Marine Parade. We had got to know Peter by this time and he invited us to stop off at Waipukurau on the way back to Palmerston North to see his other cars, which he had bought back from England. He had a 1930 S Type Invicta, a 1935 Auburn 8 Drop Head Coupe, a 1949 Mk 6 Sedan Deville Bentley and “Yellowbird”, a 1937 Aston Martin Drophead Coupe 2 litre (one of about 19 made). Originally “Yellowbird”, the Aston Martin Drophead Coupe, was already in New Zealand, in Taradale in fact. Peter purchased the vehicle straight off the lawn at Bill Stevenson’s house for 400 pounds, even though it was in bad shape with a broken axle and blown diff. Eventually he sold it to buy a 1953 K2 Allard with a competition Mercury V8 motor, only to write it off nine months later south of Dannevirke leaving Peter fighting for his life. Because Peter had become a liability on his farm, he was shipped off to England to recover in 1960. When he was there he wandered into Vintage Autos at Lancaster Gate, London. One of the cars he saw was “Yellowbird” sitting among Wolf Barnato’s Le Mans Bentley, Sir Henry Birkin’s Le Mans Bentley and a FraserNash. And later on an Invicta came into Vintage Autos When he returned home he brought the cars (3 rd chapter) with him. Customs valued them at 50 pounds each! Obviously they didn’t realise the rarity and thereby the true value of the vehicles. ‘Yellowbird’ is now in the South Island, the Frazer-Nash is in Auckland, the Invicta is overseas. The location of the Bentley is unknown.

Rod’s Rattling's It has been a busy month for our members of the CHB VCC. We started the month with support of the CHB A&P Show here in Waipukurau on Saturday 12th November. It was a pleasant day and the dozen or so cars that turned out looked good under the trees. I think when we do this type of thing, it would attract more attention and be more interesting for both our members and the public if we could do some live activity, such as a gymkana [even if I don’t like doing the things]. Some people find them fun, nevertheless, and perhaps we could get some prominent folk to be “victims” in the cars throwing newspapers or something, as is done in some events. It would also add to the attraction if some of the details of the car and its history too, was shown in the window.. I did this, and it engendered quite a good response and some conversation with the public. Our Annual Veteran Rally and Fifth Birthday Party went off as Rod McKenzie presenting Geoff and Diane Quarrie with their planned with a turnout of about a dozen veterans and about anprize for winning the Veteran Section of the Rally. other twenty later model vehicles. We had good support from the local members, with quite a few entries from out of town. There is a report elsewhere in the “Bleat”. Thank you to all who helped make this weekend a memorable occasion. Last weekend CHB members with three Model T Fords ventured to the Waikato to take part in the 21st running of the “Tin Lizzie” event the MTFCNZ hold up there annually. It was a fun weekend, even if our T got the sulks and wouldn’t perform. We travelled the route with some old friends in their 1957 Ford Zodiac and had a good look round the lush green pastures of the Cambridge area out of the cold wind.

Rod and Scarlett’s Ford Model A

Coming up, we have entered a float for the branch in the Waipukurau Christmas parade on Saturday 3rd December, along with some of our cars. The committee and others who can help will meet at our home on Saturday morning this weekend to put something together. The plan is to use Peter McCool’s old Ford AA truck on our trailer suitably decorated to show “what has been found under the Christmas tree” as that is the theme for the parade. There is a prize of $1500.00. If we win, the committee has a suggestion for how to use the winnings for everybody’s advantage. On Sunday 11th December there is a run starting from Waipukurau that will take us to Peter and Suzanne McCool’s bach at Waimarama for the branch Christmas party. Santa has been booked. Details are printed herein. It may even be warm enough for a swim! Scarlett joins me in wishing all our members a Happy Festive Season, a healthy New Year, and lots of safe vintage motoring for 2017.

John and Margaret Cleland’s Black Ford Model T and Rod and Scarlett McKenzie’s Red Ford Model T on the veteran run.

Rod McKenzie CHB Branch Club Captain

For Sale Metal cabin trunk donated to the CHB branch by interested party. Scruffy condition and in need of restoration, but very suitable for putting on the back of a vintage car once done up. Measures 440mmW x 250mmD x 800mmL. Half the sale price to branch funds. Other half to the donor. Best offer secures, probably in the region of about $30.00. Rod McKenzie. Phone 06 858 9562

CHB Annual Veteran Car Rally and 5th Birthday Celebrations — by Lynn and Sandra Cross The CHB Vintage Car Club held its fifth birthday celebrations on 18 and 19 November with a car rally and birthday dinner. The rally was attended by 75 people in 37 cars of which the oldest was a 1903 Holley owned by Tony Prebensen. There were twelve veteran cars for the veteran car section. On Friday night there was an informal gathering of participants including members from both the local and “away” clubs. Saturday saw some veteran car drivers choose the Te Onepu hill and all of them made it in five to six minutes, giving them an average speed of 10.5 miles per hour. Other vintage cars did the same route in reverse direction. The route covered Pukeora Scenic Road, Onga Onga Village (for an almostcompulsory ice cream stop!), and Argyll Road where we stopped to view the Argyll Road Mangaotai Riparian Project. We went down the Te Onepu Road hill, which was a Hawke’s Bay Car Club hill run from 1955. Angus Hyslop, Greg Murphy and Gary Weaver had all recorded good times driving up it in past years.

Brand New Restoration—’first time out’

Entertainment of a different sort was ably provided by Bettina McCullough of Woodville who painted three very different paintings. After she donated these to the Club these were auctioned. On Sunday participants had a run to Norsewood to lunch at the home of Heather and Graham Cheer – what a beautiful garden they have‼ An excellent weekend of old-style motoring was enjoyed by all.

CHB Annual Veteran Rally and 5th Birthday Celebrations

CHB Annual Veteran Car Rally and 5th Birthday Celebrations — by Lynn and Sandra Cross Te Aute Trust Road took us past the Opapa Radio Transmitting Station, built in 1938 by NZ Broadcasting Service. The two masts are 300 ft/90 m high and exactly one wavelength apart (640 ft or 195 m). After going past the old Poukawa Lake and swamp, drained and farmed by the Brownrigg Family since 1950, participants finally came to the Patangata Tavern where all drivers joined up for lunch. The afternoon drive for the vintage group went through Omakere, Long Range Road and Hiranui Road and finally back into Waipukurau past the old Waipukurau Hospital and across the blue line marking Latitude 40 degrees south. Waipukurau is the only town to be located on this meridian which also passes through King Island in Bass Strait, Southern Argentina and Chile. Diane Quarrie, National President of the Vintage Car Club and also a member of our local club, addressed Saturday’s 5thbirthday dinner which was attended by 67 people. Some came dressed as 5 year olds to signify our 5th birthday celebrations. President Bruce Poole was happy to announce that our Club, although the newest VCC, now has 100 members.

Rally winners were: Veterans—Dianne and Geoff Quarrie (CHB VCC) Vintage— Neil and Pat Malcolm (CHB VCC) Post -Vintage – Grant Taylor (CHB VCC) Post-war Vintage – Tony and Judy Brierley (Hamilton VCC) Post 60’s – Kevin and Gaye Heyward (Hawke’s Bay VCC)

Manawatu Branch Veteran Rally, Sunday 5th February 2017

National Veteran Rally 20th - 23rd January, 2017

Whanganui Newsletter (1) June 2016 Whanganui Branch is proud to host the National Veteran Rally in January, 2017. The proposed program allows entrants to enjoy activities and social events of the club as well as being part of Whanganui’s fabulous Vintage Weekend activities. The branch will also be running the historic Burma Rally on Sunday 22nd. There will be a combined prize giving dinner. This is a great opportunity for you and your friends with vintage cars to travel together and experience a unique Wellington Anniversary Weekend.

Proposed program: Friday 20th January:

6.00pm at the clubrooms for registration, parts shed open and BBQ dinner

Saturday 21st January:

8.30am River city Farmers Market open, on the Whanganui Riverbank. 9.00am Free park up and display in Victoria Avenue, registration continues. 11.00am-2.30pm optional MV Wairua Riverboat Lunch Cruise. 5.00pm Classic Cruise organised by Vintage Weekend Trust, 50 minutes around the town, separate start time for veteran vehicles. 6.00pm Classic Cruise prize giving at The Grand Hotel, light dinner Vintage Weekend activities continue around Victoria Avenue.

Sunday 22nd January:

9.00am First car away, return for lunch beside river, park up and display 12.00pm Riverside Festival Opens, lots of activities, food & drinks for all ages 1.00pm Paddle Wars racing on the river, Paddle Steamer versus traditional Waka 6.00pm Pre dinner drinks at the racecourse 6.30pm Combined dinner and prize giving with Burma Rally entrants, Whanganui Raceco

Monday 23rd January:

Morning – early afternoon Vintage Weekend Soapbox Derby, 10.00am Visit to Bruce and Jenny Ardell’s Vintage Museum, Parts Department and Homestead. Late morning tea/ light lunch provided.

Entry forms will be available in August 2016. This newsletter has been posted to all VCC of NZ registered veteran vehicle owners. It is an invitation to register your interest in receiving further information regarding this rally. If you know of anyone who has missed out on this newsletter, or the address is incorrect, or you do not wish to receive further newsletters please let us know. The preferred method of circulating further information is by email. Please give us your email address or advise us that you would like to receive future information by mail.

For further Information please contact Linda O’Keeffe Rally Secretary Whanganui Branch Postal: PO Box 726 Whanganui 4540 Phone: 027 4733 767 Email: lokeeffe@xtra.co.nz 12

2017 National North Island Easter Rally

Auckland

Friday 14th April — Monday 17th April The Auckland Branch would love you to join us for a weekend of great rural vintage motoring, excellent company and fun entertainment – all at a low cost. Most Aucklander’s leave Auckland for Easter weekend so please come and enjoy what Auckland has to offer without the traffic hassle. The format for the weekend is as follows: Friday: A Welcome Garden Party and casual dinner at our clubrooms in Penrose. Our spare parts and extensive library will be open. Pick up your rally pack, catch up with other entrants over a drink and afternoon tea and stay on for an early light dinner. Saturday: Rally Day – competitive and touring options: starting in South Auckland. The rally will be held over rural South Auckland roads, including some private roads. These are as quiet as anywhere else in the country. In the evening we will again host entrants at our clubrooms for dinner and light entertainment. Sunday: Starting again from South Auckland, entrants will tour at their leisure to the rural village of Clevedon, where we will host you at a member’s property for a picnic lunch and gymkhana. There are also other options close by to visit – markets, historic homestead, winery and beaches. Sunday evening will be the Prize giving Dinner and Dance held at the Commercial Travellers Club in Remuera. Monday:

Free for you to head home.

Your organising committee is aiming to make this a fun,low cost weekend. As a branch we are now travelling to other branch events in a group, traversing less travelled back roads and find this is becoming very popular. So take up the challenge and get your branch organised to do likewise for National North Island Easter Auckland 2017. If you have any route suggestions for avoiding the main highway or going to places of interest closer to Auckland please make contact. For all queries regarding any aspect of the weekend please contact the Rally Secretary. Tracey Winterbottom vintagesunbeam@hotmail.co.nz

For Sale 1914 Overland Model 79T Touring Fully Restored A great motoring vehicle Spare parts and information Won best restoration award in 2008 Willys Overland Club Victoria, Australia.

Price: $60,000 Phone: Neil Cox 021 023 33948 Competing in the CHB Veteran Rally, February 2016

Wanted to buy 1.

One black & silver number plate starting with CA

Two black & silver plates ending with 52 doesn't matter what they start with. Please contact Keith Hopping oldhop@clear.net.nz or phone/text 021742302. CAN YOU HELP This photograph was taken outside CADMAN THOMPSON MOTORS Ltd, 95 Albert Street, Auckland sometime in 1938. The VACUUM OIL petrol tanker on the left of the photo was built on a Reo bus chassis. I have an A.B. DONALD LTD. (New Zealand REO agents) sales advertisement from the WEEKLY NEWS that states they sold several of these tankers to Vacuum Oil Company (Pty) Ltd. New Zealand. Does anyone remember these vehicles or know what became of them. The car is a 1937 Buick and appears to have a 1938/39 number plate. If you have any information please contact: John Foot, 94 Mount Herbert Road, Waipukurau. 14 Phone 06-858-8301 Email: jsfoot@xtra.co.nz

Angela Annear An authorised Travel Broker for Searle Travel Ltd. Consultations are by appointment.

Ph: 06 8589082

Cell: 027 2811306

Email: angela@searletravel.co.nz Website: www.angelas-travel.co.nz

Searle Travel Broker

PO Box 264, Waipukarau, 4242. 10 Brooker Place, Waipukarau, 4200, Central Hawke's Bay

I am an experienced Travel Consultant beginning my Travel Career as a school leaver in the Government Tourist and Publicity Department in Wellington. After that I trained as a school dental nurse, married and raised a family of four in the countryside and then retrained in travel in 1990 attending Polytechnic two evenings a week. My first travel venture was “Angela’s Travel Club” which took many Central and Southern Hawke's Bay people to shows in Wellington and Auckland. We also organised garden trips and my biggest achievement was to arrange the trip for forty people to the Floral Art Exhibition in South Africa in February 1999. I arranged a Magical Music Tour to Europe in 2015. The Beethoven Festival in Bonn will be the highlight of this tour. Other highlights include Concerts, Opera in Venice and Milan, Mass with the Vienna Boys Choir, and a short river Cruise. In December 1999 I purchased Budget Travel in Waipukurau, which went on to become Holiday Shoppe.

Easter Island Easter Island is one of the most isolated islands on Earth. Early settlers called the island "Te Pito O Te Henua" (Navel of The World). Officially a territory of Chile, it lies far off in the Pacific Ocean, roughly halfway to Tahiti. It is most famous for its enigmatic giant stone statues, built centuries ago, which reflect the history of the dramatic rise and fall of the most isolated Polynesian culture. Rapa Nui’s mysterious moai statues stand in silence but speak volumes about the achievements of their creators. The stone blocks, carved into head-and-torso figures, average 13 feet (4 meters) tall and 14 tons. The effort to construct these monuments and move them around the island must have been considerable—but no one knows exactly why the Rapa Nui people undertook such a task. A land of beauty mixed with ancient history. Well worth a visit. Call or email me now for more info and to book. Phone: 06 8589082 Cell: 027 2811306 e-mail: angela@searletravel.co.nz