Jo Wooding had a great Mini experience on the way to Caffeine and Classics:
Lee, Brook, Ryan and myself (Jo) met at Greenlane Mc Donalds carpark ready to convoy to Caffeine. A fire truck pulled in and 4 firemen got out. 3 went to have food and 1 stayed back and headed for our Minis. He spoke to us all about our Minis, the years and the difference between Japanese market and NZ new and UK new. He spoke of growing up with an uncle who owned a Mini and he taught him to work on them. He owned a Mini as a teen in UK. He talked to me about my Rover Mini and the oil leak clearly visible. He told me his surname was Morris so he named his son Cooper John Morris. His son is 8 and loves the car he is named after. We talked about Caffeine and Classics and Brook informed him it was not only Minis but all sorts of classics. He then told us about his brother in law who owns a Porsche 911 and bought it as a teen 35 years ago. He had spent over $100,000 on keeping it going and is now in the middle of a repaint (it was red) when all the exterior lights were pulled off they found blue layer under the red and a muddy light brown under that. Funny enough the repaint colour he chose was the same muddy brown so he is happy it’s going back to original. Mr Morris stayed and chatted to us the entire time his buddies were eating their breakfast. Now missing food to talk about Minis... well that's passion right there. I love it when random strangers tell me their stories about Minis, so cool to see them get excited about seeing one, or in this case 4. By Jo Wooding Photos: Ryan Horton, Dave Bates, Zak Gould,
Report by Darren Clark 18 Cars (17 minis and 1 Toyota Camry) met and left Sir Barry Curtis Park for the run to Kaiaua on a fine and sunny day. First stop was coffee at Maraetai, followed by a oil check from Richard on his mini. Co incidentally, it was also Richard’s birthday too. Happy Birthday Richard! Hopefully, older and wiser about front spoilers and dipsticks!! We were lucky enough to have Andrew from Sky View Photography come along with us for the day so next stop was the headland just around the corner from Maraetai where we all parked up, and Andrew got some great drone footage (videos and photos are on the Mini Club Facebook page). Off to KawaKawa Bay for a quick regroup and a toilet stop for some. We had been warned that the coast road was quite rugged, but, there had been a considerable amount of repair work done on the majority of the road which made it quite passable. There was, however, a small unsealed section which had to be carefully negotiated and no mini related injuries occurred. There were a few fantastic winding roads which gave all minis a chance to blow out the cobwebs and for some, test driver skills as well! Arriving at Kaiaua, there was a considerable wait for fish and chips due to a couple of Motorcycle clubs arriving there before us, but, after a long wait, food arrived and was consumed rather rapidly. Some members went off to Miranda for a soak in the hotpools, while most decided to head back home. Steve’s car decided that it wanted to stay in Kaiaua, care of a fuel pump that decided to throw a tantrum. Luckily, he had a client living across the road so we were able to push the mini across to the clients house and Steve bunked in with Zak, then Richard for the trip home. A great day was had by everyone who attended with some great scenery, great roads for driving, and great food. Thanks to Steve for his organising the day! Awesome stuff! The return of club Quiz Night was well received, with good attendance and only a few grumbles when the questions got too esoteric. Zak's special guest round on Mini trivia was very entertaining and informative.
A great turnout and perfect weather for the Mini Car Club of Auckland's 25th anniversary run. Club Captain Steve had mapped out a fantastic route with some great driving roads and a few scenic stops for photos.
The Wainui golf club reserved us a room and the top carpark, and supplied a light lunch. |
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