By Richard Underwood
A great event was arranged by Gary Ashton on Sunday 16 September and we were spoilt by the beautiful weather – fine blue skies.
Round one (our previous attempt at the run) was disappointing due to a storm, which meant that the roads were closed to the Lighthouse.
This time, we met up at the Lions club in Waiuku at 10 am. Yours truly showed up first, and I was concerned about the turnout, thinking I was running late. However, we had a good number of members and cars.
We set off in a convoy around 10.30 am and drove through picturesque country roads that were made for Minis, because of their windiness, narrowness, and smoothness. NZ Speed from Sky TV followed us and filmed our event, which will be aired on a Wednesday night in the near future.
Our first stop was Karioitahi Beach where people were riding their dirt bikes, off-roading and horse riding on the black sand. We parked up for about 20 minutes and Sky TV started their interviews with Mini club members about their cars, and how they got involved with Minis. Sky loved our cars and what we do. Many club members appreciated being in the spotlight.
As we set off in convoy for the second time heading to Awhitu Lighthouse I could see from other club members’ smiles on their faces that they were enjoying the driving. On the way we had some slight hiccups which were two flat tyres and one chipped windscreen. What I loved about that is when it happened, everyone pulled over to support the unfortunate members. Meanwhile, as tyres were being changed, to my surprise, the video man interviewed me on Minis in general which I was quite willing to do. Once the cars were fixed, they were back on the road again.
At last, after driving for a long period, we ended up at our location, Awhitu Lighthouse. We all parked up together in a circle which created a lot of attention from the lighthouse visitors. Whilst we proceeded to visit the lighthouse and look at the views of Manukau Heads, Sky TV continued obtaining coverage of our cars. The day wrapped up with a welcome picnic.
Personally I want to thank Gary Ashton for his organisation and for creating an enjoyable event for all the Mini club members that attended. I hope similar navigational trials reoccur in the future.
A great event was arranged by Gary Ashton on Sunday 16 September and we were spoilt by the beautiful weather – fine blue skies.
Round one (our previous attempt at the run) was disappointing due to a storm, which meant that the roads were closed to the Lighthouse.
This time, we met up at the Lions club in Waiuku at 10 am. Yours truly showed up first, and I was concerned about the turnout, thinking I was running late. However, we had a good number of members and cars.
We set off in a convoy around 10.30 am and drove through picturesque country roads that were made for Minis, because of their windiness, narrowness, and smoothness. NZ Speed from Sky TV followed us and filmed our event, which will be aired on a Wednesday night in the near future.
Our first stop was Karioitahi Beach where people were riding their dirt bikes, off-roading and horse riding on the black sand. We parked up for about 20 minutes and Sky TV started their interviews with Mini club members about their cars, and how they got involved with Minis. Sky loved our cars and what we do. Many club members appreciated being in the spotlight.
As we set off in convoy for the second time heading to Awhitu Lighthouse I could see from other club members’ smiles on their faces that they were enjoying the driving. On the way we had some slight hiccups which were two flat tyres and one chipped windscreen. What I loved about that is when it happened, everyone pulled over to support the unfortunate members. Meanwhile, as tyres were being changed, to my surprise, the video man interviewed me on Minis in general which I was quite willing to do. Once the cars were fixed, they were back on the road again.
At last, after driving for a long period, we ended up at our location, Awhitu Lighthouse. We all parked up together in a circle which created a lot of attention from the lighthouse visitors. Whilst we proceeded to visit the lighthouse and look at the views of Manukau Heads, Sky TV continued obtaining coverage of our cars. The day wrapped up with a welcome picnic.
Personally I want to thank Gary Ashton for his organisation and for creating an enjoyable event for all the Mini club members that attended. I hope similar navigational trials reoccur in the future.
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