Unfortunately we are in Red which means that we will be running the Gymkhana only for those that show their vaccination passes. It was a difficult decision for the committee to make. Debate was held ranging from vaccination passports required under all settings to none required. We in the end decided (and it was a split vote) that we would run the event in orange and green without passports, under red with passports – this was in part to reflect a combination of members’ concerns and in part as it is possible but unwieldy to hold it under Red making sure that all were separated and didn’t cross paths. In short it would have been difficult for whoever was running it administratively.
We will not have a vaccination pass reader at the Gymkhana, but in order to enter the property you will have to present a pass (whether on your phone or in a printed format). If not you will be turned away. You will also be expected to show your pass and enter in a book your name (and those of any passengers) as well as a contact phone number. We have no intention of taking down or keeping anymore details than that. I know some of you won’t be able to attend because of these rules and there are likely to be some who won’t attend because you don’t support the government regulations or our decisions to run the event this way. You will be missed but I hope after this has all passed that we can move on together. I also hope that all who read this know that the committee did take much time to think and discuss/debate what to do. We tried to take in all elements of society, of which our club is a microcosm, with thoughts ranging from those that totally oppose the government’s position, to those that agree with it, those that are indifferent as well as those who might be health compromised in some way or another -plus worry about us as individual committee members and decision makers to face obligations. I personally cannot afford nor want a fine and I am pretty sure that the Club’s liability insurance wouldn’t cover us if things went wrong. The same policy will also apply to other club events under the red light system, let’s hope we get out of it soon.
On another note; my Rambles. I stayed within Auckland over the Christmas -New Year period, spent many a day either working, going to the beach or undertaking a combination of both. Saw New Year in at Greenhithe and enjoyed being in a spa pool for possibly the first time this century. In the second half of January Mandy, Jasmine, Jessica and I had four nights away at Raglan, enjoyed the Hamilton Gardens, made the short trek to the Bridal Veil falls and then the many steps down to view them from the bottom, canoed (or was it kayaked?) on the Whaingaroa Harbour, visited the kiwi house at Otorohanga, explored the coastline between Raglan and Ruapuke Beach, did a small tramp/walk on Mt Pirongia and discovered the wonderful “The Shack” café in Raglan. Plus we even managed to get to Kihikihi and have one of my favourite pies – the Plum and Port fruit pie. So a very packed few days away, and I haven’t even mentioned some of the swimming and walks we did.
On the interweb – and mostly on Facebook and Trademe as well as a few overseas used car sites I have also been rambling, looking at this and that. But I only wish to tell you one tale from there and I would like to thank Tony Haycock and Malcolm McGibbon for allowing me to retell it. Some of you will know Tony, some of you won’t, but to put some perspective on it; Tony comes from a family long associated with Peugeots and Vintage Cars in general. I don’t know what Tony’s current Fleet is exactly but it involves a 1930s Peugeot, a 1920s Durant, a Porsche from the 1980s and I assume a daily driver as a minimum, but there may be more. Tony, I think it would be fair to say, is a larger than life personality on the Vintage Car Club Facebook page and started up and administers a “Peugeot 202 302 402 Enthusiasts Page” on Facebook. Any way I am now going to leave the start of the story to Tony and what he posted.
I had to go out and buy milk today. As the 302 is at home and now legal to drive I decided to take it. As I was pulling away from the kiosk where we buy fresh milk the owner of the garage next to it frantically waved to me from the truck he was moving so I stopped.
He came over to me and said “There’s one of these in my shed” and then (as I was thinking ‘sure you do…’) he looked at the registration label in the windscreen and said “but it’s a 1947, with the same headlights behind the grille”.
Aha! He goes… The only other ’02 on the road in New Zealand is a 1947 202 which a friend imported from Europe a few years ago and he recently sold.
It’s currently sitting in a garage 5 km from here waiting for space on the ferry to the South Island to be freighted to its new owner.
The chance of seeing my car out on the road is almost nil… and yet he did. Needless to say we pushed the 202 out of the garage and got a photo of the entire New Zealand ’02 fleet.
What a small world it is!
Some of you who have been to Taranaki will have seen this car (the 202) a few times, possibly crawled and drawled over it and maybe even had a ride in it when Sven, a member of both our club and Wellington owned it. I had been watching the 202 on Trademe for some time, thinking, can I have it – rapidly followed by where would I put it? Turns out that the new owner Malcolm McGibbon, who is also a member of the page and has filled in a little more about its destination. Malcolm is a member of both the aforementioned Facebook pages and I believe a member of the Vintage Car Club (but I stand to be corrected).
Malcolm has purchased the 202 and it now resides in Canterbury where he intends to take it out on regular runs where he reports that he will be out and about and looks forward to enjoying it and sharing with others.
The chances of seeing these two related Peugeots together is very slim, Tony was lucky to get the photo opportunity.
I am going to leave it at that for now, I really hope to see all those that can make it to the Gymkhana, remember we are behind in points in the Tricolour Trophy race with Citroen. I also hope that these traffic lights change colour quickly so we do not have any locked out for the next event.
Brent