We all arrived on Thursday 23rd November at Greerton Park with enthusiasm and anticipation to drive another Jaguar Run, well organised by Phil.

The direct route through Pyes Pa road to Rotorua was a pleasant run.  We were asked to meet bin Taupo at the lake edge near the marina for refreshments. Members from other areas joined us here.

Lunch at Taupo.

Lake Taupo was so calm and clear. Blue sky plus snow on Mt Ruapehu made this one stunning view as we enjoyed our lunch overlooking the scenery.

We headed south to Taihape to refresh ourselves and refuel our cars. Doug Payton, with his expert knowledge of the area guided us from Taihape to the “Scenic Route” just before Mangaweka. The landscape in this area was also stunning  – kilometre after kilometre all the way through and at one stage it felt like we were driving past the “White Cliffs of Dover”. There could have been a few issues with the ‘rockfall’ into our ‘topless cars’!

Feilding.

We had no idea that all this beautiful countryside existed. The valleys, hills, trees. Blue sky and stock grazing freely.  What a privilege to experience all this. I would have loved to have stopped for a while to ‘savour the moment’ but thought it would be better to keep following the leader rather than get lost.  Thank you Doug!

Feilding was a vibrant rural town with it’s Clock Tower Square and brick paving. The Clock itself was shattered by an earthquake in 1942 and was put in storage for 50 years. It was then reassembled in the centre of the square.

The South Street West Motel was a modern, welcome, comfortable place to stay after such a wonderful journey.

By Peter and Janny Howse

Friday 24th November, 2017

Amazing, after all the terrible weather we have been having, to wake up to a beautiful day.

At the pig farm.

After a meeting at the motel to ‘set out’ the day’s activities, we left for Neil Managh’s pig farm (Ratanui Farm).  Doug and Sylvia Payton had kindly arranged this part of the day’s activities.

Unbelievable for Neil, who sports a lovely ‘F Pace Jaguar’, to have shingle on his driveway!!   However, Neil arranged for Higgins to lay some water to lower the dust for our visit, very thoughtful and much appreciated.  Neil has built up an extremely interesting enterprise, as he started off making bacon in town, and then decided he should start growing the product.

No need to visit Pak-N-Save for groceries as he has all the bread you would ever need (80,000 to 100,000 a week). Also, yoghurt, cheese & biscuits (mostly dog!) for all your pre-wine occasions, all of which is fed to the pigs. We saw how he turned new-born piglets into marketable pork of 100 kg’s in 19 weeks.

The convoy to the Warner’s.

We left Neil’s farm and headed to the Bridge Café 91 on Balance Gorge Road, over the Saddle Road from Ashhurst.  A nice spot for lunch with equally nice food. From there, those who were tiring made their way to the Copthorne Hotel in Masterton, (including Jacque and me).

It was in this area we witnessed the amazing sight of a wind-farm, where there must have been close to 100 windmills which must be extremely noisy for the sheep.  John Bourke led the more adventurous members on a slightly longer scenic drive to the Copthorne.

Apart from some S-Type owner who had a troublesome female driver dent the left front of his beautiful car! we all had a most enjoyable and interesting day.

Hi, its Jacque: I just wanted to add my bit and say it was an absolutely stunning weekend with great company and I would like to thank everyone for being so kind and considerate to this old girl on her crutch.  Hopefully I shall be back into my marathons in the very near future – Dream on girl…

By Chris and Jacque Douglas

Saturday 25th November, 2017

Saturday’s trip to Cape Palliser proved to be another great day for us all on our Wairarapa trip.  Temperatures were pleasant, 17 to be exact and slightly overcast so perfect conditions, as we left in convoy after our briefing by our Captain Phil.

Prior to our departure we had all enjoyed a wonderful selection of continental/cooked breakfast which we were served daily throughout our stay I must add. Lovely for waistlines!!

We weaved our way down through the beautiful green countryside of the Wairarapa and noticed there had been many new installation of irrigation systems on the dairy farms so a sign what of the hot, dry summers are doing to the land.  Travelling to Carterton and Greytown (calling us to return), we cruised, viewing attractive beef and sheep farms and the sprinkling of large dairy units.

After turning on to Cape Palliser Rd the land plateaued out and looked out to the sea. Beautiful sight. There was obviously a surfcasting competition on because as we drove along the peninsular out to the Cape there were hundreds of surfcasters lined up along the beach with very little distance between them. Nightmare thinking about the tangles!!! Not to mention the language!!

Cape Palliser.

Arriving at Ngawi point by the Cape Palliser Bay Lighthouse, we all had our thermos, morning tea and snacks. (John Devine wanted cake of all things!  Who has cake at Cape Palliser?). Many members walked the very steep and narrow ascent to the lighthouse.  Amazing views I believe!!!!

The seals also proved to be a great attraction and could certainly disguise themselves well amongst the rocks.  A great array of old and ancient bulldozers and tractors, some working, some at peace resting, were displayed along the water’s edge of the bay for launching and in the boats. Great sight to see.

We returned towards the famous Lake Ferry Hotel where we all enjoyed a great lunch.  And for some, the odd beverage!! Wondered if John Devine got his precious cake!!

Several members went on to view Garry Wall’s MG collection in Martinborough, whilst others, including myself got “lost” in Greytown doing some ‘retail therapy’.

All in all, we had a wonderful day and thanks must go to Phil and Ngiare for all their preparation and organisation.

By Heather Thompson

Sunday 26th November, 2017

An early morning start as the All Blacks were playing, the more serious watched in the lounge while some sat in bed sipping tea and probably nibbling chocolate and some even slept through it-not really very patriotic I thought.

Late morning, we all set off on a Rally set by our Hosts Randal and Christine Warner. We drove for around 1½ hours, collecting clues, admiring the stunning countryside and beautifully designed houses before arriving at their lovely home. The winners of this rally went to the competent rally driver John and his beautiful navigator Raewyn.

Wine was sipped as we found the answers to the cryptic quiz then the serious business of eating began.
After a stunning lunch prepared by our hosts, the entertainment began—and all our inhibitions went out the door.

We were divided into teams and so began an afternoon of hilarity. The winning team was Dave, Liz, Bill, Jenny and the very competent Colleen!

I shall let Christine describe in detail below, men and women behaving badly…

Before leaving we were fed again with a delightful afternoon tea.

For those with any energy left we finished the evening with a quiz run by Steven and Denise before tumbling into bed exhausted.

By Colleen Clark

The rally winners.

Sunday 26th November, 2017

HOW LUCKY WE WERE (AND ARE!)

Sunday was the day when 16 Jaguars were braving our unsealed road of 4.6 kms to come for a BBQ lunch at our place near Martinborough, Wairarapa.

The weather had been beautiful for a week; could it hold for one more day?!!  We watched weather forecasts with bated breath and, oh no, showers predicted between 1 and 2!

The team winners.

We put the tables out watching clouds, hoping they were not going rain on us and just as people were arriving, them having done the rally across the gorgeous, empty Wairarapa roads, we finally added the table cloths and chairs with our fingers crossed.

It seemed to work and not one drop fell to mar the day. The weather was perfect; cloud cover so no bright sun to boil our brains, not a breath of wind, just a fabulous balmy day.

A fabulous lunch.

Lunch of fillet steak and sausages, ably and perfectly cooked by Randal, along with salads, seemed to go down well and people relaxed and chatted until we said that games had to be played, (no choice about it!) Some people were rather dubious to start but got into it wholeheartedly and there was much laughter, caused by these simple, silly games.

We had: Move eight Smarties from one cup to another with just a straw and a powerful suck; move one pink cup up through a stack of blue ones; Build and demolish a plastic cup pyramid; Pick up pasta on dried spaghetti held in mouth, (no hands allowed); pass a balloon from neck to neck, again no hands, but requiring friendly hugs.

‘Snorting’ the Smarties.

A bit of a delay occurred for one team when Roger had to ‘go bush’ to retrieve their runaway balloon.

The tie breaker then took place, it was aptly named Pelvic Thrust.

This was not as smutty as it sounds. Each player had to knock over a row of plastic cups using an onion in one foot of an old pair of tights of mine. (If they weren’t old to start, they certainly are now!) The tights were tied around the waist so that the onion hung down behind, causing several remarks from the farmers present about the stud features of the various male protagonists. The game required lots of swinging of the hips in a forward thrust to bash the cups.

Balloon ‘necking’.

Pelvic thrusting.

Some people were obviously well practiced in the thrusting motion where some others had more of an up and down technique. Either way, the scene causes much hilarity and, fortunately, no injuries apart from a few split sides

After tea and cakes, we said good bye to our friends from the Jaguar Club and watched as the clouds of dust showed us their exit along our road. It was wonderful to have them all come for the day and be such good sports.

I am very sorry, but I took no photographs of the assembled cars as, for once, they were not looking their best with the liberal coating of dust but I hope that all our visitors thought it was worth the big wash that will need to be done. I know we had a brilliant time with you all, thanks for coming.

By Christine Warner

Our new club regalia.

Photos: John Bourke

As we were leaving my cousins place I heard a strange noise from the front suspension and thought nothing of it. A little further down the road the car made some more rather unfortunate noises so we stopped to investigate.  I looked around and could see nothing amiss, I reversed the car and there were more noises and then everything went nice and quiet and smooth. At this stage we were about 10 to 15 minutes north of Masterton so we continued on our journey, albeit at a slightly slower speed just in case and after having checked that the steering and brakes were working perfectly.

Just a short distance down the road all hell let loose!

The car tried to weave all over the road and issued vast quantities of smoke from the front left hand side which was noticeably lower than the rest of the car.  Luckily it was a nice straight piece of road with no other traffic and I was able to keep it more or less on our side of the road and steer us just off the main road.  Rather shaken, we got out and discovered that the left hand front wheel had come off and was sitting at a rather strange angle in the wheel arch, complete with brake disc and hub attached.

Took us a little while to gather our wits and upon inspection it was obvious that the front left hand stub axle had snapped letting the wheel fly loose.

Despite having AA plus it took the best part of three hours sitting on the side of the road before the break down truck arrived and we set about the rather difficult task of loading the car onto the truck without causing any further damage. This was successfully achieved and we headed back to Masterton where we then set about arranging to truck the car and ourselves back to Auckland.

A truck from Pahiatua eventually arrived about 5 PM and took us as far as Pahiatua that night and we headed back to Auckland the following day.

What did we learn from this rather frightening experience?

• Overnight accommodation in Pahiatua is very limited but we did have some good conversations with some truckers about the merits of Road Ranger gearboxes and other important topics.
• When the old girl starts making strange noises make sure you stop and investigate and only proceed when you know the cause.
• When the car starts making strange noises do the same thing, and if in doubt get a tow truck to take you back to a garage.  In retrospect I should have emptied all the stuff out of the boot, jacked the car up and investigated thoroughly.  This would have saved a lot of trouble.
• Make sure your wheel bearings are well packed with grease, and lubricated regularly.

Why did it happen?

Opinions are as varied as the number of mechanics involved.  The car had just had a new WOF so the wheel bearings started out just fine.  It would appear that the stub axle broke from old age, and possibly the rough run out to Cape Palliser started the break. One of the bearings may have been running a bit dry, but if it had seized, it should have run on the shaft.

Fortunately, nobody was hurt, very little panel damage was suffered, and all the replacement parts are winging their way from the UK. I am going to replace the right hand stub axle as well – just to be sure!

By Don Bowater

Dear Readers – a foreword if I may. Fore-lettered words have been expunged – one’s (great)grandchildren might discover this magazine on the coffee table or the wastepaper basket. This was to be an Event Beryl and I had looked forward to for some weeks. A nice drive in sunshine over the Kaimais. Morning coffee/tea with scones and fresh cream, sausage rolls, savouries and sammies. Pleasant stroll across manicured lawns to immaculate, colourful gardens and Spring foliage

Reality was something far removed from that vision.

It was NOT Captain Phil’s fault. It was Dan – again. I think Phil relied on the same source of weather forecasting as Dan the Weatherman the night before.
Said Phil at kick off time on the day –“it’s supposed to be fine the other side of the hill”. Nothing was further from the truth. It was another Fifty Shades of Grey story from go to whoa. The dairying paddocks of the Waikato were being cleansed of all nitrates and nasties very nicely – at our displeasure – by the rain. ALL day long.

The gloom didn’t begin or end there. Forgetting to take our hosts’ guide on how to find their property north of Cambridge, I switched on our Garmin NUVI SatNav and issued instructions to my driver (Beryl) on when and where to turn after passing Cambridge – as we drove along that flash new expressway. Bear in mind we lived in Cambridge for 5 years in 2003-08.

Mrs Garmin said: past Cambridge, take the exit to Victoria Road. Mrs Dent said something quite unladylike and insisted we carry on ahead on the expressway but I insisted we follow Mrs Garmin. In hindsight yes, I should have known better – the latter was an Australian, you see – and she guided us all the way back to Cambridge in order to go all the way north again on the backroads to our hosts’ Te Awa Road address off Pencarrow Road.

We were first to take off from Tauranga – and last to arrive at Moondance Manor – with a couple of other members following us in good faith all the way into the trap. The other 31 members all took the correct expressway/Airport Road exit route as per instructions.

The humiliation didn’t last too long. Our hosts at the Manor, Jeanette and Stephen Williams made the Club members very welcome indoors and we were soon tucking into the yummies and gazing around inside and out in the superb setting just as depicted in our Calendar (taken from the website).

A brief talk on the origins of the Moondance Manor and Gardens from Jeanette and then, warm inside, we went outside, umbrellas upward while the rain persisted downwards, to listen to the history of the gardens and their development from Stephen. There was enough Spring colour around to brighten us up as we drifted around the 1.5 ha (I think) gardens and then it was time to make our way back to our Cats and away home. Yes – home.

Given the inclement weather and gloom of the Waikato, Phil declared that part two of the trip – to the Tree Church at Ohaupo and a picnic lunch in the grounds there was cancelled and we could travel around on our own timetable or else just head home. Beryl and I chose home. Without any need for “help” from Mrs Garmin.

On the way back over the Kaimais we were underwhelmed by all the potholes – which Beryl found with unerring accuracy. And the expensive array of flashing lights along the way, displaying speed restrictions due to “slippery road surfaces”. My mind strayed – why not cut this nonsense: how about Jacinda allocating a few measly $billion and putting a four – lane Waterview quality (naturally) road tunnel through the Kaimais for us ‘Boppers?

I awoke from my dream.  We were home again. Still raining… Thank you Phil – another excellent Calendar Event. Just a helpful word of advice? Don’t listen to Dan when drawing up the planss…

Anyone looking to buy a Garmin Nuvi SatNav?

By Jack Dent

If you live at Hamurana an 09.30 departure from The Crossing at Tauriko sounds quite civilised unless you are picking up friends who live in Papamoa Beach. The logistics make for an early start and this day is meant to be fun.

So, a call to Bill and Nui resulted in a lovely stay in their new home with a glass or two to warm said home and a relaxed starting time for Thursday. We were greeted by a better day than forecasted, 14 degrees, cloudy but not raining.  The morning traffic in Tauranga kept moving so we arrived at the designated departure spot in good time.

Phil greeted us at The Crossing, Neville handed out the route instructions and we were off over the Kaimais to meet up with more intrepid travelers at The Firth Tower Museum. Here we were greeted and given a comprehensive history of The Tower and settlement of the Matamata region.

Interesting that John McCaw, who rebuilt the homestead in 1902, was the great grandfather (I may have my generations wrong) of our present-day icon, Richie. The Matamata Historical Society must be commended for the presentation of the exhibits.

Ninety minutes at The Firth Tower rushed by. Despite the threatened rain the brolly was not needed and we were back on the road along the foot of the Kaimais range for a great view of the Kaimais Falls on our way to The Kaimai Cheese Factory for lunch.

As the car parking appeared to be at a premium, one of our number demonstrated how Jaguar drivers are careful not to take up too much space…

Linda Smith, the recently appointed café manager, looked after her 40+ guests admirably and showed us to the very pleasant buffet, table by table. Ham, gluten free quiche and a selection of lovely salads (no lazy chef’s mesculin here) followed by a selection of bite size sweets, cheeses (of course) and coffee.

[That’s Martin  on the right—Chairing the Eating.]

Feeling replete, we were back on the road to Morrinsville to look at The Big Cow.  IT IS.

[Photo below by Neville Barlow. That’s Judy under the udder!]

After that there was no point in looking for more excitement. Home for a cup of tea (with milk) Cheers

By Martin Hampson

John and Annie Devine, who organised this weekend certainly have a direct line with the weatherman as we all set out from various places to meet in Taupo on the most glorious day, clear skies, no wind and warm temperatures, a real treat after all the rain we have had.

We met for lunch at a Restaurant near Wairakei where it was a rowdy meet and greet. It always fascinates me when our Jag family get together – hugs and kisses and in a room with dubious acoustics; unbelievable noise. Full mouths soon sorted this and we enjoyed a pleasant lunch before heading off towards Taupo, some to shop while others carried on to the Chateau.

The drive was just magical and with the majestic snow-capped mountains dominating the horizon as we got closer, photo opportunities were a must.

After arriving we mostly all had a raging thirst and the lounge with the panorama view was a great place to have a get together before dinner. It was certainly more up market than chips and dips around a picnic table. The furnishings were kept in the original old style and were old worldly and very charming.

A quick change saw us don our glad rags and after pausing for a while to listen to the piano music in the lounge we made our way into the dining room for a very pleasant dinner and evening.

The restaurant must have had over 150 people of all nationalities and the staff did an admirable job of getting the meals out together.

A beautiful breakfast greeted us the next morning and this was followed by an interesting and informative film on the history of the chateau. It was built in 1922 as a luxury hotel, turned into a mental hospital during the war, following this it provided R and R for the Forces returning from the war, Finally being refurbished again into a hotel.

A cold brisk walk worked off some calories followed by a new route for some of us, along the western highway. Lovely long straight roads with very little traffic enabled some of the less responsible of us to blow the cobwebs from the cars, while others kept to the lawful speed limit and in no time we were eating again at Whakamarama.

It was finally time for all of us to take our different routes home, having enjoyed a lovely weekend away.

By Roger Clark

After a very scenic drive, it was great to see a wonderful sunset (taken from the front door of the Chateau).

A beautiful sunrise through the main window of the Chateau dining room.

The same sunrise taken from the Chateau car park.

What a fabulous day it was on Sunday after the nasty winter blast during the previous week. Great and thoughtful planning also to have a later start time for those who had to travel a distance to join us at the set off point; and for those of us who prefer a more leisurely rising time on Sunday mornings, especially at this time of the year!!  Thanks Phil!

The WBOPDC car park has been a frequent meeting place for our club, and served us well again on this day. We had to change it from our original one so as not to get caught up in a road closure caused by a Hikoi that were planning their route over the Wairoa Bridge.

Our navigation instructions in hand, we duly set off.  It is amazing how you can be living somewhere for many years and not know half the roads around the area.  Our discovery trip this time was in the Pyes Pa and Oropi direction, down roads with fascinating names like Glue Pot Road and the wonderful Oropi Gorge Road, providing a variety of undulations, bends and cambers, but nothing too challenging either. The serious drivers among club members will have to wait until another outing for a drive that will test their driving skills. For me, driving our car for the first time since Ken died, it was just right. I was grateful that I was aware of the general direction I was headed in and where I needed to finish.  Navigating from notes, without a navigator to read them to you, is very difficult.

We progressed to Welcome Bay Road, then Kairua Road and back along the Eastern Link, over the flyover and Bridge to the Trinity Wharf Hotel on Dive Cres.  Some did as I did and turned left too soon, and had to do a U-turn to get ourselves back on track, but hunger was navigating by then and we all ended up where we needed to be.

We were greeted by more Club members who had chosen not to go on the run and just wanted to join us for lunch; after all, eating and talking is what we are best at isn’t it?

The Halo restaurant has certainly got a wonderful position over the harbour. Our views and enjoyment was enhanced by the glorious fine day. Almost made us forget it was winter.

The other thing I enjoyed was the spaciousness.  Noise dissipates much better with high ceilings, and you can hear your dining companions. The staff were very attentive and our buffet lunch served efficiently.

No one seemed in a hurry to depart; and when we finally did we were treated to a Market Day stall in front of the foyer of the Hotel in the form of John Devine’s Jaguar parked with the boot open, (ready to get his bags out and check in for the night, we thought).  But no, he was selling club regalia in his usual encouraging fashion – almost auctioneer style at times -to the great amusement of us all, and I hope the tolerance of hotel management.

It was an excellent, easy, no fuss run.  Just right for the shorter days we are enduring.  Thanks again to Phil who, because of the Hikoi, had to go on a hasty planning run at the last minute to change our route, requiring a different set of navigation notes to be prepared.  You are a legend.

Saturday morning the day of the run was overcast and a bit on the cool side, but that is the luck of the draw.

Tauranga members met at the Maungatapu School Carpark, and after the normal greetings we headed to Te Puke where we were having a morning tea stop and catching up with more members going on the run. Most of us parked in the carpark at the back of the shops and wandered through the courtyard and across Jellicoe St like Brown’s cows to the Bake House Café where they had closed to the public for an hour while we had our Latte’s. The service they provided for the large number was very good.

At 11:00am we left Te Puke in an organised rabble heading to Matata. On reaching Matata we turned inland  from the coast, heading towards Edgecumbe on State Highway 2. This part of the Highway in places still shows signs of 1987 Edgecumbe earthquake which caused major damage to structures and roading.

We left Highway 2 turning right on to Awaiti Rd, signposted Kawerau, crossing over the now disused railway track that used to service the Edgecumbe Whakatane areas, it was mothballed in 2003. You may have heard older people talk about the Taneatua Express.

We continued on towards Kawerau, the coast behind us, over dead- flat country – mainly dairying, Mt Edgecumbe in front of us – a dacite volcanic cone, its Maori name Putauki. Legend has it that Putauki had a love affair with Whakauri (White Island). I am not sure whether this is true.

At the cross roads turning into Kawerau we met up with a new member, Annie Wells and her friend her who were waiting for us. There were now 22 Jags in the convoy heading into Kawerau where we did a loop through the business area and housing area before heading out past the Pulp and Paper Mill.

Kawerau is one of the younger towns of New Zealand and was founded in 1953 as a mill town for the Tasman Paper and Pulp Mill. The area was chosen because of its geothermal energy and water source the Tarawera River plus the supply of Pine from the Kaingaroa Forest.

We travelled on towards Te Teko where we turned off the main highway and travelled up Tahuna Rd following the railway track that brings the logs down from Murapara to Kawerau and Tauranga.

Reaching the end of Tahuna Rd we turned left onto Galatea Rd in the direction of Whakatane until we got to the Matahina Dam where we parked up at the rest area on top of the dam. Lake Matahina in one direction and down the valley towards Edgecumbe the other way.

The Matahina Dam is one of three dams on the Rangataiki River. It was commissioned in 1967.

The Matahina Dam is an 86 metre high earth dam and is the largest of its type in the North Island. Standing on the top, it towers over the school and houses below.

From the top of the dam we did a drive by the bottom to get an idea of what it was like and then headed for our lunch destination, taking us along more flat straight roads; through Awakeri where the Hot Springs are; another couple of deviations taking us onto Thornton Rd where we turned right and then another kilometre further on we turned into “The White House Café’-  our lunch stop – where we caught up with more of our members who came for lunch.

It was a bit of a mass invasion when we all turned up at the same time to order meals. I think the staff did pretty well in coping with the influx. I must compliment the members on their patience in the queue which was quite long.

Eventually we were all seated having a chat and enjoying our lunch and during this time we welcomed a new member Annie Wells and her friend Carol who are from Rotorua. After lunch we said the usual goodbyes and all headed in our different directions with the weather threatening to rain.

By Phil Barron

As a relatively new member of the Jaguar Club, I am not sure just what format has been used in the past to describe these Drives, so I will use my own format which will be about the run, the people, and the connection we all have, the Cars.

Of course, the run began in the Bay of Plenty, however the first gathering point for all of the eighteen cars and their owners was alongside Lake Karapiro Lake, at Piarere.

We were blessed with an outstanding day weatherwise, and nothing could have been more suitable for our beautiful cars then to be parked alongside Lake Karapiro, which was looking so calm and placid.

Coffee was enjoyed, along with the, conversation, and in typically Kiwi fashion one of the Ladies had baked a bacon and egg pie, which she shared, and someone else handed out cookies.

Captain Phil handed out our directions for the day and soon had us following him on the Drive through the country side.

We talk a lot in NZ about our clean and green image, and this could not have been better displayed then the county that we drove through on Sunday. Many of us have had the privilege to travel all over New Zealand, and the world, and we have seen, I am sure, many wonderful places.  But you know, we have in the Waikato, countryside that would match anywhere else. It is said that the best custodians of the land are our farmers and this is certainly true.

One of the farmers had planted a long row of Flowering Cherry trees right along his road boundary, and I said to June we must visit this is Oct/Nov when they would be in flower as it would be a great show. There would have been hundreds of these trees.

We followed the Waikato river for some way down past the Arapuni dam, or close to it, before turning inland toward Wharepapa south, and then turning East again to Pukeatua where we would stop for lunch.  The Café there is called “Out in the Styx”, set right under the Maungatautari Mountain.

A well named Café, as I heard more than one person say that they had no idea where they were, and how were they going to find their way back to the Bay?

Thanks to Mary and Lance we enjoyed a fine Lunch, in a very warm Sunny atmosphere, before some of us went for a walk in the Bush on the mountain.

Maungatautari Mountain was the first bush area in New Zealand to be fenced, to keep out all predators, right down to mice, in order to allow the bird life to return, and the Kiwi to establish themselves once again. All predators were eliminated from inside the closure, and the exercise cost somewhere around $50 million.

These runs are of course about the country, but equally important are the people we meet, we all have a love of the ‘Jaguar Marque’ but within that we all have our favourite choice of models.

Chris and Judy joined us at the Café, after their own country run as there Faithfull Cat proved a bit temperamental, so they had to return home for the backup car, in order to join us. Peter, who has a keen interest in Photography, as I discovered, has owned over ten Jaguar models; the photographs we enjoy in the Magazine come from Peters (and Ron’s) hands. I wonder if Peter and Maralyn have owned the most Jaguars in the club?

As for the cars, it is interesting to note that on this run anyway we had a wide choice of cars.

There were six XJ8s; four S-Types; three XF -3XK’s and four Convertibles including a set of twins (Black F-Types).

The cars ranged from 1996 to 2015 and without exception they were all immaculately presented. Stephen and Denise were horrified to find that parking under the tree at the Café meant that their car got covered in red berries.

It was a privilege to talk to Max, about the different collection of cars he has had the pleasure of seeing, from the Rolls Royce collection in Auckland to the man in Christchurch who had over 220 cars in his Garage.

We certainly are a car people in this country.

So finally, thankyou Phil for organising this run, we certainly enjoyed it.

By Dennis Catchpole

Fingers crossed and it paid off. Sunday dawned a nice fine day, certainly didn’t want to cancel the Waimangu run again.

The Tauranga locals met at the County Council carpark at 9.45am. After the usual ‘how do you do’s’ we were on the road at 10.00am, heading for Waimangu Valley, south of Rotorua via the direct route through Ngongataha.

We all arrived safely at Waimangu and met up with other Members that came from other than Tauranga, making 52 Members in total. Our run organisers Bruce Jamieson and Bruce MacDiarmid had arrived early, and had all our car parks marked so we were all together, and a place earmarked for the Concourse judging of the cars for the Concourse Cup.

Because of the numbers, we were divided in to two groups to do the boat cruise and bus trip. After we all purchased our tickets, and the Members who were buying their lunch at the Café had done so, Group 1 went on the bus first, and stopped at the picnic area half way to the boat, where there were picnic tables and toilets about 200 yards from the from the bus stop.

The weather had clouded over by this time, and there was quite a cool breeze blowing, so we had our picnic lunch in somewhat cool conditions.

While Group 1 were busy lunching, Group 2, which had the Concourse judges in their lot had got into the judging of the cars. Then their turn came to climb on the bus, and they arrived at the picnic area for lunch. They disembarked the bus, and Group 1 piled on and headed on the rest of the journey to the boat.

The road was windy and narrow with the odd passing spot. It was actually a nice ride down to the boat, passing hot lakes and the odd bubbling pool.

At the end of the road it was about a 10-minute walk to the boat jetty, where we boarded the Ariki Moana to go on our cruise of Lake Rotomahana.

Before 10th June, 1886, two small lakes existed in the area of the now Lake Rotomahana. Maori named them Lake Rotomakiri (Cold Lake) and Rotomahana (Warm Lake). Both lakes drained into Lake Tarawera via an overflow stream to the North end.

All this was changed on the 10th June, 1886. It started with earthquakes at 2.00am. At 3.00am, an enormous cloud rose above Rotomahana. Tarawera Mountain erupted causing a succession of craters in both directions extending 16 kilometres. Masses of boiling lava and ash descended rapidly and flowed across the surrounding country and inundated a circle of about 6 kilometres. Near the edge of the crater which formed at Rotomahana, the deposit reached 40 metres deep.

This changed the lakes’ formation, and today it is twenty times bigger than it was prior to 1886.

The boat cruise took us over where the White Terraces used to exist, and Pink Terraces now covered with several metres of water, into one of the craters. As we passed steaming cliffs and small geysers, traces of geothermal activity were evident everywhere, and always in the back ground was the ominous Mount Tarawera, forever threatening.

At the completion of the boat cruise, Group 2 went for their cruise and the rest of us boarded the bus for our return trip to the car park. Back at the reception, we had a coffee and waited for the other group to return.

On their return, we said our goodbyes and headed in various directions for home. Another good day out with good people.

The results of the Concourse judging will be announced at the AGM.

By Phil and Ngiare Barron

The previous weekend had floods and, as I write, next weekend looks to be pretty bad as well. However, someone was looking after us travellers as we had a great weekend of weather which was just as well because Port Waikato and Manukau Harbour are not places to be in bad weather!

Twenty Club members plus 22 from the Auckland Jaguar Drivers Club were registered for the weekend. Tauranga members met up at Greerton Park although Steven and Denise Ward met up later on the main highway and we joined in at Matamata along with some of the Rotorua people. This being St. Patricks Day we were also greeted by two ladies with green hair. Main thing is most of us were at the Woodlands Historic Homestead for an early lunch. This is a venue that never seems to change and is always very pleasant to visit and/or eat at and today was no exception with a pleasant walk through the gardens after a lovely meal.

We then followed Phil for a longer than usual (as per my GPS anyway) trip to Port Waikato via Huntly Power Station and Glen Murray. I reckon that this was a first time visit to Port Waikato for many of us and it was an interesting place. With lovely weather. It was also very barren with black sand but quite windy. We retired to the nearby cafe for afternoon tea and some great icecreams. Then it was onto Pukekohe and our Motels for two nights.

We were in the almost new, Aveda whilst the other half were across the road in Touchwood. Great accommodation with excellent parking. Early evening we were transported in the Lone Star Restaurant courtesy mini coach to the downtown venue. This was really busy and the noise on the high side for us old codgers!

The food was excellent and everyone I spoke to was happy with the feed. Shirley and I were lucky enough to speak for a while with the local franchise owner. I think this helped to get us good service or maybe even better service than usual. She advised us of some background including the fact that there are 28 Lone Star restaurants and overall control is from the franchiser in Christchurch. Anyway, I think we all tried to eat all put before us but few succeeded.  We then boarded the courtesy bus to take us back to our motels. We had had a pretty busy and happy day, ready for the off on Saturday.

By Michael Creak

Saturday 18th March

Saturday morning, all’s well after a great night out at the Lone Star Restaurant. Gathered at 9.30am in Courtyard at Aveda Motel, for Phil to instruct us on the day’s outing. He also supplied a road map, which was helpful to most people.

Met up with the Auckland Jaguar Club in Waiuku, and set off through Waipipi and Pollock to the Lighthouse, overlooking the entrance to the Onehunga harbour.

Phil, the Leader, did miss the turning by a few metres, but we all survived that.

A lovely drive from there where you overlooked Manukau Harbour, facing towards Auckland City, and could see the Sky Tower and the top of Rangitoto.

BUT then came the metal road into the Lighthouse…

The carpark was full, with the Auckland cars as well, and all different makes and models in the 36 Jaguars.  But the weather changed and was quite breezy and cold. Some people walked up to the Lighthouse, and others, like Steven and Denise and we decided to have a few nibbles and chat. I believe the view was great.

We then left for Awhiti Regional Park for a picnic lunch with the Auckland Club. There was plenty of parking. A very sheltered and warmer spot, with lovely big trees to sit under. John Devine brings out the wine and tries to encourage others, but not many takers.

From there it was free time. Guess who is the first one to get back to the Motel to wash the car!!!

We then headed down to the Cosmopolitan Club that evening for drinks and dinner, the meal was great and plenty of it. Also the Club supplied a Courtesy Van, a gold coin donation, which was good, and all ended great.

By Max & Carole Killingback

Sunday 19th March

Sunday morning – another lovely sunny day. 9:30 Captain’s meeting at Touchwood Motor Lodge this morning.

Farewells to those members who had not already left but were not heading south to Waingaro Springs where the run would end.

Murray and Corrie Jamison were leading the run this morning. Their instructions were to keep your eye on the car behind you at all times, and if you can’t see them slow down or stop.

With the instructions entrenched in one’s mind we proceeded along Highway 22 towards Waingaro where we would stop for morning tea. Highway 22 is a nice road to cruise along as there is not a lot of traffic and has some good views from the high spots over the surrounding country side plus the other Jags behind, I might add it is a very winding road.

We finally arrived at Waingaro Hotel overlooking the hot springs, well some of us did, 5 Jags. Where were the rest? What happened to our instructions? NO phone coverage.

The Hotel looked deserted. ‘Phil, did you let them know we were coming?’ someone asked? Someone says, ‘Panic!!!! Is this the way the run ends?  Half the platoon missing, the Canteen closed” Took me back 50 plus years. Get a grip. Someone opens the Hotel door, and suddenly fifteen minutes since we arrived a red E Type cruises in followed by the other cars.

Thank you Michael and your GPS.

We all head into the Hotel to be greeted by the Publican who looks like he just climbed out of bed, and his wife in bare feet looking equally the same, who admit that after two days celebrating St Patricks they forgot we were coming, thank goodness there was only half the group.

Most of us managed to get a coffee, tea or a beer or something to drink. A few of us had a burger or a toasted sandwich. We all said our good byes and headed in our various directions to where ever, some to another lunch venue.

Another Jag Trip experience completed.

I might add I had an eggburger at Waingaro made by the barefooted Publican’s Wife and it is the best eggburger I have had, so you can’t judge the cook by her feet.

By Phil Barron

Our Pukekohe Experience

I’m in love, really in LOVE, for those who want to know why, or even those who don’t. I just have to tell you I now own a new (or nearly new, only 6000 on the clock) 2016 Italian racing red, diesel. 3 litre XF Jaguar.

I have spent too many years admiring all the modern cars in this lovely Club, especially when our little Gems pack a sad and decided if I was ever going to have one the time was right. Thank you Neville for finding it for us.

I could never understand the passion people felt for their car, now my passion is up there with all the other enthusiasts. Roger tells people I would have it in the bedroom if I could, not quite true, but close.

This isn’t really what my story is about, I am writing about the day we were going to Pukekohe with the Club Members and things just didn’t go as planned. Roger kindly suggested we took my car, but being the kind and loving wife I am I felt he would get more pleasure from the E Type.

Decision made we drove out of the drive in the soft top and although there was a funny noise underneath the Driver said “only a stick”. The noise from the “stick” got louder and by the time we got to Rotorua even the partly deaf husband agreed he was slightly concerned.

We spent the night there and along with Bruce MacDiarmid we left for Woodlands to meet up with the other Club Members, enjoying a never- travelled route. The closer we got to our destination, the louder the noise got, until I even had vibrations under my posterior. Finally I had a very concerned Husband.  Bruce Jamieson offered to go with Roger to our destination, both guys hoping they would make it, which they did and finally pulled up at a garage that looked as if they knew what they were doing. Unfortunately the universal had gone and the ball bearings were popping out faster than you could have played a game of marbles.  But the job couldn’t be done till Monday.

Marilyn and I were the last to set off from lunch but made the mistake of turning right out of Woodlands which took us over very new country and once we got our bearings we knew we would never catch up with the members so headed off to our motel.

Sunday we picked up the only available hire car, a bright yellow shopping basket Hyundai which was hoping to be a Jag when it grew up, and we gratefully accepted the offer of a bed at the Bowater’s where we had two delightful Hosts and a lovely evening.

Monday we headed back to check on the car and were told they were making progress but might not finish it that day. We knew most shops intimately by the end of the afternoon, but the wonderful mechanic worked till six o’clock and we were finally able to make it home that night. The part broken cost $34 and the Labour was around $850 – go figure. For my Man who does his own repairs, it was a bitter pill to swallow.

In spite of the mishap it was a thoroughly enjoyable few days with great company and lots of fun.

By Colleen Clark