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TR Register (New Zealand) Inc National Weekend 2005 was held February 25-27 at Haruru Falls Resort, Paihia, Northland. This area, at the north of the North Island, was one of the earliest settled during the 19th century and is rich in the early history of New Zealand. In a departure from previous years this National Weekend ended up with a solid program over almost three days from the start at Orewa on Friday morning to a late lunch on Sunday Afternoon. This was, in part, brought about by the location which meant that almost everyone had to travel north form Auckland anyhow and it will be interesting to see if a Friday program can be included into future National Weekends. For most people this weekend started on the morning of Friday 25 February at Orewa, just north of Auckland. From this point they enjoyed a drive north over some interesting and not often visited roads with the highlight of the day a lunch stop at Matakohe for a visit to the world famous Kauri Museum. There was another stop for afternoon tea at Twin Bridges south of Kaikohe. Friday evening started with a gathering at the Resort where everyone had more time to catch up on old friends. Saturday provided a
morning tea stop at the Sunbeam Museum south of Paihia which included live
steam followed by excellent drive around some very interesting and scenic
roads on past Kawakawa to Russell with a few un-expected challenges on
the way. An excellent Saturday lunch was provided at the Russell
Boating Club whilst the concours judging took place outside.
Everyone returned to Paihia by ferry and the Saturday evening function with a
trio of entertaining MC's (Bernard Egan, Peter Mence & Trevor Hynds)
keeping everyone entertained. The weekend included a Sunday program as
well which gave everyone time to look around some of the historical sights as
well as the tourist attractions of Kerikeri. An excellent morning tea
was provided by Tony & Liz Philip at their wonderful home overlooking the
Bay of Islands and then it was on to a delectable lunch and, unfortunately, farewells
at the Cottle Hill Winery before most of us headed south for home.
However, a few lucky ones stayed in Northland for a few days more holiday in
this interesting area. Altogether about 80 people attended
with 35 TR's present including 10 teams from the South Island. This is a
wonderful effort from the Mainland and it is hoped that, in the future, the
inter-island support will grow even further. Could anyone ask for
better weather? No, this weekend was just perfect! The North Island may
not offer the wide open spaces or the wonderful mountainous scenery of
the Mainland but Northland has the Bay of Islands, beautiful bush and costal
scenery and a few roads to test the steering of your TR which keep the inter-island
score fairly even. This year's organising team did a superb job with a
few new ideas such as the National Weekend Handbook emerging and, all in all,
it went very smoothly.
Altogether 4 TR2's, 5 TR3's and 3A's,
4 TR4's and 4A's, 2 TR5's, 1 TR250, 9 TR6's 6 TR7's and 2 TR8's, 1 Swallow Doretti
(&, a TR-Audi, a TR-FORD, a TR-Rover and a TR-Motor-Caravan) arrived for this year's
event. If anyone has more news or views to add to this page please send to Robert at webmaster@trregister.co.nz Click here to go to Page 3 - more images (Late Saturday & Sunday) (Photos - RBJ & Sony). |
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Friday
morning and 30 TR's line up at Puriri Road in Orewa for the start of the drive
north. |
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Jan Hendrix briefs Dave & Christine Mehrtens as they start off from Puriri Road in their TR250 |
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Alan & Norma Parks studying the National Weekend 2005 Handbook as they prepare to set off form Orewa. Alan & Norma had driven their TR5 (on right) all the way from the south of the South Island to join this event |
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Jonathan Petterson from Wellington in his TR3A |
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Owen & Robyn Penno in their TR6 from Otago |
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First casualty of the day.. Ron Mence's TR7V8. Everyone ready with fire extinguishers after the car ground to a stop with a carburettor problem |
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At the Kauri Museum Steve & Cazna Payne and Trevor Cullimore examining the life-size sawmill exhibits |
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Inside the kauri Museum everyone gathered for a short presentation from a museum guide |
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Dave Mehrtens and Keith Allot waiting for their navigators before departing from Matakohe |
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Jan & Marian Hendrix preparing to dispatch more TR's from Matakohe |
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Steve & Cazna Payne with their TR2 at the Twin Bridges Friday afternoon tea stop |
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Barry & Linda Wilson in their TR2 leaving Twin Bridges | |
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Look at Pages 2
& 3 for more images from National Weekend 2005 |
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