Follow this link to the NZ Transport Agency for more information about this: http://www.nzta.govt.nz/vehicle/registration-licensing/information-law-changes.html

The Ruahine Views Run began at Pollen St in Woodville in drizzly weather conditions. In total there were 9 MG’s, 2 Triumphs and 1 Jaguar. We agreed to go on the gravel roads, and accept a bit of mud and slush, but were assured that, regardless the roads were pretty good.

Before setting off, we acknowledged the loss of Ross Fallaver and stood in silence for one minute. We all felt the need to recognize the work that Ross has done for the MG Manawatu group and that his passing came as a shock to us all.

The leaders, Sue and Hugh, took us northwards along the foothills of the Ruahines over wonderful scenic roads with long stretches in which drivers could test their skills.

The views today were unfortunately minimal and road surfaces often mucky from mud, tractor and stock droppings, but it was all part of the fun and we were all in good cheer as we arrived at Norsewood for a comfort stop.

When we re- grouped, it was still raining, and then we drove on onto the Ashley Clinton road and down the narrow Wilson Cutting with lots of mud and gravel, but there were no mishaps and it was interesting to witness the mud swishing out from the wire wheels of the car in front.

Lunch was at Waipawa and thanks to Sue Mc Connon, we were able to eat our lunch in the dry at her cousin’s garage. It must have looked somewhat amusing to see all of us with our picnic chairs placed in somebody’s garage. Rob Crowley thought so, as he took the photos.

After that we drove over the back roads to Dannevirke where we stopped for the usual end of run obligatory afternoon tea at tearooms with lots of chatter and general catch ups.

This trip would be a great trip to do again on a summer’s day when we could see all the views and enjoy the scenery better, but we still appreciated the great organization, good company, plenty of good cheer and many thanks to Hugh and Sue Bowles for the planning and organizing of this Ruahine Run. We’ll do it again sometime!

The meeting got underway on time with, as usual, a good turnout of members – with some making the effort to travel a considerable distance to be there. The group agreed that Ross was to chair the meeting and several apologies that included references to what the groups future direction should be were read and noted. 

The meeting was now open for general discussion. The two original affiliation offers were discussed and a third proposal from the MGCC was tabled – this offer was for the entire group to associate rather than on an individual basis. It was a very low cost offer and would have provided similar advantages to the original offers including use of MG logos, ability to participate in other official MGCC events etc. Once again this provided plenty of lively debate over these ideas both for and against. Ross then summed up his perspective including some legal advice over the issue of association.

It was now time for a vote to be cast – one vote per membership attending – with Bryan Bull as the scrutineer. The outcome was 85% not to associate with just 15% voting yes. The decision has now been firmly made by the majority of the group attending that MG Manawatu is to remain a unique individual identity and in no way is associated with any official MG organisation.

Of course the option for any individual to join an official MG Car Club remains.

Ross has now been asked to prepare when ready, an official response to the MGCC (Wellington Centre) with the group’s decision to their association offer they have made to us and it will be interesting to hear their response in due course.

As usual, you’re invited to comment about any posting on this website….

Our short trip to Feilding from Palmerston North gave us a view of the Feilding steam locomotive getting all hot and bothered before heading off. It was, as normal, according to Trev another typically fine and sunny day in friendly Feilding as the MG Manawatu faithful gathered in West Street for our day at the winter series motor racing at the Manfeild motor racing circuit. We had 14 cars at the circuit including mainly B’s plus a MG TF, a Metro and Des’s Jaguar XJS. Tod also arrived with his car now boasting a Toyota supercharger conversion – see picture in gallery.

Trev’s itinerary for the day saw us taking a short country drive along some nice undulating roads around the back of Feilding before we all arrived at Manfeild. Dom had very kindly arranged the use of Toyota NZ’s corporate hospitality suite for our group for the day and it wasn’t long before everyone was settled in with a coffee or tea and were watching the first races of the day. There were various fields of cars ranging from not so fast to very fast, modern to old and plenty of close racing action – too close sometimes and some panelbeaters will have a busy week ahead!

At the lunch break we got the opportunity to take our MG’s out onto the track for a couple of laps ourselves before taking passengers (who paid $5.00 each donation to Camp Quality) for a run around the circuit. We got to drive both the long and short circuits of the track completing six laps at quite a good pace. I think for anyone who hasn’t driven around the circuit it was a great buzz and it also gave a very good appreciation of how tight and tricky some of the corners actually are – made the next races more interesting understanding the tricky parts of the circuit.

After our track drive everyone settled in for lunch on our first floor balcony and enjoyed the next races over lunch and a chat – I never new Manfeild could be so pleasant on a winters day! After lunch more racing action, a walk around the pit areas and for those tired of motor racing a scrabble challenge was launched with Carolyn taking the lead I believe.

As the afternoon wore on our members slowly drifted home after yet another successful day out. Our thanks to Toyota New Zealand who kindly agreed to let us use their great hospitality suite and to Trev for co-ordinating the days activities!

As usual, feel free to comment if you wish – it’s your site to use, nice to know who is visiting it and using it.

Thanks, Dom.

The elegant Wharerata homestead built in 1901 was the venue for our 10th birthday celebration dinner. After a typically fine, sunny and warm Manawatu day guests began to arrive from 5.30pm onwards. Jennette and Carolyn welcomed everyone in with a birthday card each featuring either an MGB or T type before moving on to the snug and bar area for pre dinner drinks and a chat. We had 47 of our group assembled for dinner this evening.

It appeared to take some people a bit of time to recognise each other as jackets and ties are not the normal attire for most of our events. Indeed, some jackets had not been worn for quite some time as the date from paperwork contained in the pockets gave clues as to the last time and event they were worn at! However every one looked very dapper and smart and the outfits matched the venue very nicely. Even Morris Gordon Bear appeared in a black tie dinner suit, thanks to Carolyn I suspect. Well done everyone!

At 7pm a sumptuous buffet dinner was served in the Russell Room – Roast pork, Moroccan style chicken, various dishes of vegetables, fruit salad, ice cream and a yummy apple and berry pie. I think everyone who attended would agree the food and service from the Wharerata team was excellent! Everyone had a souvenir MG Manawatu placemat at their table place and each one along with a cartoon had a multi choice quiz question relating to the history of MG over its entire span to date from Cecil Kimber and Old No. 1 right up to the newly released MG6 model. This brought about much discussion about what was the correct answer and was an interesting “lesson” in MG history.

After the dinner it was time for the “formal” part of our evening – after reading several apologies, Ross gave a very good speech tracing the origins of the group, what we’ve all seen and done so far and recognising the people who started it all and those who have actively maintained and promoted the group over the ten years. There was also an opportunity for anyone else who wanted to speak to do so and several people said some very kind words about the group – thank you.

It was now time for the quiz – Jennette drew a “lucky”  number and whoever had that question number then got the opportunity to answer it, and, if successful could then come up and choose one of 10 prizes that Dom had arranged as sponsorship of our group. Not everyone was lucky (and wanted to phone a friend!) and quite a few of the 50 questions were called before all 10 prizes were won. Our thanks to Manawatu Toyota, Century Yuasa Batteries, Wurth NZ Ltd, Autoglym and also local artist Paul MacNeil who is going to paint & frame an original picture of one of our cars – won by Robyn! The quiz was a lot of fun and provided many laughs and entertainment. Of course you’ll all know the answers now so future quizzes will be much easier!

The lucky numbers were then returned to the bin and one new number was drawn which belonged to Tim Scott who was invited to come forward and cut the MG cake on behalf of the group. He was happy to preside over this event and so the two Scott’s in the group did the honours while a slightly intoxicated Morris Gordon Bear looked on.

It was now time for tea & coffee and a piece of MG cake along with a lot of discussion about what a great night it had been and a very fitting way to mark this milestone. Carolyn had also brought along her many photo albums documenting all the amazing places we have visited and the fun we’ve all enjoyed in the last 10 years – many of you had a good look through them, very interesting.

Full marks to everyone involved – the organisers, our attending group members and Wharerata.

As usual, feel free to comment if you wish.

A sunny autumn morning greeted the Manawatu crews as we assembled in the Feilding town square for the start of the Tongariro – Tokaanu mountain run. Trev turned up with his 1967 Triumph TR4A project to see us off – we’ll look forward to seeing it out and about again in the future. “BLUBEE” led us out through Cheltenham towards Stormy Point where the view was spectacular with the autumn sun and autumn colours. We joined up with SH1 at Vinegar Hill and after negotiating the fairly rough section of roadworks at Ohingaiti stopped for a comfort break at Taihape.

At the Waiouru Army Museum we met up with “Team BOP” – a sub group but full members of the Auckland MG Car Club. It was an interesting break over a cup of hot tea or coffee as we checked out each others cars and made yet more new MG friends and acquaintances. Some of our group have purchased parts from Neville and Delwyn who operate the MG Shop based in Tauranga so it was an ideal time to meet and put a face to a name. Neville’s Oxford Blue RV8 also got plenty of attention from our group. Other BOP cars included an MGC with race numbers and a chrome BGT that has only done 26,000 miles from new! Can’t be many out there like that! It was an ideal opportunity also for us to discuss how the BOP team function as part of the MGCC, especially as we all consider the merits of our group also associating to the official MGCC. Great people, let’s hope we can meet with them again some time in the future.

The bumble bee TR6 took pole position as we headed on through Ohakune and on to National Park. Due to the inclement weather conditions that had now arrived it was decided to not lunch near the Chateau but at the historic National Park railway station.

According to the sign on the platform, trains from here go to “Fielding” – see photo in the gallery. An interesting spot and a good café on site if you’re journeying this way again in the future.

From there we travelled on up toward Taumarunui, joining up with SH41 past Kuratau Junction and on to the thermal hot pools at Tokaanu where everyone enjoyed a hot dip and then a cold ice cream! It was time to now make our way back towards home along the Desert Road in the mist and rain with some stopping in Taihape for a coffee. The trip meter on our B had clocked over 300 miles for the day so quite a big drive but a good day overall.

Just a reminder to get your replies in soon for the dinner at Wharerata and also to complete the survey that has been sent out to do with the associate membership proposal to the MGCC.

Sunday 9th May – MG Charity Classic Race Meeting at Manfield. The MGCC have use of the Toyota Hospitality Suite for this day and MG Manawatu Group members are welcome to join with the MGCC members in the Toyota Suite.

9-11th July – MG Auckland & Wellington winter back country adventure tour based around Taihape. Read details here: MGCC Back Country Tour 

16-17th October - MGCC UK 80th Birthday Celebrations – a worldwide event is proposed along the following lines: “we have been invited by MG UK to share in the MG Car Club’s 80th birthday over the weekend of 16/17th October. Concept is we have an event in Wellington to kick off the day which would be recorded on a world wide Google map which tracks the events across the earth to Alaska as time zones wake up by way of pins linking  and identifying clubs. We are thinking of runs starting from Manawatu, Hawkes Bay and Wairarapa to meet up with Wellington in Frank Kitts park for a breakfast BBQ.”

Read more information about this from the MG Car Club (UK) website: http://www.mgcc.co.uk/mg80.html 

As you know we have an event already pencilled in for this weekend (Hawkes Bay) but it might be an option for any one not wanting to do the overnight run to Hawkes Bay. If you are interested please let us know.

13-14th November – MG Classic Race Meeting at Manfield

2012 Advanced Notice – The MG National Rally organised by the Wellington Centre is to be either held in Wairarapa or Manawatu – February at this stage is the suggested month.

Thanks to Ross & Carolyn Fallaver for the great photo above!

Run report by John and Viv Eames:

The Great Awakino/Kawhia Adventure enjoyed a fine start on Friday with a relaxed lunch at the lovely Bason Botanical Reserve. The afternoon saw the 11 cars – 5 B roadsters, 4 BGTs, a Stag and a ‘lunchbox’ Jag (thanks Des) cruising through to a stop at Eltham for the cheese enthusiasts followed by a pleasant coffee break at Tawa Glen garden cafe at Lepperton. All made it comfortably to Mokau and Awakino before dark to settle in to accommodation. A social evening supping and grazing at Awakino Hotel primed all for the adventure ahead.

Saturday dawned overcast and misty which, it has to be said, never quite ‘burned off ‘ as someone kept optimistically predicting. But no matter, the punga-covered hills looked fantastic and the Mangaweka B showed unflinching hoodless leadership all day, with bold support from Robyn and Christine all afternoon. Morning tea and lunch were enjoyed in fair weather at Marokopa and Kawhia. Eight cars opted for the back-country return. Visiting the iron sand mining town of Taharoa wowed the delightful Maori kids and all Robyn’s barley sugars miraculously disappeared! Visiting the amazing Waikawau beach tunnel cut with pick and shovel for moving cattle in the early days wowed us. And it was funny,but the road back seemed to have straightened itself out a bit during the day.

A fabulous evening smorgasbord was enjoyed at the hotel and the Hardys and McConnons took the quiz prizes of Autoglym polishes generously provided by Dominic and sponsored by Manawatu Toyota. Thanks Dom.( We expect to see evidence of the prizes on the next run.)

Sunday dawned beautifully fine and the Hardys led the run to morning tea at their friends’ lovely home at Egmont Village. Thanks to Doug and Laurie and Trevor and Sandy for a very nice time there. We then took the Surf Highway to Opunake beach for lunch to cap off a top three days.

Many thanks to all who participated. The great camaraderie in the group, great roads and scenery and outstanding hospitality at the Awakino Hotel made an event to be long remembered.

Ahhhh….Sunday morning, time to wake up and smell the roses! Well at least we should be able to as that’s where we’re heading! Go topless or not? Overcast, little bit of drizzle around, might not I think. Good decision!

12 cars (B’s, Midget, Stag, MGF, Bitsamitsi) assembled at Ashhurst for Trev’s jaunt to Onga Onga. Whilst we were waiting a rather noisey bus (or should that be coach?) came tooting along – it was Rachel of course and all her passengers were waving at us as well – got the feeling they would like to be with the MG’s? Trev turned up in his “AA” coloured modern vehicle and sneakily to get away with it had hidden the Easter Bunny in his car that happily bounced around and gave everyone an Easter Egg. Nice touch! I think Alec’s was the first one to disappear in record time no less. Who was that wandering around trying to sell their one for a dollar? Some people!

Off we went through the ever scenic Manawatu Gorge and on to some familiar back roads leading into Dannevirke and by this time a steady persistant drizzle had joined us so it was wipers and lights on as we carried on to Onga Onga and our rose growing destination. The roses were a little past their best and the inclement weather meant wandering around the blooms was not a good option so we all carried on to Onga Onga.

A picnic lunch was enjoyed under the shelter of the DOC building in the historic village part. Once lunch was over we had a most interesting talk from a member of the Onga Onga historical society all about the historic village we were in and some of the tales of the area from long ago – very intriguing. Next the museum in the old school house was opened along with the old butchers, jail, army cabin, cottage, shearing shed, workers hut complete with long drop and a prison – now the public loos! Each was filled with a great array of historic objects and pictures etc…something of interest to everyone.

The drizzle still persisted as some of the group now headed for home through the lovely slushy roadworks on the main highway – remember Manawatu Toyota sells Autoglym car care products if you want to restore that lost sparkle!

Thanks to Trev, Sandy and the Easter Bunny for todays run and making the most of the trying weather conditions.

Don’t forget the Awakino run next month – sure to be good – and spaces are still available!