Ford Capri NZ

Sunday 22nd November

2009-11-22T00:31:00.000-08:00

Hi All

In the words of Sir Ed "We knocked the bugger off!!". I have just got home to Rotorua after 8 hours on the road, so will keep the blog brief.. Will update more tomorrow..

We got five Capri's to the top, with Peter Bevans the only one that made it for the whole tour..

What a great experience for all those that took part, got to renew friendships and make a whole heap of new ones...

Got the lads to put our mark on the beach - looked easy from the top!

Yee Ha!!

Saturday 21st November

2009-11-20T21:40:00.000-08:00

Hi All

The day dawned bright and breezy and we headed up the Kauri Coast. One shortcut suggested by a local saw several miles of dusty roads, Peter and Paul (no Mary) were very unhappy boys..
Got some great video shots without the usual bugs marks on the windscreen..

Arrived at Tane Mahuta and Peter had his usual 28km between food stop sorted with a toasted sandwich, more expensive to run than the GXL!! (He does not do unleaded!!)

Then a rolling trip along through the bush to a photo shoot overlooking Hokianga Harbour.

William decided to back the Capri without guidance and we now have a huge dent in the back of the car (similar in size to Lindsay's) or at least that's what his dads reaction was!

A short stop to pat Opo the dolphin at Opononi and the to Rawene to catch the ferry. The Captain was not happy when asked if it was owned by the Tongan government as we would not risk the Capris if so..

Then up the scenic north west coast (need to do it if you have not got it off your bucket list), through Kaitaia and a welcome wash for the cars before heading to the 90 mile beach motor camp..

The northland crew have been great, one even owns a Consul Capri..
We will be in for an early night tonight, as up and on the beach for a photoshoot at 7!!
So for the final trek north are:
Peter Bevans
Lindsay & Paul Lyons
Russell & Marilyn Sowry
Debbie & friends..
William & I

On to the Cape!!

Friday 20th November

2009-11-20T21:19:00.000-08:00

Hi All

Well we stayed at Kaihu motor camp last night and were lucky to have electricity, so an internet connection would have been easier from the moon...

We farewelled a few tour mates today, Ken Purcell heading back to Palmerston North (and getting a small shunt from behind on his way for his troubles), Jeff Carline returning to his home in Orewa and the gnome tied up in business meetings, leaving the following to head north:
Peter Bevans
Lindsay & Paul Lyons
Russell & Marilyn Sowry
Colin Worthington
William and I

You can see what happens when you leave Gnome and Lindsay to top up the oil..

Little did the Gnome know that we left him a little farewell present - A Parmolive Dish Washing interior - steering wheel, gear knob, handbrake, indicators, switches etc, lucky we left the brake, clutch and accelerator pedals alone!!

We then picked up some of the Northland members and headed across to Maungaturoto for lunch and to farewell Colin who was visiting his daughter and first grandchild, born last week..

Then off to the Kauri Museum for a photo shoot and then through Dargaville to our camp at Kaihu.

The President got the opportunity to acquaint himself with some of the local members, and got a ride with Kate Southcombe in her Calypso Capri.

A really delightful spot where the flying fox and our airbed was used as a raft down the rapids..

Then off to the local pub for a great feed and a spell of Top Gear in our cabin before hitting the sack..

Thursday 19th November

2009-11-19T11:37:00.000-08:00

Hi All

We all had a late night at Mike John's BBQ last night, hence the delay in posting the blog..

The day started with a sendoff by a group of bowling ladies waving tea towels to fare well us at the Lyons..

We stopped off for morning tea to Rae in Cambridge who is already looking for a replacement for the Capri stolen at Manfeild..

Then it was off to a dragster enthusiast and his daughter who were really enlightening on the finer points of drag racing. The funny car they are building will produce over 3000 horse power!! They even had mini dragster that can be driven by 6 year old and can do 8 second quarter mile..

We stopped for a photo shoot at Ngaruawahia where the Waipa and the Waikato rivers meet..

We called into Hampton Downs in the hope of a blast around the track, however it was being used by a group of bikers (damn)

Mid afternoon saw us blasting up the motorway and the hijinks started. Cars overtaking each other, videoing each other and some drag racing. This was halted by a certain camera lying in wait on the side of the road, the resulting pic will be added to the time capsule..

We got to the top 10 in Manakau to rooms the size of phone boxes..
Off to Mike Johns for a great BBQ, with meat kindly donated by Wayne Stockman. A chance to see Mike's collection, including the Brooklands sitting proudly out front.
A pity the Cologne was away for some panel and painting, but the whole family made us feel so welcome..

Then back to the camp and a night sharing a cabin with Peter, Gnome (yes he is back on tour), William and I..

Wednesday 18th November 2009

2009-11-18T00:29:00.000-08:00

Hi All

A fairly quiet day here in Roto Vegas.. We went around to Lindsays' at 9:30 and then "chewed the fat till nearly lunch time. The weather was really varied all day, had rain then sunshine and finally ended with heavy showers but fairly warm all day. We drove for a short photo shoot outside the original bath house (one of the iconic pictures in NZ calenders for years) and thank goodness the Gnome was not there to tear up the bowling greens in his Capri.

Then it was onto Lake Tawarewa and the cafe for lunch. It was at this point one of of crew was so desperate to use the loo that HE was unaware that He was using the SHE facilities!! We also had a great insight into the world of finer points of breeding Trout by Lindsay, which was real eye opener to a man that lived on fish fingers for years of flatting!

A trek around the lake continued, including a stop at the springs where Anna Larking lost her sunnies a couple of summer camps ago (they were no where to be seen by the way)

The day finished with a BBQ at the Lyons, with several locals making an appearance, and not so locals - Russell Cooper, Wendy and Mr and Mrs Frew amongst the clan..
A fairly early night for us, as some of our kids still have exams etc rolling on..

Off to the land of Auks tomorrow... wish us luck... (especially with my son William doing most of the driving - had his license 2 weeks!!)

Tuesday 17th November

2009-11-17T01:15:00.000-08:00

Hi All

While writing the blog last night we had visits from a number of Hawkes Bay identities, pictures for those who know them will tell the story...

A fairly subdued day, mostly involved in getting from A to B... We left the holiday camp at Napier around 10, with the Sewell's having their faulty generator with an alternator. We farewelled the Wrights from Wellington and after a short stop to gas up we were away across the Napier/Taupo Road. Having said to Samantha (my Consul Capri GT) that this was her last tour day (as we are taking Rosie the Mk 3 North from Rotorua) she decided to have a big fit half way across the Napier/Taupo Road. A huge backfire saw flames and smoke out the rear end, frightening all Capris behind me. She managed to carry on a few km's before coming to a complete stop. A quick look under the bonnet spotted the main positive battery cable lying on the top of the terminal! A simple matter of clamping it down, but the surge has meant I now have no brake lights or indicators (but the rev counter that has been broken for months now works!!)
A photo shoot in Taupo followed and then a quick lunch stop before heading to Roto Vegas.. Both Bruce and the Gnome decided to join us after stating they would head back at Taupo (the tour is infectious)..
A hassle free drive with all arriving at the Lyons mid afternoon..
A quick shot of the "originals" still on the tour is posted as well..

Dinner at the local CT club and then an earlyish night home.. (for me at least, the 2:30 finish at Gnomes Mums last night enough for me!!)

Rotorua sightseeing tomorrow...

Monday 16th November 2009

2009-11-16T00:02:00.000-08:00

Well another day another blog reporter… Many thanks to Karen for keeping the Capri World informed on the tour to date… So my turn to do the business….

A great lineup of Capris on the outskirts of Palmerston North this morning – 16 in total and a final final final farewell for Murray and Graham from Dunedin, safe trip home boys.

We set off for a photo shoot at the Ashurst Domain for the Manawatu Evening Standard and a chance to lend Russell and Marilyn a hand with their faulty generator.

Then it was off to the lookout at the Tararua wind farm.. And hell did it blow!! I cheekily suggested that if they turned the fans off it would not be so windy!!

Then off to Dannevirke for a lunch stop and more no go from Russell and Marilyn’s Capri to get going..

Everyone having a bbq dinner and boy does it taste good! Cooked by Warren and Josh ….Maybe the Tui should have stayed inside...looking at photos from 1988 oh boy…

Everyone having a good time and cant wait to head to Taupo.

Gnomie

The only probelm of the day was a call out to the local mobile sparkie to "alternate" Russel and Marilyn’s Mk 1 V4 due to generator failure…

Car Alert

2009-11-15T00:45:00.001-08:00

Be on the lookout for a red Mk 3 licence plate 044RAE – stolen from the carpark at Manfield and belongs to one of our members. If you see it contact the police asap.
See pictures taken the day before..

Sunday 15th November 2009 - Manawatu

2009-11-15T00:44:00.000-08:00

The day started out great, the area we had designated for us soon filled to capacity which meant we had two display areas of Capri’s. By late morning we had 55 Capri’s at Manfield – yes that is right fifty-five plus we had at least another 3 in the carpark. According to Cameron Lamont that is the most Capri’s seen in NZ in one place since 1972! It was a phenomenal sight and when we did the lunchtime charity rides it was an awesome vision to see the long track with a constant stream of Capri – although we have photos they will never really do the sight the justice that it deserves.

I think we more than impressed spectators and organisers alike with the number of cars that were there and also the wonderful condition. There were so many cars and the people all over the place that unfortunately I didn’t get a photo of every person and their car – but let’s hope we can sort that one out before we finalise the time capsule.

The lunchtime charity rides saw most of the Capri’s out on the track and I do believe that Graeme and Murray (our still on the tour South Islanders(not like some who piked out at Christchurch)) were over the moon that they both got a chance to put the car around the track. I think all up everyone got at least 8 laps and there were heaps of grins on faces from both drivers and their thrill seeking passengers. Marilyn Campbell even played host and took her MKII out on the track – she was tricked into believing the first part was just a parade but she looked great out there so I’m glad that Ed knew exactly what to say to get her out there.

Unfortunately the day was marred by the theft of one of our member’s cars from the carpark. Please be on the lookout for a red Mk 3 licence plate 004RAE and keep your ears to the ground of anyone that you don’t recognise who is looking to sell one or parts from the central region. Let’s hope that we can track the car down and it is found in one piece. And once again thank you to Lyndsay and Adele for lending their 2nd car to this member in order that he get back to Cambridge.

Tonight will probably be a reasonably quiet one as some of us have now finished our part of the tour – for me it’s been a very long week (two weeks if you count the holiday to get down to Invercargill), but one I would have been very sad to have missed – we have made some awesome new friends, solidified old friendships and laughed so hard we’ve cried – if this tour or anything like it is every repeated then my name is first on the list of tourers!

David Scadden will now be taking over adding to the blog although I will log in from time to time as I need to upload photos and update the who’s been/on tour stuff over the next few days. The blog has been well received and thanks for all the wonderful comments – make sure you hassle David if you do not see any updates over the next day or two (or perhaps I'll just make up some rumours of what's going on!). While in Feilding I did not have good internet connection which is why I’m a bit behind.

I wish I was on the rest of the tour but alas even I have work commitments too!!

Karen

Saturday 14th November 2009 - Manawatu

2009-11-13T19:38:00.001-08:00

I think it may be just mainly road cars out on the track for the charity lunch run tomorrow. Ron has crunched his car after a week of despair and a smiling face yesterday - he is not a happy chappy now! And we just heard that Lyndsay has suffered the same fate. JP's car got trailered once they hit Wellington last night and Ihaven't heard anything more since.

We have checked that the next destination of the tour is still there - so yes it's ok to head to Napier on monday! Well ok we were picking up The Gnome's racecar but just for the lunch time runs.

We've all been out to have a look at Peter Willoughby's collection - some wonderful stuff there - thank you Peter for letting us have a peek.

More later - I'm not always getting a good mobile connection and haven't had a chance to upload more photos but yes we are still taking lots - just make sure you get either myself, Lyndsay or David Scadden to snap a picture of you standing by the drivers side of your car - we need name, car reg and area that you usually live in or joined the tour at.

As promised - more:

It’s a good thing that Russell let Cameron bring his lovely race car down, it means that Ron & Lyndsay can go as dual drivers and complete their racing for the weekend!

Ron’s car although sporting a little bit of damage (ok it was the whole passenger side) was still driveable but alas it now looks like he has engine problems as it will not start! And no Ron you cannot use my passenger door as a replacement.

Actually the brilliant network that we have in the club has come to the aid of all those who have needed it – Jason has organised for his brother Brendon & father Max to bring down a GXL back end for Lyndsay and will try some of his own engine parts on Ron’s to see where the problem lies. Colin Bary is lending Darryl some wheels and wheelnuts so that he can run his racecar during the lunchtime runs tomorrow and Bruce Pacey found a steering arm part for Ron – sorry if I’ve missed other kind and efficient assistance – let me know who has helped who and I will mention it.
It was great to also catch up with the Wright family at Peter Willoughby’s garage, it’s amazing that one has to travel so far in order to catch up with others that live within 5 minutes of home!

What a line-up of cars in the Palmerston North centre tonight – really awesome – there was about 28 cars and not everyone decided to take their cars in, so can’t wait for tomorrow.Dinner was an event in itself – I think there was about 84 people who came from Auckland all the way through to Invercargill – although some of the meals had to be waited for it was worthwhile in the end. There were some very late partiers and pool players, we met loads of new people and I congratulate anyone who can remember everyone’s names.

Friday 13th November 2009 - Wellington

2009-11-13T00:20:00.000-08:00

Sounds like it's been a Friday the 13th for some of our members - those who were taking a leisurely afternoon ferry have been delayed due to rough seas and bad weather! Haven't heard (but then am in Feilding out of mobile range) if they've made it yet but let's hope they do as the others are departing from their accommodation at 9.30am tomorrow if anyone is interested in joining the convoy to Manfield.

However to combat that it certainly was a brilliant show and shine at Capital City Ford in Wellington - thanks to Conrod for organising this - we had 17 cars including many who had travelled down from the Manawatu just to show their support. Wellington initially put on a scorcher of a day but mid-afternoon the southerly winds started and although it didn't actually rain it was not warm anymore. It was also great to catch up on some historical members - Russell Lewis and Pat Haworth - 2 people i personally haven't seen in a very long time - yep and they live in the same town - shocking really aye!

Bernie Hiestand brought his Targa car down - thanks Bernie - it's great to see that a capri can still look good even while using it for such a tough competition. It's the same for all our racers too - they too show that the cars can still look good. (Have I done enough greasing here????)

I don’t always get much chance to write the comments and happenings that have occurred along the way that we think everyone should know – so the following are from the last few days:

· Peter Bevin is now Pacman Pete – we have discovered he gets about 28kms to the meal
· Murray made it to Christchurch but in order to head back to Mosgiel had to sneak out at 6.30am so he didn’t see anyone as he knew he’d be convinced to come along to Picton and he did get permission from Christine to do this!
· Don’t get The Gnome to pack the capri, he stuffs suitcases on top of President’s and causes claustrophobia panic attacks from girlfriends while leaving them both packed in the back of the car.
· We’ve caught up with Ron and life is now back to normal!!! Yeah right – a tui moment (apologies to any Belgium friends following – it’s a kiwi thing!)
· Has anyone worked out the average age of the tour yet?
· We’ve done 1907miles so far – but we know that Bruce and Jackie Pacey have done more –they had done 1100 miles by the time we saw them 3 days before the tour started!
· We’ve heard that Murray and Graeme are in Wellington but we haven’t seen them – and they have the time capsule!!!
· Have downloaded Lyndsay’s video – some awesome stuff there!!
· Ron was found underneath his car at Feilding
· North Island concourse cars should be pleased the South Islanders stay where they are – we have seen some stunning cars on our tour.
· Darryl has seen some parts of Warren that he wished he hadn’t! I.e. do not knock on their door if passing in the middle of the night!
· Who’s car has been chipped – watch this blog……

Thursday 12th November 2009 - Picton

2009-11-11T20:11:00.000-08:00

We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful morning to wake up to in Hanmer Springs - absolutely perfect! Lindsay, Darryl and Karen left early as we had to catch the ferry today in order to get to Manfield for scrutineering on Friday. Everyone else has been convoying through to Kaikoura for lunch and working their way up to Picton for the night - we past John Baker who was picking up the tour from the Ward pub so it was great to see that people are still managing to catch part of the tour if they want.

Tomorrow is the show and shine in Wellington at the Ford dealer (from either 1pm or 3pm-Conrod will confirm for me soon) and the morning will be taken up with the crowd still in the south being on the ferry - our ferry trip has been nice and calm - hope it is for those guys too!

We've not stopped laughing along the whole tour and the event is only 5 1/2 days in - I think we will all have very sore head muscles and stomach muscles from laughing so much. We've only managed to annoy one neighbour at the holiday camps so far - we got told at 1.30am to shut up - so we all moved over to Pete & Lindsay's room for an extra hour - Pete was not originally with us but he received a lovely wake up call! There were others there under camouflage but we can't mention names at this stage!

More later.....
Updated:
I understand it took about 8 hours to get from Hanmer Springs to Picton for the others - no there were no breakdowns just lots of sightseeing/socialising breaks. Lunch at Kaikoura followed by afternoon tea at the Ward pub/cafe, then another break at Blenheim for some to update their rubber collection - yeah well i guess you had to be there for that one. And from all accounts it was an early night!

For Darryl, Lindsay and I the dramas continued, the ferry was about an 40 mins late docking so we were running late and poor Lyndsay had to leg it off the ferry only to find that Conrod was waiting for him at the getting on end of the Bluebridge dock (about a kilometer away), so we delivered his bags to Conrod and text Lindsay to stay by the lights - he didn't know what we were doing when we took off with his bags! Then we were running late to drop Beryl (The Gnome's mother) off at the airport - don't worry we made sure we got her there on time! We also had relatively early nights. Only 6 days in and absolutely shattered (happily though)!

Wednesday 11th November 2009 - Hanmer Springs

2009-11-10T21:35:00.000-08:00

Today we headed for Hanmer Springs from Christchurch, farewelling all those wonderful people that we met during our stay there - thank you Christchurch you were most hospitable and we hope to see many of you again soon. We do however still have Murray S (have to use their initials as there were 4 Murrays on tour in the pub last night!) and Graeme with us as they are on their way to Manfield - tempted to write that we hadn't seen them but think Anne would've done some damage to his cars sitting at home!! :) We also had Murray F with the 3000E join us for the run to Amberley House where we had tea and scones with the Mayor's wife and admired their lovely home plus had photos taken of the cars on their front porch! Thank you to Loretta (and in absence Garry) for inviting us to your home - we loved the 2.8i 4 speed (in majorly mint condition-being one of the original first six imported into the country) and the mustang was to die for!

Before we totally leave the Christchurch tour we need to thank Murray W and Christine for being so gracious in bringing us home in the limo late last night - it was a great way to travel to and from the pub! We stayed us til 1.30am laughing at all the photos that we have taken over the last few days, Darryl also convinced myself, JP, Erica and himself to down more alcohol in the form of shots - only to later realise they were caffeine based only - no alcohol! And although Peter Bevins wasn't actually up with us he was later snapped running across the lawn in only underwear and a t-shirt - glad only Lyndsay saw that sight!

Anyway enough of last night's antics, today saw a small convoy go to Amberley and a slightly larger one from there to Hanmer Springs and then the rest of the group joined us later in the day. Some of the boys have gone off four wheel biking while others more sedate went to the hot pools for a soak. So a late afternoon of do what you want and now we are off to dinner - I promise to upload some photos later!

Tuesday 10th November 2009 - Christchurch

2009-11-09T20:52:00.000-08:00

A bit of a lie in as we didn't need to get down to start a tour of the surrounding parts of the city until 9.30am. However we convoyed perfectly (well nearly aye Murray W-will serve him right trying to get in front but getting stuck at some lights while we all turned off :) ) down to the beach where we formed an impressive 18 car line up - not bad for a working day aye! Some really really nice examples of different models - I was personally very impressed with the 3000E - a favourite of mine of course!

We tiki toured around the outskirts of the city through to Lyttleton - it's an impressive sound when you get 17 Capri's in the Lyttleton tunnel - some especially noisy ones also testing their horns! Around through the little settlement of Lyttleton and as we were waiting to turn a corner one of the road workman asked for some information on the run and the club as he had a MKI in the garage - seems these Capris are hidden in many a nook and garage aye!

A winding and twisting journey heading towards Akaroa with a brief stop enroute for Bruce to patiently explain to Paul how a convoy is usually operated in the Manawatu, and then a stop at the Blue Duck Cafe (closed), a worried JP and Erica thought they may end up with a tow to the nearest petrol station and so then we went onto the Little Valley cafe where Becs and Warren purchased a very fitting wind direction meter (an aluminium shaped wine bottle with spinning corkscrew in top to show wind direction). Kylie managed to grab the only Capri painted postcards that were available and JP filled up his car with gas.

A lunch time stop in Akaroa for a couple of hours with a show off of cars (16 now-no idea where the 17th got to) and then a brief police visit just before we were to leave. We did wonder if this had any connection to Marian's black eye that she is now sporting!!!

We let Lyndsay and Pete go on ahead so that they could get a couple of awesome video shots of the all the Capri's curving their way around the hills. And then it was off to the accommodation to get ready for the night - by the way we are being picked up in stretch Limo's to be taken out for dinner!!! And if anyone is reading this and would like to join us for dinner it will be a Robbie's on Cranford.

I will update the rest of the night later. In the meantime I am continuing to update the Who's on Tour blog from a few days ago.

Ciao

Monday 9th November 2009 (PM) - Christchurch

2009-11-09T20:47:00.000-08:00

Lunch at Timaru and there we bade a fond farewell to Tony - I'm sure it won't be the last we see of him and it was great to be able to share Capri knowledge with him.

We arrived in Christchurch having lost our way a couple of times and were greeted by a 1/2 dozen or so Christchurch Capri's - we had a leisurely stroll around another private car collection - a very interesting and varied group of cars with some amazing examples to be seen.

We were all a bit late but from what I understand the Christchurch group did themselves proud with the spread that was put on for the evening BBQ - unfortunately Darryl and I were unable to attend as needed to do a friend visit - so I will get one of the others to give me more of an update on the night.

Twas a long day, but with lots of new friends made well worth the trip.

Monday 9th November 2009 (AM) - Moeraki Boulders

2009-11-08T14:14:00.000-08:00

Ten Capri convoy from Dunedin today heading towards Christchurch - we are expecting Colin & Kylie who did the Cadbury Chocolate Factory tour and JP n Erica who probably got up late to catch us in Timaru where we will be stopping for lunch at the Off The Rails cafe - an old railway station converted to a cafe. We have picked up another Capri body in the form of Callum from Timaru who is sporting a very nice 1986 MKIII 2.8i - so that will make 13 capris on the road travelling together.

the journey continues.......

Sunday 8th November 2009 (PM) - Dunedin

2009-11-08T10:35:00.001-08:00

Dunedin – what a great city and we have had an awesome time, made even better by the beautiful fine day. We started off with a show and shine outside the AA centre which is down amongst the car yards. Gary washed his car twice this morning, but only because he and Marian got it dirty after the first wash when they went for a morning tramp! All of the cars are getting washed every 2nd day due to the driving and show n shining that we are doing – my own car has never looked so clean!

Anyway we had 19 Capri’s on show and an Otago Daily Times reporter came down to get some details and a photo for an article – so we’ll have to grab that and the Southland Times (hopefully Monday’s issue) to see if we feature.
We are compiling a list of everyone who participates in the tour in any way even if you just join in around your home town – we are taking a photo of each person with their car so that we have a complete record so make sure that you get this done by either Karen, Darryl or Lindsay when you join in. We are trying to get as many people as possible to carry the Time Capsule and the photo here is of Les & Sonya from Dunedin showing that they were there creating Capri NZ history.

From the show we convoyed 18 cars through and around Dunedin until we reached Signal Hill lookout – what a fabulous view – Lindsay and Tony thought they would get an even better view and climbed to the top of the monument and while they were up there took some great pics of the cars lined up 2 deep in the carpark – well the back ends of the cars anyway.

From there we split into two groups, some went straight to Carey’s Bay for afternoon tea while the rest took to the challenge of Baldwin St – which is recognised as the World’s Steepest Street (Guinness book of records in 1998) – it has a gradient of 1 : 2.86. All the attempts were successful (both up and even with the Capri brakes – down), and many of us our now sporting stickers to prove it – and there were even successes in walking and in Odette’s case running up the street!

Having joined the others at Carey’s Bay we all (17 of us now) then convoyed to Larnach Castle (one of only two castles in NZ) and took the opportunity to line the cars up along the front of the castle for our own personal photo shoot. We were nearly ready to go when we hear the distinct rumble of another Capri – and who should make their way up to join the crowd but JP and Erica – a nice surprise as we didn’t think we’d see them until Monday.

Then we headed down to the bottom of the hill for a well earned meal, some of us having taken our cars back to the accommodation so that we could do the responsible thing and celebrate Dunedin properly.
This meal was our farewell to many of the wonderful Southerners that we have been fortunate to meet this weekend, however not everyone wanted to leave so now we have an extra couple of cars for the tour north – do you think we can convince them to hit Kaitaia???? It’s been great meeting everyone and we have all made new friends who too have been rapt with the weekend – thank you Invercargill/Dunedin – we will be back!

Sunday 8th November 2009 (AM) - Dunedin

2009-11-07T11:11:00.000-08:00

Am taking advantage of an easy Sunday morning in Dunedin as I don't always get much time to download the photos and update the blog properly.

Some comments/happenings from the last few days:

Jackie works out how long she and Bruce have been together by how long Darryl (the Gnome) has been out of the country!
Peter has kicked Lindsay out of the bedroom for snoring.
Tony, Peter & Lindsay being in fast GXL's led the pack into Dunedin only to lose everyone behind them when we turned off for the accommodation!
So far no more breakdowns.
Invercargill is now officially more windy than Wellington (hence the masked man in a previous blog)
Colin Bary still has loads of "Colin Bary stories" to tell - some things don't change!
Sth Island convoys go at twice the speed of Nth Island ones.
JP missed his flight to Christchurch
Becs threw away her ticket from Chch to Dunedin in favour of driving the car from Chch
Bruce has been seen throwing caution to the wind in indulging in some spirited driving
Despite owning a capri for 25 years, yesterday was the first convoy of capris that Tony has ever driven in (well he would live in Invercargill!!!)

Who's on the tour

2009-11-07T10:55:00.001-08:00

Have realised that we haven't even mentioned who is on the tour - what car they are driving - where they are from - where they joined the tour/where they left the tour (if this is blank it means they are still on tour):

I will keep updating this post as people come on and drop off and I get the list of names from Lindsay!!

Who's still on tour
1 Gary & Marion Adlam - MkIII 2l S - New Plymouth - Invercargill/
2 Bruce & Jackie Pacey - MKII 2l Ghia - Palmerston North - Invercargill/
3 Karen McCarthy & Darryl Sutherland - MKIII 2.8i - Wellington & UK - Invercargill/
4 Jason Sole & Odette Herbert - MKII 2l S - New Plymouth - Invercargill/
5 Colin & Kylie Bary - MKI GXL - Palmerston North - Invercargill/
6 Peter Bevins & Lindsay Lyons - MKI GXL - New Plymouth & Rotorua - Invercargill/
7 Becs Armitage - MKI GXL - Napier - Invercargill/
8 Warren Hammond - with Becs (MKI GXL) - Napier - Dunedin/
9 JP & Erica Watson - (MKI) - Tauranga - Dunedin/
10 Graeme Dixon MKIII 2.8i - Dunedin - Invercargill/
11 Murray South - hitching a ride in Graeme's MKIII 2.8i - Dunedin - Invercargill/
12 Kevin & Jenny Lawrie - MKI GT - Nelson - Christchurch/
13 John Baker - MKI - Blenheim - Ward/

Who's been on tour with us:
Trish Shaw - (Tony's MKI GXL) - Invercargill - Invercargill/Invercargill
Anne South - hitching a ride in a MKIII 2.8i - Dunedin - Invercargill/Dunedin
Christine Wright- (Murray's MKIII 2.8i) - Dunedin - Invercargill/Dunedin
Richard & Roz Huuskes - MKIII 2.8i - Dunedin - Invercargill/Dunedin
Kelvin Read MKI GXL - Mosgiel - Invercargill/Dunedin
Les & Sonya Ingram - Dunedin - Invercargill/Dunedin
Roy Thomas - MKI GT - Dunedin - Invercargill/Invercargill
Angus & Kathy Mackay - MKIII 2.8i - Gore - Invercargill/Dunedin
Peter Stephenson MKI 1600 GTXL - Dunedin - Dunedin/Dunedin
David Cowie MKII 2l - Dunedin - Dunedin/Dunedin
Taylor Preston - MKII 2l - Dunedin - Dunedin/Dunedin
Steve Gill - MKI 3l E - Dunedin - Dunedin/Dunedin
Callum McDonald - MKIII 2.8i- Timaru - Moeraki/Timaru
Mark Taylor & Louise Scoles - MKI GXL - Christchurch - Invercargill/Christchurch
Mike Brooks - MKIII 2.8i - Christchurch - Christchuch/Christchurch
Paul van der Mys - Consul Capri/MKIII - - Christchurch - Christchuch/Christchurch
Murray & Vicky Forscutt - MKI 3000E - - Christchurch - Christchuch/Christchurch
Trev & Val McKenzie - MKII 3l - Christchurch - Christchuch/Christchurch
John & Julie Gray - MKIII Brooklands - Christchurch - Christchuch/Christchurch
Tony Shaw - MKI GXL - Invercargill - Invercargill/Timaru
Murray & Christine Wise - V4 Facelit - Christchurch - Christchurch/Christchurch
Steven Crow - MKIII - Christchurch - Christchurch/Christchurch
Chris Thomson - MKIII - Christchurch - Christchurch/Christchurch
Russell Kenney - MKI GXL - Christchurch - Christchurch/Christchurch
Murray Wright- MKIII 2.8i - Dunedin - Invercargill/Christchurch

Saturday 7th November 2009 - Invercargill

2009-11-06T22:23:00.001-08:00

Today I'll let the pictures tell most of the story....

Is this the President's new Capri?

Photo Shoot for Southland Times (note we managed to get a MKI II & III turn up for this-not pre-organised either)

Capri's on the move

example from the Truck Museum - fantastic and mind blowing!
(there are 210 trucks in this museum and various old petrol pumps, signs and memorabilia)

proof that we made it to Bluff

and the subsequent line up - the most capri's Invercargill has seen in a long time!

Who is this masked man? (Was it cold and windy in Invercargill?)

the time capsule starts its journey....

Friday 6th November 2009 - Invercargill

2009-11-06T03:32:00.000-08:00

A fairly quiet run down to Invercargill including a quick stop a Tuatapere for a sausage capital of NZ lunch.
Arrival was subdued – no fanfare – hmm!!! Though Lindsay was actually here but he was in a Roach and it took a few minutes to realise that we were in the same holiday park! However he had organised a photographer and reporter from the Southland Times – yee ha – though I doubt Peter was overly impressed with having to rewash his car just for the pictures!
A taxi ride down to the Workingmens Club ensured no capris were harmed in the production of Friday night’s dramas. It was a great night out and you wouldn’t have known that those from the North didn’t know those from the South. Something those who weren’there will never understand in what they have missed out on.

An early night of just after midnight though the Bary/Sole duets tried for this twice during the night, meant that we will be ready for anything that is thrown at us tomorrow.

Thursday 5th November 2009

2009-11-04T20:46:00.000-08:00

Back in the Capri today and a visit up to Milford Sound – what spectacular stunning scenery! And what a road – pretty cool up to the Homer Tunnel (which has a gradient of 1 in 10 and is 1.2kms long) and then into a winding ribbon of tar amongst the mountains until we reached the water. Would be a scary road in the Winter that’s for sure!

More beautiful views out to the Tasman Sea but alas no dolphins or whales spotted. We did get up close to some seals who were sunbathing (what sun?) and frolicking in the water.

Boy racer antics on the way back through the Homer Tunnel, with the windows down and giving it some revs – an awesome noise – hope the video does it justice!

A pretty quiet day on the Capri front (which is always good)! Jason and Odette travelled over to the Power Station and no doubt there will be some bevvies drunk tonight to celebrate Te Anau – hey any excuse!!!!

Tomorrow evening is when the official tour begins so the blog update may be a bit later so that I can let you know of who actually made it!

Wednesday 4th November 2009

2009-11-04T20:22:00.000-08:00

Today was rest day for the Capri, we headed off in the early morning to the Manapouri Power Station by boat over Lake Manapouri – it was a very very rough ride but fortunately no one on the boat was ill.

The power station is an amazing engineering feat and you get to go underground to have a look at the machine room – this entails going down a 2km tunnel by bus and then getting out to use a viewing platform plus having a look at the history of the place – I remember going there as a kid in the days before our wonderful health and safety policies came in – we were able to wander amongst the machines on the floor itself – now it’s not allowed but the look and experience is very worthwhile.

We then bused over a 12km road to Doubtful Sound and had a 3 hour cruise around the Fiord and out to the Tasman Sea. We came across a seal or two and also these Fiordland Crested Penguins (who are nesting at the moment).

Also on the Fiord is a Hotel - similar to those we will be staying in on the Official Tour.

We also walked back along the track for a while and Darryl came across some Weka – one of which was intrigued at the object on the log!

We heard from Gary and Marion who were staying in Wanaka tonight and then heading for Invercargill on Thursday.

Jason and Odette have arrived in Te Anau and the wind has obviously caused those windscreen wiper problems for their Mk II as well – must be a model problem! There was controversy between myself and Darryl on whether the car was actually theirs when we saw it as it’s now sporting some lovely plastic alloy wheel trims – I’m sure Peter will LOVE those! Gosh must go find some fluffy dice!!!

Haven’t heard from Bruce n Jackie or Peter or even Lindsay who is now supposedly heading this way – however he is flying over – cheat!

Tuesday 3rd November 2009

2009-11-03T00:29:00.000-08:00

A fairly quiet day today, travelling from Wanaka to Te Anau with a slight detour via the beautiful little historic town of Clyde oh and Clyde Dam of course - last time I was down this way they hadn't even flooded the valleys!!! This photo is of Lake Dunstan which is by Cromwell.

A quick drive through Arrowtown and a bite to eat in Queenstown and we were back on our drive through the majestic moutain ranges of the south. We haven't found another petrol station offering the same amazing prices of Franz Josef - perhaps they should be sent an award for the priciest gas in the country!

This photo is looking back towards Queenstown which is nestled at the base of the middle peak.

We're now holed up in Te Anau for a couple of nights and giving the 2.8 a well earned rest by taking a cruise through to Doubtful and Milford Sounds - apparantly there's been some whales seen over the last couple of days so fingers crossed we get to see them too! We were parked in the town and one tourist looked at the car and said "oh my i don't believe it, it's a ford capri" - so even down here we are getting looks and comments similar to those that we had on our North Island tour just before the Summer Camp earlier in the year.

Jason and Odette also stayed in Franz Josef last night at the same place as Gary and Marion and are making their way south over the next day or so - hopefully we'll all catch up Wed night. This photo actually has the glacier in the background but you may need to zoom in real close to see it!

While Te Anau doesn't have the hoopla that Queenstown has there are quite a number of places to eat and the shops are open until late - one thing that's missing though is a normal fish n chip shop - apparantly the bakery does fish n chips but only from Thurs to Sun!

Looking forward to catching up with everyone and also meeting all the Southern Capri owners.

Karen and The Gnome

Monday 2nd November 2009

2009-11-02T01:30:00.001-08:00

Well we’ve made it to Wanaka (yeah it was supposed to be Queenstown but…….) and since the ferry incident the car has ticked along beautifully. This would’ve been helped by the $1.89c a litre fuel it received at Franz Josef – oh and that was just for 91 unleaded, leaded is $1.95 a litre – so if you are coming down that way make sure you have gas and don’t need to fill up at Franz Josef.

We’ve caught Bruce and Jackie, parked in a disabled car park at a motel in Wanaka!!!!! Seems they have had the 2nd repair problem – sorted from a mate in Hokitika of a friend in Greymouth – theirs was a regulator problem – all fixed now even with the threat of “oh we should be able to get parts for that for tomorrow” – “yeah right” – anyway all fixed and they’ve done 1100miles since leaving home on Friday criss crossing the Sth Island 3 times so far in order to hit every pass there is!!!

Gary and Marion have also been spotted – living it up in Franz Josef at the moment – they are doing about 200kms per day a lot of walking and sightseeing is planned and we may hopefully see them before Invercargill.

Jason and Odette haven’t been heard of and are out of phone range – “Yeah right!” – but he’s planning on putting ½ the trip on as a work expense by “looking” at a job at Lake Brunner!!!!!

Peter Bevins has made it across the ditch and is heading down the East Coast staying in Akaroa. His co-driver is still at home – Yawn – how boring Lindsay!!!

It’s been a mixed day weather wise but all sun and shine in Wanaka though it’s got windy over night and I don’t think those MkII wipers hold onto the windscreen over night very well – aye Bruce!!!!

Forgot to mention that it is compulsory to start with a flat tyre – both myself and Jason have succeeded in this feat so far! We’ve tried to create space savers for the Capri!

We’ve taken the odd photo – a collection of A40’s – yeah well who but a real southerner would collect 10 of them – oh but he did have a rusty anglia at the end of the lineup!

Check out for the photo of the two jags planted nose first into the dirt – hmm a very interesting entrance to one’s property!

Bruce and Jackie aren’t fans of Motueka drivers so beware if you are planning to drive in that area!

We had a police escort past Hokitika – the first one we had seen and yep he was originally going the other way and turned around once he saw us – yeah Darryl was driving!!!!

So off to Te Anau and Fiordland tomorrow – looking forward to that great South Western weather – yeah right!
Karen & The Gnome

Sunday 1st November 2009

2009-11-02T01:21:00.000-08:00

In NZ you don’t have to go far in order to be in sync with your fellow Capri enthusiasts – it was a pleasant surprise to meet Jason and Odette on the Wellington Wharf sporting a fashionable yellow MkII.

A motley crew with Wellington in the background.

Yes we managed to have the first breakdown ½ way up the ramp onto the Bluebridge’s Satan Regina oops sorry the Santa Regina – so anyone heading onto this ship and having to go up the ramp to the first level – make sure all your bolts are tight!!! (And probably that the fillings in your teeth are in place too!) However the staff on board were great in allowing us to go down to the car once we hit the Marlborough Sounds to fix the car. Don’t know what the South Islanders would’ve thought about all the North Island river silt shaken from the yellow car while getting onto the boat!

So we parted at Picton, Jason and Odette heading for the winding curving dangerous piece of road running from Picton to Nelson via Havelock – (A Gnome’s mother’s suggestion) which is apparently really scenic but make sure you go during daylight hours – Jason and Odette figured that they had plenty of time and anyway it’s Peter’s car not theirs so nothing to lose!!! J

We headed for the South with no real destination in mind – turn right at Blenheim and perhaps spend a night in St Arnaud but alas we are in the South Island and on a Sunday by 6.30pm everything is closed – well just about – we made it to Reefton before we found somewhere to both stay the night and have a bite to eat!
We are off this morning heading on the next leg of the Southern Targa I mean Tour and will hopefully catch up with the Pacey’s or the Adlams in the next couple of days. Will keep you all informed.

The above photo shows how NZ still operates some rail and road combined bridges - what was interesting was that there was no barriers or warning lights to warn the driver if a train was coming along soon!