Kaikoura Weekender 2007 Report

We had decided (and by we I mean me!) that this was to be a casual weekend with the minimum of organisational effort on my part.  What that means is that there were no tour notes and minimal pre-weekend information, partly because with the minimum of organisation it meant that we didn't have definite plans.  The big advantage with this approach was that a) I was very relaxed when I got to Kaikoura and b) costs of running the event were, well, zero really.

Most people were staying at Donegal House.  By the time Ian and I got there after work everyone was well ensconced as most people had decided to take a half day so they could start relaxing early.  There were a number of new faces and it was great to meet them, as well as quite a few old (not necessarily in age, mind) faces.

I spent the evening applying a highlighter to photocopied maps to offer a suggested route for those that wanted a full day of driving on Saturday.  There were a lot of locals in residence and Brian Reid was offered the opportunity to take the group through a private local museum of classic American cars on Saturday morning.  As the weekend hadn't been highly organised, we were able to take advantage of this opportunity without too much bother.

Everyone looked surprisingly fit and healthy on Saturday morning.  We'd asked those that wanted to go to the museum to meet at 9am so they could follow each other there.  Most people took the opportunity and came back raving about the size of the collection, the size of the building and the amazing murals.

[If anyone that did go to the collection would like to write a few notes about it and email them through to me, I'd love to add them to this report as we didn't make the trip.  (These photos were taken by Bruce Keddie.)]

Everyone was back at Donegal House by 10am as the collection was only 5 minutes up the road.  After a short drivers' briefing and handing out of the maps, people were free to make their own way to Hamner Springs.

The suggested route was the Inland Kaikoura Road which, now that it is completely sealed, is a lovely easy driving road.  All the open tops set off with their tops down as it was a beautiful still day and not particularly cold.  There was a slight hiatus to the start for one participant because his car had to be pushed started but he was organised and had the car facing the right direction to make it easy.  Thanks for the entertainment Team Purcell!  Unfortunately my digital camera was waaaay too slow to capture the action.

Even though we were in our non-classic station wagon, we still enjoyed the drive through to Waiau.  There was still a lot of autumn colouring on the trees and it was very peaceful.  At Waiau we turned off onto a side road and ended up on an unsealed road, which was in fabulous condition.  The road was damp enough that there was minimal dust and you could see for miles as you blasted through the countryside.

After such an exerting drive it was time to stretch the legs and find coffee and cake in Hamner.  Its always nice as you wander around a small township to come across gaggles of cars like this.  As you can see, it was an absolutely wonderful day.  I think some people had even planned ahead and bought their swimsuits so they could take advantage of the lunch break.

We, of course, hadn't planned ahead at all so were forced to repair to a cafe and sit around drinking coffee and fend off a very determined wasp.  Its always pleasant to laze around in the sunshine and watch the world go by.  We even managed to fit in a little shopping.  To be fair I should say that I managed to fit in a little shopping.  Holiday shopping is always much more relaxing than that done during one's normal life.

We'd suggested that if people wanted to do the full drive that I'd highlighted, they'd probably want to leave Hamner at 2pm.  We headed off shortly after 2pm and didn't see a soul.  Turning towards the coast just before Culverden we aimed straight for the hills.  We'd done this route on an earlier Alpine and some of you may remember the 3 fords and in particular, the Dixon in the second ford?  As we hadn't test driven the route we had warned people that there were fords and we couldn't vouch for their condition but once again, the road was in superb condition, the third ford was non existant and the other two were tiny.

If you look closely at the picture on the right (thanks to Bruce & Leslie) you can see the road coming up the side of the hills on the left.  We kept turning right at intersections and eventually came out onto SH1 on the north side of the Hurunui River.  If you've ever wondered where that road goes, I'd recommend you go for a bit of an explore.  Good fun.

On the way back to Kaikoura I'd suggested people might like to take a bit of a detour through the Gore Bay Road.  Going to look at the sea is always a good option.  We'd decided that we didn't need to do that loop of the road and headed on back to Kaikoura.  We were staying at the YHA and it was still in the late afternoon sunshine when we got back so baked ourselves in the sun before heading off to Donegal House for dinner.

There weren't as many locals there when we arrived as there had been on Friday night but the fire was still roaring and the music was pumping.  Our group filled 3 of the large dining tables and the staff were kept busy ferrying our meals to us.  Lots of tales were told about past and new adventures and a good time was had by all.  All that fresh air must have got to most of us as it didn't appear as though there were going to be many people staying up particularly late.

We didn't have anything official organised for Sunday but once again had a drivers' briefing offering suggestions for things people could see and do around the area.  Ian and I had visited the baby seals that play in the stream north of Kaikoura about a month earlier, so suggested that people could see if they were still there.  And they were which is fantastic as you get so close to them.  The seals mothers head out to sea in the morning to go fishing and these babies have discovered that the stream has a waterfall so once they're 'home alone', they take off upstream to play.

Sunday was Mothers Day so we were a bit concerned that we wouldn't be able to get into a restaurant for lunch as a group.  We'd suggested that people meet up at a restaurant on the esplanade but when we got there early to see if there was room, we discovered it was closed!!  Staggering.  A group of us ended up sitting outside at the Encounter cafe just along the road which was great and you have a lovely view out over the sea.

It was a great way to finish a relaxing weekend away with our new and 'not so new' classic motoring friends.  Many thanks to Mel and Gill Peters who suggested the weekend away and then made the arrangements with Donegal House.  It was a thoroughly enjoyable weekend and we couldn't have planned the weather better if we'd tried.  We're bound to have more weekends away like this in the future so keep your eye on the diary, here and in the newsletters.

Stephanie Royds