The tent was erected, barrier tape laid out to mark the courses,
banners raised, and oh yes, Graham dug a couple of the "pit" obstacles a little deeper for good measure.With everything set up, we headed back to Waimauku to greet the arriving masses (68 vehicles in all).
Those attending included a good number of new club members, and visitors from Rotorua and around Auckland. Scrutineering went smoothly, as did the taking of money thanks to Ian's organisation. I would add
though, that it was again disappointing to see the number of people who turned up without fire extinguishers, with extinguishers that were undersized, or with extinguishers that were not certified. For this
reason, please refer to the section on extinguishers elsewhere in the mag.
Safety checks completed and wallets a little lighter, teams of 10-20 set off for the forest via the entrance at Muriwai. A leisurely
drive through easy tracks and metal roads was highlighted with some stunning views of the West Coast. Most of my group, which contained a high proportion of Rotorua visitors, made the most of the photo
opportunity. In due course we arrived at the sand pit where everyone consumed lunch before the official welcoming and the pre-start pep talk for the gymkhana course.
Official greeting and team brief
Teams of three vehicles tackled the course, which was laid out in two areas: a sandy area on a
sloping hillside, and a mud section in the clay pit area. Obstacles included deep sandy pits, a log bridge, deep sand hill climbs (well aerated by the Hiltons rippers), deep water wading, clay hill
descents, muddy hill climbs, and even the Hilton's transportation trailer which made a very slippery little ramp to climb.
All of the teams did very well considering the variety of vehicles involved. Unfortunately there
were two causalities. One Range Rover broke a dif and one Discovery managed to suck on a lung full of H2O. Fortunately the Disco was revived after having the glow plugs removed and a
little CPR administered.
Refitting the glow plugs after administering CPR
Roverland had a lovely HSE, a Series 2 Discovery, and an XS Defender 90 available for
chauffeur driven test drives, and a V6 Freelander available for viewing only.
The days driving finished at around 4:00pm, although some of the Rotorua team found it difficult
to stay away from the clay pit, and even Graham Hilton managed to get himself stuck on the muddy hill climb after the completion of the days activities. Boys will be boys!
People went their separate ways for the evening, but 70+ returned to the Hiltons workshop for a lovely spit roast dinner and the days prize giving. Due to the cold temperature, people flocked to
the warmth of the pot belly stove was like moths to a light on a dark night.
Everyone enjoyed a great meal
Party tricks!
After the lovely dinner, the formal preceding commenced with the presentation of the Gymkhana
awards (refer to the results below) and Mason Lee from Roverland did the honors by presenting raffle ticket winners with a great number of prizes donated by the Roverland team. Thanks Roverland!
And the winners are:
- "Serious Series" team from Auckland for highest aggregate score.
- "Red White and Blue" team, also from Auckland, received the "Worst Team" award for not functioning as a team!
- Andrew Holman, for not trusting his wife to guide him across the log bridge.
- The Hayes family for having the youngest pilot for the log bridge.
- Howard and Karen Oates for sinking the Discovery
- The driver of the Patrol for taking the longest time to cross the log bridge.
- The driver of the white Range Rover who left his co-driver at the top of the hill decent!
The prizes!
Each winner received an impressive sculpture created by the fair hands of a resident artist. But
hey, at the end of the day, the most important winners were all those who took part in what was a great day.
For further photos of Saturdays events,
