NZ. "Latins By The Lakes" run.

We have just today completed the 10th bi- annual run for Italian cars, travelling to the West Coast of the South Island of NZ. 40 wonderful Italian cars of all makes took part, and Jo and I covered 593 miles for the weekend. As usual, 02688 ran beautifully. In the 28 years of ownership, she has never let us down.

We had a weekend of wonderful roads, company and food. There is nothing like listening to a 246 motor being put through its paces for a whole 3 days.

We have an even bigger run next April, when we will be taking her to Wanaka,also in the S.I , to participate in our NZ FOC annual meeting. That will involve about a trip of around 800 miles, all over great, uncongested roads.

We gave her a birthday treat before this trip, at Auto Restorations in Christchurch. We rebuilt the steering rack, rebuilt all 4 brake cylinders, fitted new pads and full set of hoses along with a host of other minor, but important jobs. The company are well known world wide for their work on very expensive cars and maintain another 3 Dino's that I know of.

I will get Jo to load up some pics tomorrow when she has time.

 

We look forward to seeing the pics John. Sounds like a great time!

 

Sorry, pics are still coming. Jo has been too busy to download them and I am too old and stubborn to learn how. Hopefully tonight!!!

Cheers,

John.

 

Been trying to upload Latins By the Lakes photos as promised, but for some reason computer not co-operating. Will keep trying. Cheers, John

 

Hi John

Did your run encompass only the South Island? A friend has been planning to attend a run with the Frazer Nash owners and is concerned about the news that the largest ferry between the islands will be out of service for an extended period.

Evidently there is concern that the event will be in jeopardy. Do you have any insights into the situation?

 

Good news is that they found the bit that fell off!

The propeller lost by KiwiRail's Aratere ferry has... | Stuff.co.nz

 

Hi there,

Yes, our run was based in the South Island only. The big news is that they found the propeller in about 80 metres of water so the ferry wont spend the rest of its life going around in circles!!!! Seriously, there are several ferries operating, but with this one out of operation, it will have some effect on available spaces and timetables. If you book well ahead, you will be Ok.

One of these days, you should bring your Dino'o over here for a tour. The West Coast roads in the South Island are magnificient and so is the scenery. We would be only too happy to help plan it.

We will try to upload pics again soon. Not sure if its our computer causing the problem or something else.

Cheers,

John.

 

Hi John

Thanks for your input. The people organizing the event are doing their best to keep on top of the situation. I am getting information third hand, but it seems there is some possibility that previously made reservations cannot be honored. The ferry that is down is the only one that can carry rail cars, so a lot of commercial traffic will have be loaded onto trucks and the trucks will displace personal vehicles on the other, smaller ferries.

I agree that your country is beautiful and a great place for driving. I have never been there but have seen pictures and video that my friend took. He lives in the USA, but keeps his car on the North Island.
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Hi there,

What a lovely car. Thanks for the photo. I guess your other alternative is to book the cars on Kiwirail. I have used them to bring a couple of cars down from the North Island and they were very good. They use covered wagons and its widely used by Ferrari and Lamborghini owners here. There is also the option,as you say, of car transporters of which there is a choice of many operators. Hope it all goes well, and to plan. The affected ferry is going to Singapore for repairs in the next few days. Why do these things happen at the busiest time of the year??
If we were China, we would probably have had a bridge constructed between the North and South Islands by now!!
Cheers,-John.