Club Magazine Articles

April 2000

PRESIDENT'S REPORT

By now all club members should have received invitations to our 10th Anniversary weekend. Talk about time going fast! I can remember getting into discussions about forming the club - 5 or 6 years ago yes, but 10? - to think that we are all 10 years older is the biggest concern!
Please make a point of attending this get together - we can assure you that you will have a great time - all the planning is under way - even down to the birthday cake!
There may be a couple of Zephyrs in attendance having their first outings for a very long time - that will be great to see.
If anyone knows the whereabouts of any of our ex - members please give us a call and we will make contact.
Any members who may have newspaper cuttings or photographs suitable for display please contact a committee member - they will surely be used in a display over Queen's Birthday Weekend.

Happy motoring

John Hull.
President

Notice of Annual General Meeting

Members are advised that the 10th Annual General Meeting of the South Canterbury Zephyr and Zodiac Enthusiasts Club will be held at the RSA clubrooms Wai-iti Road, Timaru on Monday 8 May 2000 commencing at 7.45pm.

Business -
Welcome
Apologies
Minutes of the last Annual General Meeting
Matters arising from the minutes
Finance Report for the year ended 31 March 2000
Committee Reports
Notice of Motion - To consider and, if approved, accept the new club rules as enclosed with the printed copy of this magazine
Election of President and other members of the committee
Subscription for the year ending 31 March 2001
General Business
Closure

The Annual General Meeting will be followed by the monthly meeting. Supper will be served after the meeting

A full attendance of club members and their partners is requested.

How To (Ab)Use Your Classic Car!

In November, I was talking to my friend John and asked what he was doing for X-mas, he told me: "I'm going to Lake Jipe Lodge with my friend, he is the owner". Then his friend turned up and said: "Hey J-P why don't you come along, it's a nice place, paradise on earth, blah, blah, blah. Since you're only two people, I'll give you a complimentary!"
I should have been suspicious at that point... Since I like using my classic cars, I asked how are the roads to the lodge? The friend said: "Perfect, National Park roads, blah, blah, blah". So I decided it would be fun to take the newly acquired Zodiac MkIII.
As the day became nearer, some details came to light, like we'll have to carry all our food and drinks. Eventually it transpired that the lodge was actually closed, and we would be "camping" there. So we duly loaded with crates of Tusker, food etc. and left.
There was a Nissan Matatu, a Nissan Debe pick-up and the Zodiac. Shortly before Mtito Andei, one of the back tyres threw its tread. Fortunately I had carried two spare wheels! So we entered Tsavo park at about 5.00 p.m., only to be told the lodge was about 130 kilometres away, so we would be driving at night!
Approximately 15 kilometres into the section, we went through a wet patch a bit too fast and the engine cut out. I sacrificed my handkerchief to dry the distributor cap and H.T. leads, and got going again. Then we encountered a very rocky section, and one of the exhaust manifolds broke just above the downpipe. Now the Zodiac sounded like a tractor, which proved useful to chase away an elephant which was blocking the road!
We made it to the gate and pleaded with the warden to let us in the southern side of the park, although it was 7.30, and the gate was officially closed. He told us the road was bad, and advised us to leave the Zodiac behind.
Of course we decided not to heed this advice and stick with all 3 cars. The road had been graded recently and was very smooth, but soon I noticed the car tended to skid, although the surface did not look wet!
In fact, it WAS wet, the surface was clay but it felt just like ice! I saw the Matatu slide into the ditch, and I lost traction at the same time, but managed to stay on the road.
After much pushing we got the ma-3 back on track, and I put 3 passengers in the Ford's boot to help traction. We set off again and after a few kilometres found the Debe nicely stuck, having spun backwards into the ditch. It took a lot of pushing to get it out and after that we all stayed on the road. We reached the lodge and found it was quite derelict, having been closed for about 3 years.
We tried to start the small generator with the Zodiac "spiral cell technology" battery. It refused and it transpired that the battery had just become totally dead...
We actually started it with the Debe's small battery only for it to seize solid 5 minutes later. It turned out there was no oil at all in it, we were all so tired that we all forgot to check the dipstick.
On the following morning, the car also had a puncture. So when a KWS 4WD Toyota turned up and announced they were going to Taveta, we hitched a lift as that road is impassable for cars. The puncture was fixed using patches cut from another tube. We also looked for front suspension bushes for the Datsun Debe, all the bushes in stock were cut from old truck tyres! We also managed to repair the Zodiac's exhaust using a lot of wire to tie the downpipe to the manifold, and gun gum to plug the gap!
We spent 3 days at the lodge and left on the 24th, having exhausted our supplies. We decided to drive to Voi, as this is a shorter route to a petrol station and petrol was low, the Matatu was consuming a lot. This turned out to be not such a good idea, as a bridge had collapsed on the main road at Ndii between Mtito Andei and Voi. We were told it was open again so we went, found it broken again and had to turn back to Voi and drive through Tsavo park.
We eventually reached here at 9.00 p.m., the car having behaved perfectly. It used zero oil, zero water and returned 8.5 km/litre on the road and 7.8 in the park, which is not bad at all. It is very pleasant to drive with the powerful and torquey 2.6 litre 6 cylinder engine and not tiring, even after a 500 kilometre drive.
It shows how usable a good old car can be.... I don't mind the limited damage incurred (a few scratches on the paint), the tyre, battery and exhaust manifold would have failed anyway sooner or later. I certainly enjoyed this more than spit'n polish in July...

J-P Roquier

Wedding at Lake Tekapo

The wedding between Mark Ghinn and Deb Grapes from Surrey in England, took place at the Church of the Good Shepherd on Friday 17th March (St Patrick's Day) with Ken Copeland and his MkI Zephyr convertible in attendance. Everything had been arranged with Ken during the month before the wedding by phone from England, with the wedding party and relations arriving on the 14th March at Christchurch. It was a small wedding, with only about 20 in attendance, two of those coming from Hastings, two from Australia and the rest from England.
Ken left Timaru at 8.00am, it was a grey day with a terrific fog over Burkes Pass and half way to Tekapo before it opened up to beautiful sunshine, no wind, and a flat calm lake. After using the chamois to get the moisture off the car, putting the hood down and fitting the ribbons he arrived at the church at 10.30am. It was a private wedding, so the church was closed to tourists for the half hour ceremony. During that time at least four buses came and went, with tourists pouring over the car, getting photo's taken with it, and many offers to buy or exchange the car. Even the church custodians enquired whether Ken would do any more weddings.
The bride and groom came out of the church after the ceremony for photo's. As this was the bride's second marriage she wore a cream chiffon skirt with a lace top and a flowered picture hat with a veil. The groom wore a black shirt and trousers and a paisley bow tie and waistcoat. The bride's son who was about ten years old wore a red kilt. There were no bridesmaids. Photo's were taken outside the church and at the lakeside. After travelling through Tekapo with people waving and calling out all along the way, they had more photo's taken at the lakeside near the camping ground, and at the Mt John Observatory. The reception was held at "Reflections", which is a restaurant at the hotel, and after a very substantial wedding breakfast, Ken took guests for a ride around the town.
There was then an announcement that there was a flight on Air Safaris Nomad for all the guests, and as some didn't want to go there was a spare seat for Ken to go along as well.
What a treat! it turned out that Mark was an engineer for the aircraft's manufacturers in England, and this was a promotional flight. There were balloons and streamers on the gangway and they also took photographs of the MkI and the aircraft that may be used for promotional purposes. The MkI was looked after while Ken flew up yonder on the "Grand Traverse" around Mt Cook National Park, and he came back to Champagne after the flight.
Ken arrived back in Timaru at 7.00pm safe and sound, and a very happy man!

Barbara Copeland

Photo's Ken Copeland

March's Hatchery Run

Eight Fords crossing three fords as they wended their way to look at a few hundred chicks. This was the situation that those involved on the club on Sunday 12 March run were faced with.
All made it to Heslip's Hatcheries at Fairlie only to find that the gates were locked and the cellphone reply was an answerphone. An appropriate message was left in the vain hope that it may be picked up before it was time to return home. The eight Fords belonged to the Spillane's, Ladbrook's, Hanifin's, Scott's, Hunter's, Warner's, Goddard's, and Paul and Melissa (Morland) and the fords crossed just happened to be dips in the road along the way - it is nice to know these dips are specially named after our cars! We all left the Doncaster at 1.45pm and travelled via a circuitous route around the back of Pleasant Point to join the main road again just short of Cave. On reaching Fairlie we turned right into Talbot Street past the golf course to the hatchery. With the gate locked all decided to wait and have a cuppa until Glen Heslip arrived, with an apology for getting the time wrong. "No problem" we said, the wait would be worth it.
The tour of the hatchery was fascinating. They take delivery of Pheasant, Quail, Ostrich and even some Chicken eggs from farmers from North Canterbury to South Otago and contract to hatch them and care for the young birds for up to three months. The first stop was to look at the baby Ostriches that were running around in small enclosures to our first sight of a real Ostrich egg, about 24 times the size of a chicken egg. The eggs are firstly placed in an incubator for a pre-determined time then transferred to a hatchery a couple of weeks prior to their hatch date. The eggs have to be constantly turned, mimicking their mother's actions during the hatching process. The eggs are kept at a constant temperature and humidity to ensure they hatch at about the same time. The eggs are monitored throughout the weeks they are being cared for, constantly weighed and checked with infra-red light. The infertile eggs are removed and either given back to the farmer or cleaned out and sold for $15.00 each. Some of these are decorated, painted and even made into jewellery boxes etc.
The tour took nearly one hour and then, having thanked Glen for his interesting comments and making a donation from the club, we all left in deteriorating weather for a bar-b-que meal at the Waipopo Reserve.
After some took a longer route than others did to get there we arrived at Bruce Brown's and most were able to park in his front yard.
After some Irish pool, darts and catching up with some of Bruce's exploits racing Mark 3 Zephyrs and Zodiacs as well as his 50's and 60's memorabilia we cooked and ate our food prior to heading for home.
A great day for those who attended with special thanks to Jacqui for organising it and to Bruce and Gay for their hospitality.

Godfrey

Upcoming Events

21-24 April 2000 (Easter)
Southern Connection Dunedin

Sunday 7th May 2000
Ashburton Plains Rotary Classic Car Run

3-5 June 2000
3-5 June 2000 SCZZEC 10th Anniversary Weekend Timaru

Easter 2001
International Convention Palmerston North

A cowboy rode into town and stopped at a saloon for a drink. Unfortunately, the locals always had a habit of picking on strangers, which he was.
When he finished his drink, he found his horse had been stolen.

He goes back into the bar, handily flips his gun into the air, catches it above his head without even looking and fires a shot into the ceiling.

"WHICH ONE OF YOU SIDEWINDERS STOLE MY HOSS?" he yelled with surprising forcefulness.

No one answered.
"ALRIGHT, I'M GONNA HAVE ANOTHA BEER, AND IF MY HOSS AIN'T BACK OUTSIDE BY THE TIME I FINISH, I'M GONNA DO WHAT I DUN IN TEXAS! AND I DON'T LIKE TO HAVE TO DO WHAT I DUN IN TEXAS!"

Some of the locals shifted restlessly.
He had another beer, walked outside, and his horse is back! He saddles-up and starts to ride out of town.
The bartender wanders out of the bar and asks, "Say partner, before you go... what happened in Texas?"
The cowboy turned back and said, "I had to walk home."

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