Our Tours - Silver Fern Rally: 14th - 21st November 2010
The most anticipated Rally Tour event of 2010 - and we now
have another two years to wait for the next running.
Rallying (almost) like it was. 2wd and not so much traction
control! No notes, and driving the road on what you can see
for 7 days with six stages each. Total stage distance1059km.
An average WRC event is just 350km. Including touring the
total distance was 2909km - assuming you went the correct
way!
This year we used two landcruisers driven/guided by John
Kilpatrick and Dick Gardner to cover the event. The
landcruisers were fresh off the boat, having literally just
returned from their shipping home from the last
Beijing-Paris trip. Greg was disappointed to not be there,
but having just taken another week off to drive the lead car
for the Targa Tour, thought he could not manage it this
year.
As usual we continued to drive into and out of as many
stages as we could, securing some staggering mid stage
viewing points. This was especially true of Black forest
(above Lake Benmore) and the Lammermoor stage (Lake Onslow
and the old Dunstan Road) where we were many tens of
kilometers from the next spectators.
Our Highlights:
Shortest distance travelled before retirement - the first
safety car that never made it to the end of stage 1 before
suffering "electrical failure".
Best back flip after coming into contact with an electric
fence - Mark Tapper
Best day for volume of spectating for us was Day 6 - we saw
the whole field twice in the first stage, the whole field in
the third, fourth and fifth stages and the last few in the
last stage, as well as the evening service. Yes, the whole
field five times!
Overall I believe we got to 19 of 41 stages.
Most spectacular spectating Black Forest.
Roughest stage - probably Black Forest again, especially the
first caution that would have destroyed a tank . Lammermoor
does get an honourable mention here, though.
Our "Total Rally Experience" tour included recovering
vehicles, getting into stages before road closures, meeting
timing crews (start and finish), and assisting with mid
stage emergency radio points. We towed two vehicles out of
the Black Forest stage (one each) and also helped an escort
with broken steering up a steep bit in Lammermoor so they
could continue. We were just about to tow another through a
stage when they were rescued by their crew.
Two of our clients had a particular interest in car 59 a
Datsun 240z which was running in the later part of the
field, so we tried to see this on every possible occasion.
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Day one was a rude introduction to New Zealand weather for
our overseas guests. The bitter wind on the first two stages
on Banks Peninsula saw many spectators huddled for
protection on the leeward side of a stone wall. The call for
extra layers of clothing went out! This stage was also to
give us the first indication of the additional hazards which
can occur in rallying. An early competitor took out a
telephone pole beside the road on Le Bons Bay- but it broke
off about 6 foot above the ground, leaving the other part of
the pole on the road. Then another car slipped off the
bank, parking about level with the road surface. So many
people stalled trying to execute a handbrake turn at the
junction we were at. Then following service at Duvauchelle
we spectated at a much more open section of Bossu Rd ,
contrasting the tight stages of earlier which we then drove
out over, on our way back to park ferme in Christchurch.
Day two's route was a bit awkward from the spectating
perspective. In the end we opted for the whole field at a
series of esses coming out of Lees Valley (Ashley Gorge).
There was then a long touring to service at Mount Somers,
followed by another long tour to a stunning spectator point
on Waitohi Reserve near Geraldine before heading to Timaru
for a dinner hosted by the South Canterbury Car Club. There
we were able to catch up with some of the stories of the
first two days. Strangely this was not a late night.
Day three was our early start - on the road before the
safely crews to get into Black Forest mid stage. We secured
a fine spectating position with a view of the cars for over
10 minutes before they passed us, and with a further 3
minutes after they had passed. The only problem was knowing
where to look! with up to a dozen cars in sight at a time ,
and even two rally cars in frame in one shot, with a
kilometre between them. We helped two cars out of this
stage, which made us a little behind schedule, so we opted
for a superb blue cod and chips at Hampden instead! We then
had a quick splash and dash at Palmerston before getting
onto a junction of the Butter and Egg stage - before driving
out over the section it is normally named for - Ramrock
Road. And so to the first of our two nights at Dunedin. And
the rain.
Day four dawned fine and we intended to commit to the
(originally 100km) Lammermoor stage, but we managed to see
the first 20 cars on a stage before this, then rushed off to
get into Lake Onlsow before the road closure. We had 100 km
of stage to choose from, but I hope our selection met with
the approval of our passengers. In a surreal tussock
landscape we found a steepish approach to a ford which it
turns out was very photogenic. As we drove out the wreckage
of cars 3 and 19 was spread before us about 1.5 km short of
the finish. Fortunately there were no injuries. We managed
one more stage, the Otago classic Whare Flat, and managed to
drive this as well, before retreating to the hotel. Thanks
to Andersons Bay Rd Beaurepaires who were open way after
their normal time to service rally cars and who fixed our
slow puncture in 15 mins, and didn't even charge us!
Day five started off with a coffee at the Black Swan at
Waihola, then an old favorite corner with a jump in the
apex, before heading to Owaka for a great fast stage through
the native beech forest. Good thing we had 4wd, it was very
useful to get through the two muddy paddocks and the steep
ford to access the stage where the bridge was gone! Then we
headed further south, and after a strong disagreement with
Natalia and Karen our GPS units (useful tools but you can't
trust them yet)
we located the stage. This was always going to be
entertaining! from the moment I saw the intersection, I knew
it was nothing like the road book tulip, and this was a
"blind" event. I am confident none of the top cars we using
notes as they were all too committed to make the corner
cleanly. Brian Stokes' effort keeping the engine from
stalling while traveling backwards through the grass at high
speed was particularly impressive. Andrew Hawkswood never
even looked like turning and drove round the long way! Our
overnight was Invercargill where the Southland Car Club had
organized a dinner at the Bill Richardson Truck Museum. I
can only be astounded by this display, which has been much
further developed in the last two years.
Day six following a VERY helpful suggestion from the
organizers, (many thanks guys) we got up very early and
drove into Pebbly Hills, where we parked at a point where
the route doubled back on itself. We saw the cars once, then
again about five minutes later, coming the other way. We
ended up helping the lone radio checkpoint who had two
checks to do simultaneously. Following the tail car out, we
made it to the back of Mataura for Tutarau where the
backflip of the event was performed. Some great high speed
stuff here, big setups.. Then we grabbed some lunch and
hightailed it into Pyramid which was run the opposite
direction this year. Then like all the spectators we moved
on to Winding Creek for the whole field again. As we drove
out through the remains of this stage we encountered Gary
Smith with a blown motor. We had the strop already attached,
but his own service crew then showed up, so we left them to
it, and headed off to see the 240z come out of the last
stage for the day. Onto Alexandra for the service, and then
we moved on to Inverlair Lodge at Oturehua, for what must be
the highlight of accommodation on this trip. We cooked the
barbecue which had been left for us, and sat around and
watched the twilight. A fabulous place to stay and very
comfortable - Thanks Rachel. This was only 10 minutes from
the second stage the next morning - so we got to sleep in
too!
Day seven. The Last. After a quick recee though the stage
we selected a series of corners, and waited for the cars.
There were not as many cars as we expected. From here we had
to get to the Nevis - a long haul, and we only just made it
in time (but that's the secret of what RallyTours do, not
just in time is a disaster). We drove over Duffers Saddle
through a cloud, over a road which could safely be called
treacherous in places. We found a great spot on the downhill
stretch and waited, well off the road. Boy can it rain in
the Nevis! And did anyone mention wind?
Photographs were taken, but mostly from in the lee of the
landcruisers, or from behind big rocks. It was still !@#$%
wet. After the field had all passed we relocated with the
permission of the Clerk of the course (thanks Robbo) to the
hairpin at which we had got such great photos in 2008. Sadly
it was not to be, as the last stage was cancelled due to the
dangerous nature of the conditions. Fair call, it was worse
than on the way in. So we poodled into Queenstown, all that
was left now was the dinner and prizegiving. We toddled
along in a taxi and had the honor of being the first guests
at the dinner. I won't mention the only ones left after us
at the end of the night were Sue and Alan Baird.
Prizes were presented and stories were told.. If you want to
hear them all, you'll just have to come on the next tour!!
A special thanks to all our passengers for making this one
of the most enjoyable events I can remember - I hope you
enjoyed it as much as we enjoyed your company. JK & Dick
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