With a much-anticipated tag-a-long cancelled because of flooding and road closures Murray Taylor was left with a rare free weekend which he filled at a Vintage Machinery Expo.
OK, so with the Waitanguru 4WD Safari cancelled I was able to visit the Hawke’s Bay VIntage Machinery Club’s second annual Junction Vintage Machinery Expo just up the road (Takapau, Ed).
In stark contrast to points further north that day it was a great morning in the northern Wairarapa, just raining as I left the farm but that is almost normal these days.
To get to the Expo I headed up country, stopped at Woodville for fuel, then getting a rude shock in Dannevirke just down the road where I discovered it was 15 cents a litre cheaper! But that does seem to be the deal with fuel these days.
The drive was great, not that much traffic and then the event sign and traffic down to 50km/h for the entrance to a side road leading off SH2, and into a farm paddock opposite the Expo entrance.
Once parked I then dug out the parka and hat as it was (still) lightly raining, packed a spare battery for the camera and headed on in.
It had been a long time since I had been to a Vintage show, and it was great to just walk around, and look at the gear on display, the stationary engines, some running others not, the traction engines billowing clouds of wood or coal dust into the air, and the smell of heated oil.
There were also trucks from the real past and others that I remember, all in working order. A couple of 4x4s jumped out at me, a little one with an Austin 7 label, which looked like it had had some use over the years, even with a winch on the back...manual crank it was, so lots of effort to get one moving again.
There was also a display of Land Rovers driven around the centre ring, with the WW2 Jeeps behind all still moving, plus lots of other old machinery on display, tractors old and new, wheeled and tracked.
There was even a display of a (six) horse-drawn Gun Carriage from a time well forgotten, which circled the centre ring both inside and out.
The day warmed up and the sun came out at times making for a great day out, seeing something totally different, along with the Farmers’ Market and Kids’ Corner a very pleasant day indeed...
To read every story in the August 2017 issue of NZ4WD go to Zinio.com (July 21) or purchase your own hard copy at the Adrenalin store.
