A warm, fine but slightly blustery day greeted the 16 cars gathered at The Papanui Club for the starting point of the Oxford Picnic run. At 11am we departed the club heading for the motorway and south to the turnoff for Yaldhurst on SH73. Because of traffic, we were in groups of 3 or 4 cars. We found ourselves at the head of such a group of cars, which was mildly stressful as we couldn’t see a car in front, so we had to rely on Ken’s excellent directions. Thankfully when we turned down Sandy Knolls Road, Ken had planned a regroup and all 16 cars regrouped. (phew). From here we took a meandering route through classic Canterbury countryside of sheep in paddocks, high hedgerows and pivot irrigators. I was relieved to see that none of the irrigators were near the road. We progressed through the settlement of Greendale, over Hawkins river turning into Cullens Road where we were treated to a magnificent view of the snow topped Southern Alps, another classic Canterbury view. We came out onto West Coast Road and eventually turned right onto Waimakariri Gorge Road where we navigated the unmarked speed bumps either side of the bridge (thanks for the warning in the notes Ken). We continued onto SH72, eventually turning right into our picnic venue at West Oxford Reserve. Here the group split into 2 “camps”, let's call them the shade dwellers and sun lovers, where we arranged chairs for a catch up and a bite to eat. Towards the end of the picnic, the breezy conditions encountered in town had turned into a howling gale at times and more than once we had to retrieve hats and unaccompanied camping chairs after they were blown away. Other than the wind, the weather was great, not too hot, and very sunny. All in all, a very enjoyable run and big thanks to Ken and Jill for organizing it

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On a fine and sunny Sunday, 18 magnificent Mx5’s left Ferrymead for the Crate and Barrel in Leeston. We met Al and Linda Gaston on their first club run in their 1991 NA, that they have only had for 2 weeks. Nice looking car too. No road trip to pick it up as they bought it in Parklands. Welcome! Passing through Sumner, lots of walkers and runners on the walkway and the speed freaks cycling down Evans Pass. Lyttelton harbour looked a lovely colour and the water was nice and flat. It almost looked swimmable, maybe in a few more weeks! The smell of wood in Lyttelton, Pete reckons it smells like gin, I thought it smelt like wood. Lots of big ships in Lyttelton, probably unloading their Temu stock for Christmas. The hills looked lovely and green going through Rapaki. Heading towards Lincoln, we spotted what looked like a small spitfire type plane is someone’s backyard. Pete informs me that the Springston Hotel was used to film parts of McPhail and Gadsby, a few years back. Passing through Lincoln, it looked like a really thriving town, plenty of people out and about. You can tell you are in the country when there’s a traffic jam because you are stuck behind a combine harvester type farm machinery thingee. Just as well, there was a bridge at Coes Ford as the water was flowing quite fast and fairly deepish for our wee MX5’s. We all arrived at the Crate and Barrel with a guest appearance from Lois and Kevin Thornley. Kevin just recovering from a cardiac arrest recently, all the best with your recovery. Lois tells me you are a good patient. Pete and I enjoyed a lovely homemade made mince pie and coffee, lovely pastry and plenty of filling. Quite a few of the gang had whitebait for lunch, looked like a generous portion too. On our way home we passed the aeroplane cafe just out of Leeston, unsure if this is still a going concern, looked good though. Thanks again to Ian and Denise Wilson for another great day out. Jacky Cook

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A hot blustery day but didn’t deter 30 members turning up for a Xmas party/lunch at Larcombs Winery. Two other functions were also being held that day, however, we were fortunate to be inside out of the heat to enjoy a natter and Xmas cheer or two. A buffet lunch was served with two meats and a desert followed by tea or coffee. The Xmas raffle was well supported and the lucky recipients being Karen and Mike Heydon and Andrea and Richard Coia. The Santa Bag of goodies will be going to Ronald McDonald House and the cash donations to St John Ambulance. Larry thanked everyone for their donations, summarised the year’s activities and what to look forward to in the New Year with participation from all the members. Karen thanked both Larry and Yvonne for their tremendous effort in organizing the day’s events. Paparazzi for the day our reliable Ron Finch. Merry Xmas and a jolly good ole New Year to you all.

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Thanks to everyone for turning up today on a day that had a terrible forecast. I don't think it was as bad as it might have been. Ten cars as expected rolled up at Harvey Norman in Pegasus on a bright warmish morning although the grey/black clouds in the distance didn't look promising. After several people had had a quick mosey round Harvey Norman’s we got under way at 11am prompt and set off at a brisk pace following our leader (Jim & Tracey) in "La MX5" towards Rangiora, taking a right turn off towards the golf course and then a nice road up to Sefton with all ten cars keeping a good pace and sticking together. After Sefton was Balcairn and then a brief couple of kms on SH1 before turning off towards Hanmer, proceeding through Waikari and finally arriving after about an hour at the Hurunui Hotel. By now it was raining quite hard, but it didn't dampen the day at all. Thinks to Jim for being the lead car using his local knowledge for a back road run to the Hurunui Hotel, it was an excellent route. Thanks to Tracy for ably assisting him and handing out a route guide. Run report by Andrew Elliot.

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