Targa Hawke’s Bay

Prologue

A bit late and somewhat short ! We are still a bit short on people but we will make it work! At present we are all congregating at Dinny's place in Turangi. Tomorrow morning (Fri) we head out of the gate at 6.45 all meet again at the Start of SS1, (just south of Waiouru) then proceed post haste to the two stages of Gentle Annie (Napier-Taihape road.) We stay in Napier tomorrow night (Fri) do one more stage on Sat, then after another night at Napier have two stages on Sunday after which we head back home. More details tomorrow night !!

Day 1

Hi all Well Day 1 did not start off all that well. After the number of our keen young lads dropped from 12 to 7 we were always going to struggle a bit. Coupled with some people not being prepared to go with their allocated teams this meant that we missed our 'out the gate time' by some 15 mins. Then after a toilet and fuel stop at Waiouru we were always running late. At this stage we had Dinny's team in Glennie, Warwick's in Chalkie, Dale's in Crusier, Leigh's in Townie.. We did not get a chance to do very much retraining but that's life. Dales major problem was one of his cars taking a wrong turn (right instead of left). Warwick's team had a couple of worse disasters though. When setting up flying finish a couple of vital 'signs' at Flying Finish were found to be missing- this probelem is in the process of being fixed. For 'Our' second stage of the day (some 40 km long) we had to do the taping of gates etc. Even with 2 cars and 7 people we did end up getting more and more behind time. So much so that we were caught by Safety 1, Safety 2, and even Safety 3 - all of whom were pressganged into helping! The good news is that although we arrived at our control well over an hour and a half late our FF crew set up in about 2 mins and the FC crew less than 5. Strange as it may seem as far as I can ascertain we delayed the stage overall by something like 5 mins - whew!! We are safely esconsed at Kennedy Park in Napier, the 'boys' had 'fish and chips' for tea, Dale, Viv and I had an adults meal at Restaurant Indonesia. Tomorrow we have only one stage each and don't have to be 'out the gate' till late morning. Tomorrow night we are planning on having BBQ style sausages and bread and no doubt a couple of beers ! More news tomorrow night

Day 2

Overall a better day. Out of the gate late morning (all 6 vehicles) refuel and on site well and truly early. Makes life a lot easier. Dinny's team at the start of SS10 worked really well and we (Warwick's team) did the Finish after collecting the 'missing' signs so basically everything worked really well. EVEN Rallysafe did not miss a beat! The fleetlink radios were fine too. Dale's team did the start on SS11, Leigh's team did that finish. We all met back at Kennedy Park just after 5 p.m., Viv organised a BBQ cooking the sausages, several people buttered the bread, and Dale and I got the beer. Quite a good night in fact - even if lots of the boys scarpered once the beer was almost gone and left the adults to cope with the mess!! But never mind -the crew really did deserve a 'thank you' for their efforts to date. Tomorrow Dale and Leigh's crew are out the gate at 6 A.M. and work through until 3 p.m (with two stages) Warwick and Dinny's are out of the gate at 7.15 A.M. (Again with 2 stages) We work right through till 5 p.m. that night ! After that we have to return some if not all the gear at Havelock North, then head home. The logistics for this massive task - remember we have 6 vehicles to worry about about, and 20 people (from Turangi through to Auckland to be got home in order to be back at work or school 1st thing on Monday morning!) have been done so details when we finally get home tomorrow night (late).

Day 3

Last day of the event! Our out the gate times made just a liirle bit harder for those that sat uo to watch (and even join in) the Royal Wedding. Timing team #2 (Dale/Leigh) had an oit the gate time of 6 AM (yes 6 AM0 which in reality meant being out of bed closer to 5 - oh joy! Timing team #1 (Warwick/Dinny) had a more respectable out the gate time of 7.15 AM, but (I have no idea why) several started watching rubbish on TV at 5.30 (instead of making use of the time to sleep in!!!). Also because this was to be our last night at Kennedy Park complex we obviously had to 'clear our rooms' first - not an easy job I can assure you. However I am pleased to report that 'our' team were 'out on the street' by the 7.15 deadline. Well done team. We each had just over an hour to drive to our respective stages, without incident as as I have said before by then all 4 teams were pretty much working like well oiled (mineral oil not alcohol) machines. After our stage we had pies the th nearest BP - what a pity there were no vouchers to pay for them - and on to the afternoon stages. We all had was what planned to be our final regroup at the finish of the last stage of the event SS19. But fuel (and other issues) meant that we ended up with another on in Taupo on our way home. Homeward bound logistics. Poko took Sunny straight to Rotorua and then to Dale's place at Tirau Monday morning. Dale (T) headed home Dinny took the Turangi contingent to Turangi - Dale brought Glennie back to Taupo. Viv dropped Leigh off at Putaruru then took Chalkie to Hamilton - I brought it back home Monday morning. Dale took his Cruiser from Taupo to Tirau I took Glennie from Taupo to Tirau. Meanwhile Jessy and Alexander took the Aucklanders right home in Townie - I bus up Tuesday morning to retrieve Townie. Epilogue in a few days once I (and the rest of the team(s)) have recovered somewhat.

Epilogue

A saga in itself !! Despite what can only be described as trials and tribulations, not the least of which being lack of numbers there were quite a few POSITIVES. 1. We fulfilled ALL our commitments - that is at total of 5 stages for #1 Start team (under Dinny) and 5 Stages for #1 Finish team (under Warwick) 2. Also 5 stages for #2 Start team(Under Dale) and another 5 stages (under Leigh) for #2finish team 3. It seems that virtually all who came have agreed to 'do it again'. 4. With only minor discrepancies we pretty much met all our 'out the gate' times. 5. Some of the MIT boys proved to be 'a real find' However it has to be said there were a few negatives too. 1. Starting with a 'team of 12' becoming a 'team of 7.' But as has hapenned before everyone remaining does step up to the mark. 2. This meant that far from our 6 person (minimum) team we would normally require some teams had only 4 (and a preponderance of newbies too). 3. Although I endeavoured STRONGLY to get everyone to 'latch on' to their respective POST CHIEF this really didn't happen and with an overall crew of 20 the phrase 'trying to herd cats' was most appropriate. 4.I had also tried to get the 5 vehicles all loaded with what was appropriate for each and every one mid afternoon on Thurs but was unable to really secure the co-co-operation necessary for such a massive undertaking. 5. To avoid taking an extra 2 vehicles (which would have made a total of eight), We took a couple of spring tops, for FF and SL use. Unfortunately without hold down pegs, sand bags etc the wind simply took them over! 6.There must also have been some mix up with the signs- #1 finish crew having only a start crew set. Timeline 10 May 2018 Dale and I had a meeting with Targa during which we agreed to 'put together' a total of 4 teams, under Dinny, Myself, Dale and Leigh. We also collected all the gear for the 4 teams including the 25w Radios, the 5w handhelds, 16 road traffic cones and the spring tops. 11 May 2018 I collected Viv and Dale and brought them to Duck Creek so they could take vehicles back home with them 12 May 2018 We fitted 25w radios, charged up all the handhelds and spread some of the gear around. Thurs 17th May I took Glennie (11 seater Hiace) to Pukekohe collected 4 MIT people and headed for our first regroup at Tirau. Dale had already collected Leigh from Putaruru, Poko arrived on the bus from Gisborne, Viv brought Chalkie (8 seater Estima) from Hamilton, Alexander arrived on the bus for Auckland at 4. We then all headed to Taupo to collect the 4 sets of Rallysafe gear then on to Dinny's in Turangi, We endeavoured to make up some numbers with only limited success.We slept the night in a variety of poses - Thanks Dinny. Fri 18th May We aimed for an 'out the gate' time of 6.45 a.m. not quite achieved because of another 2 pulling out and another wanting to select his own team. A fuel and toilet stop at Waiouru caused us to be later than we would like at the 1st 2stages. But we made it . We then headed to our Gentle Annie (West) stage, where we(#1 Finish team) had agreed to do the taping. It was felt that with 'only' 64 gates to tape and 27 driveways we should be 'allright' YEAH RIGHT. We had 2 vehicles, and 7 people but we also need the help of Safety 1 2 and 3. BUT even though were very late to our position, we fully set up in less than 5 mins and the stage started pretty much on time. We then all headed to Kennedy Park Holidy complex in Napier with the 6 vehicles where we had three chocka cabins. The team had fish and chips for tea, Dale, Viv and myself went out to Restaurant Indonesia. Sat 19th May A somewhat easier day with only one stage for each team to do - by now it system is starting to gel nicely. A BBQ and a few beers that night and of course the Royal Wedding to watch on TV too. Sunday 20th May. #2 team had an 'out the gate' time of 6 a.m., #1 a slightly more respectable 7.15 a.m. Two stages today, then what was intended to be a 'final' regroup at the end of SS19 the last stage of the rally. (Can I say another shambles?) 1. Euen took the Rallysafe gear (2 starts, and 2 finishes) back to Buck 2, Poko took the Sunny home to Rotorua 3. Viv took Chalkie home to Hamilton (dropping Leigh on the way) 4. Jessy and Alexander took the 'Auckland contingent' home in Townie. 5. Dinny took Glennie back to Turangi, Dale went with him to bring Glennie back to Taupo for me. 6. Dale /Marama headed home in their own ute. 7 Dale and I stayed at his place late Sunday night, Monday 21st May Dale took me to collect Chalkie from Hamilton Monday morning I brought it back home. Poko brought Sunny back to Tirau Tuesday 22nd May I bussed to Auckland to retrieve Townie from Alexander in Auckland and brought it back home. Fri 25th May Dale brought Glennie to Duck Creek and I took him back to Tirau So all our vehicles are 'back home where they belong'

MANY THANKS to all the crews #1 Start DINNY Poko Leiton Thomas #1 Finish WARWICK Viv Dominic Jamie Xavier Dale (T) Nikora #2 Start DALE Marama Werner Josh #2 Finish LEIGH Jesy Anuray Alexander And no I haven't sorted out nicknames (or even nametags) that may well be a treat in store!!! I still think I may well have missed someone. If so I apologise - the numbers from all the Post Chiefs ads up to 19, but I am sure we actually had 20 !