Beautiful car.
Hi All,
Now that the CAT (Classic Alpine Tour) has been cancelled, I'll report on the VCAT (Virtual Classic Alpine Tour).
We left my place yesterday in the early morning hours and met up with Myles and Ross at the BP station on SH 1. Then we made a slight detour to New Plymouth to have a look at Lloyds newly restored A110 and have lunch there as well.
After lunch, we left and made our way to Wellington to board the Ferry late night. (10:30 pm). We got our cabins and had a 4-hour sleep overnight while cruising.
We arrived this morning at Picton and started making our way to Christchurch.
To be continued......
Have a great trip! We were scheduled to be in New Zealand this month at a conference in Christchurch, with a South Island holiday to follow, so we would have seen you there with luck!Hi All,
The real CAT is on and we have prepared the Matra as good as possible. Window rubbers are in but what a job!!!
The start for the two cars that are going all the way, (the others are transported down) are the Lamborghini Espada of Myles and Ross, and the Matra Jet of me and my son is tommorrow morning (Tuesday) around 6:00am for us to meet Myles and Ross at the BP station at 7:00. The day will take us down to Wellington where we will board the Ferry to start on the South Island Wednesday morning.
I will update as time allows so wish us luck!
Regards, Frans.
Wonderful. I remember driving up the Bombay Hills on our way to Morrinsville many years ago.Hi All.
Tuesday morning arrived and we left Auckland early to avoid the peak hour traffic. Then we met Ross and Myles in the Lamborghini Espada at Bombay Hill and set off on our trip.
We are the only ones who have the courage to do the CAT in Queenstown and drive down from Auckland. The CAT only starts in Queenstown with 3 official touring days.
We casually drove down to Wellington and arrived in time for the Ferry, crossed Cook Straight and arrived in Picton on Wednesday morning.
This is where our first hitch started with the Matra. The clutch wouldn’t release and the fault was traced back to the master cylinder. We got down to Christchurch and had a lovely stay with RubyAlpine. Thanks Henry. Much appreciated. We had a few attempts to get the clutch working again and succeeded but it lasted only for the first few kilometres.
We drove to a place called Te Muka where we stayed with Myles’s friends and tried another fix. No luck. The next morning we went to a clutch and brake shop and replaced the seals. Again it was only for a few kilometres.
We reached Queenstown Friday afternoon and entered the CAT officially. Then we had another go at the clutch and we were working on the forecourt of a Filling station to get a level surface for the jack. The Caretaker came around to see what was going on. What a luck. He was a Petrol Head as well and a South African. We got a drilling machine from him and I managed to drill another hole to increase the travel. Clutch working!!!
Saturday morning and we left Queenstown on the first leg. Drove some spectacular roads with amazing scenery. The drive took us down too a place called Gore. That is where we are now and tomorrow morning we will go to Invercargill. The most Southern town.
I hope to report back tomorrow evening. Regards. Frans.
Hi Sunroof.Sounds great Frans. Never been to NZ. Perhaps next year if I can persuade SWMBO that we should do a tour tour. I am not really a fan of touristy tours. But SWMBO will not admit she is now too old to navigate in France but NZ may be a bit easier. At least you chaps speak English.