MG 100th Anniversary Rally - done and dusted.

NB - PHOTO HEAVY POST

 WOW - what a great few days we had.  Tuesday morning we set off early to get to the starting point at Mercer - just over an hour south of Auckland.   We arrived early so had a good breakfast before collecting our Observation Rally instructions.... and off we went.  After a couple of kilometres on the main road, we turned off and it was all on secondary roads.  Such beautiful country side 

Beautiful Waikato scenery.   

Lunch stop was Cambridge where we all meet up again. 

Then back on the back roads for the next 3 hours till we arrived in Taupo.  We were staying a few kms out of town at the Wairakei Resort.  It had a superb outdoor swimming pool that was just so lovely and warm... heated by thermal power.  

Next day we head out to the Taupo Motorpark for a day on the race track.  Hubby had a blast racing the car.

Next morning it was off to Napier.  The scenery through the forest on the Taupo-Napier highway is spectacular... from high country plains through to forestry and down to sea level in Napier

It was really hot in Napier... up to 30 degrees C.  Thankfully our hotel had a pool so we were able to cool off at the end of our drive.   Napier is a stunning Art Deco city with the most amazing gardens. 

That evening the local Vintage Car Club provided a fabulous Barbeque dinner for us at their club rooms just out of town. 

Next morning we displayed the cars at Perfum Point and then headed to a local winery - Mission Estate for a fabulous lunch 

I've not got any photos of the next day's Motorkana as I left my phone in the hotel room.   It was another stunningly hot day so I stayed on the verandah at the Car Club as it was just too hot and dusty out on the paddock where the cars were going through their paces.   We ended back for cooling swim and a rest before heading out to the final dinner/prize giving.  It was a fancy dress dinner... 1920's/Art Deco style.

The two of us in our outfits and a sunning pic of the fountain on our walk back to our hotel at 10.30pm.

Sunday was a long day travelling back to Auckland - around a 6 hour trip made a bit longer by very heavy traffic coming into the city - stop start which caused us needing to make a few stops on the side of the motorway to let the car cool down.

All in all an incredible week - travelling on different road, meeting new people and trying new things.  

Now to settle back at work!

Hope you've enjoyed seeing all my photos.