by Jennifer Alexander

Leyland's were in short supply for our November outing on Sunday 20th with only 3 available, those belonging to Ken Mckenzie, Murray Hatchard and Mark and Christine Hammond. However 6 "moderns" made up the shortfall and 16 people enjoyed the afternoon's events.

We gathered at the car collection of John Stewart who has around 200 vehicles stored on his magnificent property in Christchurch. This was our second visit as the blokes never tire of seeing lovely old cars, all beautifully restored and presented. Of course the "Peel Me a Grape" P76 was surely admired the most! (This car was bought off a Duncan Jones in Auckland some years ago) Meanwhile the ladies who have seen enough old cars to last them a life time enjoyed strolling through the beautiful park like grounds and gardens and inspected the wedding venues specially set up for the purpose.

At 3.30 pm we embarked on a "Mystery Tour" led by Ken and he took us through many back country roads to our ultimate destination - a viewing of the Greendale Fault which erupted on Sept 4th 2010 and was the precursor to the subsequent terrifying earthquakes which we have endured and survived. The countryside looks green and tranquil again but a perfectly straight road was left with a big bend and twist due to the forces of nature.

Our next stop was a cafe at the little town of Darfield for refreshments before we continued on our mystery tour which led to the Riccarton Racecourse Hotel back in Christchurch where we enjoyed a nice meal before going our separate ways.

Thanks to Ken for organising an interesting and enjoyable outing. Jenifer Alexander

As there were no pictures supplied with this story I will include one of the organiser's P76, a BA S V8 that regularly drives around the South Island. If you would like to see a picture of the Hammond's P76, assuming they came in the B as B D V8 please refer to the web site.