'Five go to New Zealand' (21 February 2003)

OK, to tell the truth, it was actually four of us who went to NZ, but that doesn't quite have the same ring to it!

The event in question was the wedding of two of our key members, Jason Williams and Nicole Hill. They had met through the club several years ago and now they were tying the knot in Jason's homeland of New Zealand. Jason and Nicole kindly invited Gary Sereno and I to the wedding and this seemed like too good an opportunity to miss. It was a great reason to tell my boss that I needed to take 4 weeks off for the holiday of a lifetime.

The wedding took place in Silverdale, not far north of Auckland, in a pretty little old church. You won't be surprised to hear that the bride looked fabulous and the groom looked handsome too. It was a great day, even though it rained every now and then.

Sadly, both Gary and I were driving our budget 'rentals' (as hire cars as known out there) which left something to be desired compared to our cars back home. However, luck was on our side, as one of the guests had brought Jason to the wedding in their MX5, so we were able to get the classic club shot below.

For those of you with an interest in these things, the car in question was a 1.8iS in BRG, with tan leather seats and a Nardi steering wheel, almost identical to Nicole's old car!

As part of my trip, I also managed to squeeze in the Australian GP and the Melbourne Motor show. I've now seen a full production version of the RX8 and can't wait to give one a spin!

Bob Pain