Treasure Hunt (20 July 2003)

The 9th annual Newbury Mazda Treasure Hunt was an event not to be missed! This year we were concerned that it would be cancelled due to lack of interest, but everyone was just being a bit lazy booking, so over the last 2 weeks a lot of people called Newbury Mazda, and thankfully on the day there were over 50 cars (100 or so people) attending on the day.

After getting a coffee to wake us up, and registering to get our clue sheet, we headed off, about one car leaving every 30 seconds or so. We were the 3rd car away this year, with another 7 or so WLA cars joining in the queue behind us. It was a beautiful day, perfect for a drive around the picturesque Newbury byways.

The clues can be anything really. Mostly they are little diagrams of road intersections and roundabouts giving the direction to take, but in between these are questions to be answered (such as "dog and ----") which you have to keep your eyes peeled for (e.g. as you pass the Dog and Duck pub!). Sometimes the clues are a mile apart, and sometimes there are 4 or 5 to write down as you exit a roundabout, so you have to avoid pelting off from an intersection and missing a load of clues!

Perhaps our practice last year (on a different route I hasten to add!) helped... we were surprised to be finding all the clues this year, and even got some treasure (a Mazda balloon!) after a nice jog up a steep hill to a ruined castle. At the end we found that we had been in the running for a prize, as our miileage and time was close to the actual mileage (we went a few miles over as we retraced our steps to find some missing clues) but we failed on one clue where we wrote 'deer' instead of the more specific 'stag'. Perhaps harsh marking, but as other cars got their answers perfect, we just missed out on a bottle of champagne! Still, we didn't expect to do that well, and we enjoyed the drive immensely (and we got a balloon!), so we didn't mind.

However, WLA were still in the prizes - Ijaz and his son managed a special prize for taking the longest time on the course - while most made it around in 2:00 - 2:30 hours, they managed 4:15 (clearly they enjoyed the drive too much!!) Tim & Diane won a bottle of champagne for the best surprise - a dog collar with a bell and some fluffy balls for the Newbury manager to wear so his staff wouldn't lose him!

The afternoon went quickly, with the British Grand Prix running on 3 huge TVs, and a barbeque lunch put on by the hard-working volunteers from the Newbury Mazda team.

All in all a fun and different day out - if you haven't done it before, be sure not to miss it next year - especially as it will be the 10th anniversary hunt, so it'll be an extra special event. We really need to support Newbury next year, as they say that it will be the last year unless the club really gets behind them. Wholly selfishly, I must say Come on, join in! Let's not let them down!!

Jason Williams
Photo: Phil Bradburn