Indian Owners Register of New Zealand (IORNZ)
10th Annual Redskin Rally - Feb 9-11 2001         100th Centenary

On Friday the 9th I left the beautiful shore of sunny Tauranga, the coast with the most, to head north again, back to Drury to pickup the chief I had left there since the previous weekend of classic racing at Pukekohe Raceway. (big thanks Malcolm).
An hour or more later I witnessed a hive of industry with dozens of Injuns being ridden off or loaded up to head off to Camp Adair  a YMCA get-a-way and rally location some 30 minutes or so away.

Once at the camp site the Chief was hurtled aside and the two Mike's commandeered the El Camino and we were off  on a piss run into Clevedon. After a couple of pints at the local, me and the two Mikes proceeded  to load the Ute up with some ales for the weekend,  149 dozen cans of beer, 15 dozen bottled mixes and 90kg of crushed ice from the local bait shop. Fortunately next to the bait shop was a garage where I could pump up the air shocks! Unfortunately their air pressure system couldn't get over 60 pounds so it ended up only taking air out of the shocks!!

The Camp is nestled in native New Zealand bush (oddly enough!) between towering trees and a clear burbling river. It's very well setout with 140 bunks and large kitchen and dining areas. After a speech from Steve, the 'Camp Mother' who outlined all the do's and don'ts to us with the practiced ease of talking to teenagers, we settled into the weekend with an early opening of the bar.
As the evening progressed the bikes and riders kept coming in from all parts of the country with a Wellington rider (Hi Rollie!) covering the 400mile journey non stop on his stock 741 arriving about 11pm.

About 2am, after my turn as bar bitch, I turned in and managed 3hrs of fitful sleep between the partying, the farting and the snoring before being woken in the morning too that venerable "v-twin din". So it was a shower and off to breakfast for 8 cups of coffee and a briefing on the afternoon poker run.

We we left around 10am, collectively forty or more bikes and enjoyed  scenic moments on the sometimes windy roads in the lower ranges, making a couple of stops along the way while the older bikes,  riders with hangovers and smaller machines like Ebo's '25 Prince caught up. A quick beer in the Mahua pub and off we went again, with the next destination being the Clevedon pub for a bar-b-que lunch prior to returning to camp for late afternoon gymkhana activities.
All-in-all a very nice well planned jaunt through the country side although the day was marred by a riding tragedy involving one of our long time members.

We all returned to camp determined to shake off the gloom and despair and carry on the rally in the spirit for which John would have expected. Attempts were made to get a gymkhana underway and some of us even witnessed a unique technique on how to quickly park your bike upside down!. But we instead spent the afternoon talking Indians, riding Indians, swapping Indians, repairing Indians, (Hi Steve!), cleaning Indians and cursing Indians.

The day progressed, the bar opened, and somehow everyone was rounded up into a group for photos and then onto the AGM and prize giving. I was fortunate to pick up the best post '40 (riders choice) award on my 51Chief for the second year running amidst chants of "3rd time and your out" ....so next year I might have to leave it at home!.

Prize Recipients and their mounts..

The evening chow-down followed, which was a traditional Hangi (~hung-ee)  [In New Zealand, the Hangi consists of a shallow hole dug in the ground. A fire is prepared in the hole and stones are placed on top of it. When the stones are hot it is prepared for cooking by leaving the hot stones (and some coals at the bottom of it) and covering the food for 6-8hrs]

which was washed down with more ales as a huge, and I mean HUGE, bonfire was setup for the last evening '100th Anniversary' celebrations. During the night our very own musician of considerable talent, Kerry Adams, treated us on guitar, vocals and harmonica in spite having his beautiful '46 chief (sidecar) seize on him earlier in the day.

The next morning between breakfast and lunch the goodbyes were being said and departures made. I left with the Wellington contingent T-Rex on his 46 Chief, James & 44 Chief, Crazy Dave on his '28 101, Rollie, Roger and Mark on their 741's and Steve on his 841 and we stayed the night in Taupo -  the trout capital of the world.

Thanks to Malcolm, Mike and everyone else involved in another successful rally and look forward to seeing everyone again in Christchurch 2002, if not before.