AmeriCARna

Hi all. First of all I know I said I would do a post on my Timeless Toys project last weekend. I then realised I had to make something for my Sister's birthday. With Pete currently unemployed I cannot justify spending a lot on presents so it was time to get creative. Unfortunately I can't post what I made her yet because I won't be seeing her until next week.

I still have to sort out what I have for Timeless Toys. I will try to do a post on that this weekend.

Today I want to tell you about AmeriCARna - a celebration of American classics. I thought my American followers in particular might like to know that many Kiwis are big on American cars. AmeriCARna is effectively a touring classic car event that started back in 2007 in our region of Taranaki and has become a very popular event, not only for the participants who get together for a week once every two years but also for the towns the cars visit or pass through. This year about 500 to 600 cars and a few motorbikes came to my home town of Hawera arriving about 12.30pm. The central business district was closed off and the cars parked along the streets so people could mill around the cars and get a good chance to view some fabulous vehicles. The streets were lined with spectators as the cars drove through the town with both participants and spectators waving flags. Shops and buildings were decorated with red white and blue balloons, streamers and Amercian flags. The cars stayed parked in the CBD for 2 or 3 hours and then travelled to The HUB, a local sporting complex for a gymCARna. Apparently the gymCARna gives the participants an opportunity to show off their driving skills as they manoeuver their car through a course. It would probably be great to watch some of the drivers manoeuvering some of those big cars around the course but I didn't get there today.

I did however get to watch a lot of the cars as they arrived in town as my work place is on the main street. Pete kindly also came into town to take some photos for me so I could do this post. We also took a short video of some of the cars arriving so I can have a play with my Adobe Elements Premier video editing software. Hopefully at some stage I will be able to put a little video on my blog showing some of the cars driving through the street.

Often Jamie and I walk to the exit of our town to watch the cars leave at the end of their day in Hawera, but unfortunately this year is started raining shortly before their time to leave to travel to New Plymouth, an hour away. I hope the weather is okay for them tonight as they are driving through the New Plymouth CBD tonight for a street parade.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy these photos. I think it would be a fabulous sharing a fun few days with people with a like passion. It would be like a gaggle of miniaturists getting together for a week long get-together with workshops, live entertainment, fun events, good food, music and show and tells of a mix of modern and vintage miniatures.

 

 Me checking out the dash of a Chevrolet.

  

 The office where I work.

Looking down the main street. There were classic cars parked along the CBD for a number of blocks.

Sorry for those of you who aren't into cars for this non-mini blog entry. I'm not really a car enthusiast but I love it when AmeriCARna comes to town.