Sunday 17 November 2013

Whew.... Hard Yakka......


Yeah hard alright to fit so much into 36 hrs. Still nothing ventured nothing gained.
Headed off up the M40 to the NEC centre on Friday morning to take a look at the Classic Car and Motor Bike show. A huge show covering seven connected exhibition halls, over a mile walking without the backtracking and side stepping to look at all the displays...

Leonie and me have talked about our "after narrow boat" plans and touring Europe in a motor home is the Go...

Well after reading Elaine and Pauls blog, The Manly Ferry, it gave us the necessary courage to make a decision...

And that lead to this little beauty.....













Yep, a Camper to be proud of... Based on the Vauxhall Viva but with a Tonne of "Upgrades".....

The interior features "everything needed for comfort"....





 
 Generous size stove.... Generous size sink come bather... fold up but not intrusive table top.....
and comfy lounger that features a fold down back... and a kettle  that will do several brews...

Which forms, and leads through to the......




 
Generous sized double bed room, not the ensuite model, ..... but with the leg extension and partition to close in the end..... Awesome......
Look... Leonie's so happy knowing what lies ahead.....

Then I saw something that Leonie had always wanted...... ( this is only the second stop)....



A Lamborghini..... now the bankcards hurting.....

Still Happy Wife Happy Life so we carried on and......
 




OH No she "Loves" these two....

This one even had....


A as new " ghetto Blaster " from the 60,s on the back shelf.... and picnic hamper in the front....

And so...



A test drive was in order but with the door shut found " claustrophobia" a problem.... Thank God the garage is full.....

Hang on a minute what about this one....
 




 A "T Bird" in "mint" condition....

But when the owner mentioned he'd.....




 Already turned down 44,ooo.oo quid moving on didn't hurt at all....


Some other exhibits not all on the wish list....



This Austin that showed great craftsmanship.... featured a touch of fiberglass moulded panels....

But started out life looking.....


Like this.... Own up if you had one.... Sikkkk....

A nice job done was on this....




Ford Popular sedan......



All steel original body.... V8 motor squeezed in there....

Moved on to cars one really does "Dream About"....




A Ferrari F50..... Ones meant to carry a "Gucchi" hand bag when posing..... Not a Bloody plastic bag with giveaways......




A 1969 365GTS.... new price was 9000.00 Quid........





A Bugatti racer from the 20,s....... Class.......
 





With a huge Supercharger for  extra "Grunt"..... would have been Frightening......



 

A "Gull Wing" Mercedes Coupe....



 .
 
And a more desirable Mercedes Convertible....


The Rolls Royce Phantom........


Is a hand built Alloy Space frame featuring more than 200 box sections......
 


 

A cut away of the power plant and gearbox.... V12 engine......

If only we'd seen this sooner.....




A VW Splitty camper.... Dammmm  the budget is already blown....




Look at those facilities... plus an extended lounge....

"Old Bikers" never Die.....



They always come back for more... "Winkle Peckers, Studs" and all....

No bike show is complete without the.....




 
Triumph Bonneville.... 69 T120  model.... This bike was originally won as a prize run by a bike magazine way back....

They only made less than 30 of this "Glitzy".....



Triumph model named Anniversary after the Prince Charles, Dianna wedding.... PPUUKK.....

Amongst the cars for sale section was this....



Ford "Surfers Wagon"... who said Wood doesn't "Rust"....
 

A rare and "Tasty"....



MK2 Zodiac convertible..... 25000.00 Quid she's yours......

The show was excellent took plenty more photos but had to move on.

Arrive back at the NB at 7.45pm then I jumped into the race tuned Ford Focus and raced off to a "Local" pub, 17minutes drive" to partake in the Texas Holdem  poker tournament,8pm, start. I crashed out of that early after making the top 5 the week before so home to bed...

Saturday morning we headed off to London cos there was something "Big" going down...

YEEHAA the All Blacks were in town to give the Poms a Spanking...

Parked in Hounslow on a side street, Free parking, and walked 5 mins, to catch the train to Twickenham, 2 stops and 10 mins....

The pubs were all....



"Going Off  3 hrs before kickoff.... 2.35 pm....

We had a Rondevous with Ian from Davmet NZ, Leonies Ex place of employment in NZ.  Ian was over on a business trip and he was carrying the next best thing to Gold... or Free Beer...



First the Catch Up in the pub....

And then he produced, thanks to All Black hooker Andrew Hoare......
 
 
 
 

Tickets to the game.... they were selling for 360 quid.....

After a beer we joined the masses and started the walk toward the "Holy Grail" of European rugby...

 

Twickenham Stadium.....At the Stadium showing the 'Colours".....

Walked up to our seated area and stopped for a beer looking....


 
Out at the crowds arriving... live music playing.. still 20 mins, to kick off...

Once seated, on halfway, the Poms unfurled a banner that....



Predicted there future.... Carry Them Home... there were some sore players out there.....
 

The ABs lined up in front of the  81,739 crowd, for the....

 

The "Haka"   war challenge...


The Pommy crowd  Drowned out the NZ "Haka" with some Crap song about "Ben Hurs Car" but the "Haka" must've Scarred the living Sh _T out of the Pommy players  Cos.....



 
 
Not 3 minutes after kick off we scored and DC, Daniel Carter adds the 2 points....
 

The Poms fought back, A Bit, with the typical penalty points, tries are a Rarity.....




They're on attack but the ABs defence is to "Bloody Good".....

The lights were on and the Poms had been singing and all "Merry" until...
 



Another ABs try and Aaron Cruden conversion "Shut Them Down"   Merry Xmas.....

Back to the train, back to the car, back to the NB.... home by 9pm... Not a Bad 36 hrs.....