The thoughts of an English PHer in NZ - as requested
Discussion
Here are a couple of sections from my travel journal as requested by a couple of people in an earlier thread. The first is the trackday I was lucky enough to attend at Pukekohe way back in the first week of 2006 (Cheers Graham.) 
The second piece is actually a cheat as it is about Hong Kong and an exotic car drive out I took part in out there. Those who read it enjoyed it so here it is again.
PUKEKOHE - 05/01/06
DAY 179- THURSDAY 5 JANUARY – PUKEKOHE TRACKDAY
I was up early and over to Greenhithe Automotive to join Team Westfield comprising of Graham (owner of NZ’s only Westy) and his friend Phil, owner of the garage where the car is kept not to mention very able mechanic. There were some minor last minute adjustments like completing the construction of the car trailer and making sure the XTR fitted on! We were soon on our way blasting down the motorway in the Holden V8 tow car.
We soon arrived at Pukekohe race circuit where an incredibly small selection of cars lined up for this private trackday – this was nothing like the chaos of the UK track events with hundreds of cars battling for a pit garage! There were plenty of Lotus’ on show including a crazy 230bhp Honda engined Elise, a Ferrari, some Holden Toranas and the usual eclectic mix of random motors including a Renault 21 Turbo and an XR6 Falcon!
Soon the XTR was off down the pit lane and I got chatting to Phil who used to work in World Rally with Ford, Porsche Cup racing, F3 and even F1 and had built plenty of racing cars with Graham’s weekend toy as the current bit of fun to work on! Worryingly the Westy was back in after less than one lap. Graham had spun the car and the problem turned out to be brake related – they had 100% rear bias! Phil got that problem sorted but the brake lights decided to pack up, luckily the car was allowed back out even though no one following knew when it was slowing down!
It was great to be back in a motoring environment with the smell of fuel and sound of engines as the cars flew past the pits. However it was time for the attrition rate to kick up a gear with 3 Elises coming off the track much worse for wear! The first car bent the brake discs and no amount of shaving the discs with a file could solve the problem. The second blew an engine and was towed home – that looked expensive! The 230bhp car came back towed by a truck and the owner borrowed Graham’s trailer for the journey home – guess it wasn’t the day for Elises!
The rain came down for a while so our day was over too. The XTR was pushed undercover and we gassed away until the trailer returned.
As soon as we hit Auckland we were in the middle of a massive rush hour traffic jam and the return journey became a 2 and a half our marathon after the one hour sprint south! It gave us a chance to share our daft car stories and air opinions on every imaginable car related issue. The car drew heaps of astonished looks from other drivers and the feeling of being watched was like 1984! No matter how many daft sports cars I am lucky enough to travel in, I can never get used to that feeling!
Eventually we were back in Greenhithe where I wished the team well after a great fun day. It was back to the world of a traveller for me, flights to book and back in Sydney by the weekend! I had enjoyed a great experience of the newly developing track scene in NZ and thanks to everyone who made the day such a gem!
HONG KONG DRIVEOUT - 15/01/06
I was woken bleary eyed at 6.40am by my piercing alarm clock and after cleaning myself up I was stood on the street corner waiting for my ride for the morning. Soon a V8 roar rung out over the crowds of taxis, buses and half drunk wanderers and a Ferrari 348 rolled into view driven by Mike, an Australian living in HK and my guide for the day.
We blasted out through the high rise blocks and onto the motorway to escape central HK and we were soon on the twisty roads of the New Territories. This was the polar opposite of HK Island with rolling fields, mountains and lakes in the mist - it was almost like being in China which is of course just down the road! Mike gave the car a good run with a cacophony of V8 soundtrack bouncing off the slopes beside us and suddenly we were at Luk Keng. The place is essentially just a traditional roadside cafe run by old Chinese ladies with a sleepy dog and rickety bicycle outside but on Sunday mornings it goes into overload!
We pulled into the car park behind a Ferrari F50 and Porsche GT3RS and the madness had truly begun. The car park was lined with Ferraris, Porsches, a Lotus and various banzai Japanese rocket ships - this remember is a back road cafe close to the Chinese border and across the water we could see the nearest Chinese settlement to HK rising out of the smog! We walked down the road to the cafe past various Ferraris and other supercars and took our seats at a plastic table. The waitress knew Mike's order immediately and we were soon tucking into sandwiches and hot tea! We got chatting to the guy at the next table who was from Manchester and had arrived on one of the many motorbikes lining the pavement beside the cafe!
This idyllic rural Chinese scene was soon broken by the distant sensational sounds of rung out car engines and we sat in awe as 2 911 GT3s, a Ferrari 550, Honda NSX and Nismo tweaked 350Z drove by and parked round the corner. Various unlikely supercars and sports machines rolled past as we sat in our deckchairs on the roadside and soon it was time to wander amongst the machinery on show. I got as far as the other side of the street when an almighty shout from the cafe signalled the most incredible arrival - a Pagani Zonda - one of the only ones in HK and super rare. The meeting had previously been surreal and now it had fallen off the end of the scale of madness - there aren't many places where this could happen except HK! As I marvelled at the Zonda, it seemed that the rush of supercars had begun in earnest with several Ferraris and 3 Lamborghini Gallardos rolling in within a matter of minutes! Finding a parking space was proving tricky!
I walked along the line of cars now in attendence and every one of them was a 100 grand supercar parked on an out of the way roadside in the middle of nowhere - unbelievable! Many of the cars had trade plates to avoid paying tax and to get round the law which bans LHD cars in HK - it was outrageous!
Soon it was time to leave and we were in the ultimate convoy led off by the GT3RS, F50 and including 2 Stradales, a 360 Spider, 348 and NSX rolling serenely through the New Territories countryside! We wound through little villages to the shock of locals waiting at bus stops and pushing their bicycles to market!
We were soon back on the motorway and the traffic light grand prix began. The GT3RS and F50 pulled aside letting the others cars blast off and we were able to run alongside the F50! The driver was taking it easy probably to avoid the speed traps everywhere although red lights and the motorway cameras didn't seem to bother him too much. The sound and presence of the car was out of this world and I even got a wave from the owner as I took a pic of the car, enthusiast to enthusiast - perfect! We passed the F50 as he kept it steady and blasted on down the road watching the laughably crazy scene as a taxi tried to race the 360 Stradale ahead of us!
All had gone quiet as we cruised back towards the city when suddenly a huge roar erupted somewhere down the road behind us and the F50 came flying past and off into the morning smog - obviously he was bored of going slow! Soon I was outside Shi Tan train station and getting back on the KCR to Mong Kok - it was time to get back to reality with a bump but what a morning it had been. In the middle of nowhere there had been a Zonda, F50, F430, 3 Gallardos, a GT3RS, 4 NSXs, 5 GT3s, a GT3RS, several 360s, a 355 Spider, M3 CSL, 997, Lotus Exige, 2 348s, plenty of 993 Turbos, a 911 Carrera RS, 996 Turbo and all manner of banzai jap machines. I have no idea how many millions of pounds of metal was on display but this is one experience I will remember for a lifetime - only in Hong Kong!
There isn't much else in the way of PH joy out in NZ from me really except the gravel stages run with Ben in the Legacy! That was great fun mate Hope everyone enjoyed the reading as much as I enjoy doing the activities in the articles 
The second piece is actually a cheat as it is about Hong Kong and an exotic car drive out I took part in out there. Those who read it enjoyed it so here it is again.
PUKEKOHE - 05/01/06
DAY 179- THURSDAY 5 JANUARY – PUKEKOHE TRACKDAY
I was up early and over to Greenhithe Automotive to join Team Westfield comprising of Graham (owner of NZ’s only Westy) and his friend Phil, owner of the garage where the car is kept not to mention very able mechanic. There were some minor last minute adjustments like completing the construction of the car trailer and making sure the XTR fitted on! We were soon on our way blasting down the motorway in the Holden V8 tow car.
We soon arrived at Pukekohe race circuit where an incredibly small selection of cars lined up for this private trackday – this was nothing like the chaos of the UK track events with hundreds of cars battling for a pit garage! There were plenty of Lotus’ on show including a crazy 230bhp Honda engined Elise, a Ferrari, some Holden Toranas and the usual eclectic mix of random motors including a Renault 21 Turbo and an XR6 Falcon!
Soon the XTR was off down the pit lane and I got chatting to Phil who used to work in World Rally with Ford, Porsche Cup racing, F3 and even F1 and had built plenty of racing cars with Graham’s weekend toy as the current bit of fun to work on! Worryingly the Westy was back in after less than one lap. Graham had spun the car and the problem turned out to be brake related – they had 100% rear bias! Phil got that problem sorted but the brake lights decided to pack up, luckily the car was allowed back out even though no one following knew when it was slowing down!
It was great to be back in a motoring environment with the smell of fuel and sound of engines as the cars flew past the pits. However it was time for the attrition rate to kick up a gear with 3 Elises coming off the track much worse for wear! The first car bent the brake discs and no amount of shaving the discs with a file could solve the problem. The second blew an engine and was towed home – that looked expensive! The 230bhp car came back towed by a truck and the owner borrowed Graham’s trailer for the journey home – guess it wasn’t the day for Elises!
The rain came down for a while so our day was over too. The XTR was pushed undercover and we gassed away until the trailer returned.
As soon as we hit Auckland we were in the middle of a massive rush hour traffic jam and the return journey became a 2 and a half our marathon after the one hour sprint south! It gave us a chance to share our daft car stories and air opinions on every imaginable car related issue. The car drew heaps of astonished looks from other drivers and the feeling of being watched was like 1984! No matter how many daft sports cars I am lucky enough to travel in, I can never get used to that feeling!
Eventually we were back in Greenhithe where I wished the team well after a great fun day. It was back to the world of a traveller for me, flights to book and back in Sydney by the weekend! I had enjoyed a great experience of the newly developing track scene in NZ and thanks to everyone who made the day such a gem!
HONG KONG DRIVEOUT - 15/01/06
I was woken bleary eyed at 6.40am by my piercing alarm clock and after cleaning myself up I was stood on the street corner waiting for my ride for the morning. Soon a V8 roar rung out over the crowds of taxis, buses and half drunk wanderers and a Ferrari 348 rolled into view driven by Mike, an Australian living in HK and my guide for the day.
We blasted out through the high rise blocks and onto the motorway to escape central HK and we were soon on the twisty roads of the New Territories. This was the polar opposite of HK Island with rolling fields, mountains and lakes in the mist - it was almost like being in China which is of course just down the road! Mike gave the car a good run with a cacophony of V8 soundtrack bouncing off the slopes beside us and suddenly we were at Luk Keng. The place is essentially just a traditional roadside cafe run by old Chinese ladies with a sleepy dog and rickety bicycle outside but on Sunday mornings it goes into overload!
We pulled into the car park behind a Ferrari F50 and Porsche GT3RS and the madness had truly begun. The car park was lined with Ferraris, Porsches, a Lotus and various banzai Japanese rocket ships - this remember is a back road cafe close to the Chinese border and across the water we could see the nearest Chinese settlement to HK rising out of the smog! We walked down the road to the cafe past various Ferraris and other supercars and took our seats at a plastic table. The waitress knew Mike's order immediately and we were soon tucking into sandwiches and hot tea! We got chatting to the guy at the next table who was from Manchester and had arrived on one of the many motorbikes lining the pavement beside the cafe!
This idyllic rural Chinese scene was soon broken by the distant sensational sounds of rung out car engines and we sat in awe as 2 911 GT3s, a Ferrari 550, Honda NSX and Nismo tweaked 350Z drove by and parked round the corner. Various unlikely supercars and sports machines rolled past as we sat in our deckchairs on the roadside and soon it was time to wander amongst the machinery on show. I got as far as the other side of the street when an almighty shout from the cafe signalled the most incredible arrival - a Pagani Zonda - one of the only ones in HK and super rare. The meeting had previously been surreal and now it had fallen off the end of the scale of madness - there aren't many places where this could happen except HK! As I marvelled at the Zonda, it seemed that the rush of supercars had begun in earnest with several Ferraris and 3 Lamborghini Gallardos rolling in within a matter of minutes! Finding a parking space was proving tricky!
I walked along the line of cars now in attendence and every one of them was a 100 grand supercar parked on an out of the way roadside in the middle of nowhere - unbelievable! Many of the cars had trade plates to avoid paying tax and to get round the law which bans LHD cars in HK - it was outrageous!
Soon it was time to leave and we were in the ultimate convoy led off by the GT3RS, F50 and including 2 Stradales, a 360 Spider, 348 and NSX rolling serenely through the New Territories countryside! We wound through little villages to the shock of locals waiting at bus stops and pushing their bicycles to market!
We were soon back on the motorway and the traffic light grand prix began. The GT3RS and F50 pulled aside letting the others cars blast off and we were able to run alongside the F50! The driver was taking it easy probably to avoid the speed traps everywhere although red lights and the motorway cameras didn't seem to bother him too much. The sound and presence of the car was out of this world and I even got a wave from the owner as I took a pic of the car, enthusiast to enthusiast - perfect! We passed the F50 as he kept it steady and blasted on down the road watching the laughably crazy scene as a taxi tried to race the 360 Stradale ahead of us!
All had gone quiet as we cruised back towards the city when suddenly a huge roar erupted somewhere down the road behind us and the F50 came flying past and off into the morning smog - obviously he was bored of going slow! Soon I was outside Shi Tan train station and getting back on the KCR to Mong Kok - it was time to get back to reality with a bump but what a morning it had been. In the middle of nowhere there had been a Zonda, F50, F430, 3 Gallardos, a GT3RS, 4 NSXs, 5 GT3s, a GT3RS, several 360s, a 355 Spider, M3 CSL, 997, Lotus Exige, 2 348s, plenty of 993 Turbos, a 911 Carrera RS, 996 Turbo and all manner of banzai jap machines. I have no idea how many millions of pounds of metal was on display but this is one experience I will remember for a lifetime - only in Hong Kong!
There isn't much else in the way of PH joy out in NZ from me really except the gravel stages run with Ben in the Legacy! That was great fun mate
Hope everyone enjoyed the reading as much as I enjoy doing the activities in the articles 
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