One of the highlights on the Big Buddy calendar is the annual Car Rally event. This year, as the country went in and out of lockdown, the events were looking precarious at times…
But, with much planning and organising from the team and supporters, we were so happy to hold fantastic Big Buddy Car Rally events in both Auckland and Wellington – with over 100 eager buddies in attendance.
This year in Auckland, our Big Buddy Car Rally headed Southside, meandering through the suburbs as they tried their best to decipher clues, at one point hopping out and sprinting to find the biggest Totara tree, taking a photo and then counting even more trees.
Upon arriving at the final destination of Wero Whitewater Park, some Little Buddies were overheard exclaiming “wow! you can swim here?” (sorry mate, it’s only for Kayaking!), before they spotted the trampoline and off they raced to jump off some energy. When the remainder of the group arrived, Sal’s Pizza, drinks and spot prizes were awarded to celebrate awesome participation!
In Wellington, 40 buddies came together under the warmth of a classic windy day (don’t we love it!). After closely following a set of cryptic clues that saw them navigate their way through various Wellington suburbs, tunnels & narrow winding roads, our buddies eventually made their way around the southern coast to the final destination in Newtown where Sal’s Pizza awaited them!
A lot of fun was had by all in both cities, and it was great to see the Big Buddy community (or village as we say!) gathering together. At the end of the day, little buddies were heard discussing key topics such as “did you get stuck here?” “how many diamonds did you count?” and the odd complaint – “My Big Buddy got us lost!”.
Congratulations to all of our fantastic winners on the day, including Wellington Big Buddy Craig Stewart & his navigator (not-so-little Buddy) Declan Ward.
We extend our warmest thanks to Big Buddy Ross MacDiarmid who created the Auckland route (fortunately not too many got lost!) and Reverend Allister Lane, Minister, St John’s in the City who kindly allowed us to adapt his Wellington car rally route.
Thanks also to the following for their generous donations of food, facilities and spot prizes: the team at Sal’s Pizza Manukau and Newtown branches for kindly providing lunch, Anna O’Meeghan from Wadestown Plunket for the use of their facilities, and Mark Sherwood from Life and Hope Ltd for allowing us the use their car park as our destination point! In Auckland, a big thanks goes to Angharad Sturrock and the team at Wero Whitewater Park for the use of their facilities, and to Suze Fitzgerald from the NZ Breakers and our Big Buddy, Shaun Hodgkinson for their amazing spot prizes.
Next year we may even head north! Join us – we’d love to see you!!
