Nelson car show a ‘wheel’ success

Car enthusiasts from around the country descended on the Tahuna Beach Holiday Park over the weekend where close to 400 classic, vintage, custom cars and hotrods, were on show.

Scotty and Vicky Newport were at the event with their restored 1971 Bedford camper which they first came across four years ago.

‘‘We found it in a local barn in Nelson, had too many beers one night and decided to buy it, spent 18 months restoring it and now we have been using it for the last couple of years,’’ Scotty said.

Vicky said they thought the camper was the only one of its kind in New Zealand.

‘‘It is very unique, built in England by the Dormobile Company and we have tried to factory restore it as best we could,’’ Scotty said. ‘‘It’s been an interesting project.’’

Nelson Motor Show organiser Steve Steele said it was the fourth show and they had counted 5800 people through the gates over the weekend.

‘‘There was everything from a Triumph Herald to a Rolls Royce.’’

Steele said the show was getting bigger and better each year.

‘‘It was the best one yet, you don’t think we could get better but we have, we must be getting the formula right.’’

On Friday, close to 250 cars took part in a ‘‘super cruise’’ around Nelson, much to the delight of spectators.

Steele said over the weekend, the Tahuna Beach Holiday Park turned into a ‘‘wee town’’ with live music and activities for kids.

‘‘There is something happening all the time; people like that, there is never a dull moment.’’

He said he was one of many people who volunteered their time to make the event happen.

‘‘We all do it for the love of it.’’ An amazing feat. Rosenbaum’s marimba prowess would astound again later in very different tempo and mood with Matthew Barley on cello, performing Golijov’s Duo for marimba and cello, Mariel.

This was a subtle, surreal collaboration, influenced by Jewish klezmer music, the cello soaring with the beautiful melody motif, or holding an elongated, low note while the rod thrummed quietly behind.

You could hear a pin drop as Barley’s last long, single note faded out.

Before the interval, the timbre and finesse of James Campbell’s clarinet added an exquisite dimension to the New Zealand String Quartet’s sensitive portrayal of Brahms autumnal Clarinet Quintet in B minor, which drew the first standing ovation.

The luscious melody of Dvorak’s Serenade for Strings completed the programme, performed by the Goldner Quartet, New Zealand String Quartet, Troubadours and Joan Peranau Garriga on bass, the latter adding depth to soaring strings and glorious, stately movements.

This soul-filling finale built to a dramatic crescendo that again had the full house on its feet.

Truly, as festival chair Colleen Marshall said: ‘‘you run out of superlatives’’.