SUN, BEACHES, AND CORONA

Yep, this is my favourite part of the year, the classic Kiwi summer. Who isn’t stoked to be hitting the end of the year and getting some time away from it all? But I feel for all of you working retail, and others who work through. Around the beginning of December, when the sun attacks my pasty skin, every second local shop is filled with the smell of pine needles, and the Coronas flow aplenty. It’s hard not to recall all the fond memories of cruising up to the Far North and fanging around the local beaches on a quad bike as a youngun. Summertime is the crème de la crème of the seasons, and the hot weather makes for the perfect excuse to pack the car with a few mates, a BBQ, a couple of dozen snags and the obligatory box of ’ronas, and revert to being full-time beach-dwellers. Bliss.

We’re also pretty damn spoiled for choice in the car world during summer, as the risk of rain is reduced to little to none (touch wood), and we can expect beaming heat for every event under the sun — no pun intended — that’ll be packed into the next couple of months.

I was lucky enough to head down to Timaru to cover the 4&Rotary South Island Champs for this issue and eagerly await the up coming Nationals. With a mere month and a bit to go, sadly this won’t be the year I finally enter something to display, but I will be there scanning the hundreds of sweet builds that will have come out of the woodwork after a long winter. I also hope to hit as many grassroots events as I can while the weather holds out.

If you’re attending any events and spot me there, feel free to come up for a yarn — it’s always cool to shoot the shit with our readers. You never know, yours might be our next cover car that we just haven’t seen yet.

So, kick back but take it easy on the way out to the beach, everyone — we want you to get there in one piece. And remember that the New Zealand Police is enforcing holiday-period fourkilometre-per-hour speed tolerances from December 1, 2016 to January 31, 2017, so make sure you drive safe.

Enjoy your summer!