We had a 90km drive to Maramarua Forest to meet Dale Perry and his team at Rally Drive NZ. Every 6 weeks, Rally Drive NZ conducts a weekend rally driving school for people to experience the thrills of rallying in a hands on environment. The first day (Saturday) they spend in Hamilton doing theory, then Sunday, they drive an hour or so north to the forest where they do the practical driving. If you don’t want to do the workshop, you can actually jump in a rally car with a driving expert and do a hot-seat lap in the forest. This is what I had organised for the three of us.
When we arrived at the forest, the boys were tickled pink, commenting ‘Oh cool!…We were going to watch some rally action!” But then when Dale greeted us when we walked up toward his marquee, and said “hi there Iesha”, my two boys swung and looked at me with big questioning eye’s… How come this strange man knows me, how come he was expecting us?? Ha ha ha
After an intro with Dale, we were then suited up in racing overalls and shoes and each were taken on a lap through the pine forest being driven by no other than NZ rally champion Mark Tapper. Oh my gosh, the experience is not easy to explain. It was terrifying and exhilarating all at the same time. You see these cars on tv with sometime onboard video, but until you are actually sitting in one of the cars yourself you really have no appreciation of the speed and the skills involved.
As I was getting out of the car, I was shaking from the shock, but I was just SO excited and happy… It was amazing!! My boys each had a same experience – the smiles on their faces was priceless!
If you want to learn more about Rally Drive NZ – Visit their website here- http://www.rallydrivenz.co.nz/index.html
An hour or so afterwards, we were back on the road heading southwards to our next destination, Otorohanga, which was approx 170kms away.
