History
iGnaTius was purchased in NZ in 2009 to travel the length of the country in the first "Pork Pie" run, raising money for charity along the way. He was used for many years before rust caused him to be parked up. He has now joined us back in Australia since 2023 and will eventually be restored to his former glory.
A rundown of our first trip:
Day 1 Kaitaia to Taupo (580kms)
37 cars left Kaitaia, one car was having mechanical problems and the owners decided to return it to their home in Auckland and completed the run in their Subaru. The Gull service station in Pinehill gave all of the participants $60 worth of fuel vouchers. We all continued through Auckland to Team McMillan BMW where we met Lucy Lawless—and continued on to meet again at Pokeno and again at Taupo.
A group of 4 West Aucklanders (known as “the Westies”) restored a 1976 Mini to take on the trip and listed it for sale, the proceeds going to Starship. Every night they managed to convince the Hotel manager to allow them to park inside the Hotel. They were also the unofficial mechanical support crew for anyone who had problems
Day 2 Taupo to Wellington (430kms)
Leave Taupo and re-group at Horopito Motors, we drove through the yard in a convoy then got out to have a walk around. Continued to Wanganui for lunch, then to Southward Car Museum to meet the local Mini club and convoy into Te Papa where we parked on the forecourt for the community to meet us, this was a good chance to obtain additional donations for Starship.
Day 3 Wellington to Hokitika (380kms)
We all got up early to catch the Interislander Ferry at 7:30, the time spent on the ferry was another great opportunity to obtain additional donations for Starship.
Day 4 Hokitika to Alexandra (500kms)
We travelled down the West Coast where we all stopped at the Hari Hari store for a group photo.
Day 5 Alexandra to Invercargill (420kms)
The Westies engine blows up in Middlemarch, they instantly organise to buy another one in Dunedin and get to work installing it. They arrive at Invercargill a few hours late and drive straight into the function centre to join the final dinner. The car has since sold for $8,550.
Our car, iGnaTius, went well and got us home again. In the 2 weeks we drove 5000kms around New Zealand in this Mini and saw the northernmost and southermost points, drove down the west coast and up the east coast of the South Island, travelled the highest sealed road as well as numerous other passes, saw 8 of the 10 largest lakes in the country and the weather was perfect the whole time.
The latest update from Starship advised that they have received $118,000 which has exceeded everyone's expectations.
