After nearly 5 years away we decided it was time to return home to Aotearoa, the 'Land of the Long White Cloud', and there was NO WAY that we were going to leave the Trav behind!
Back home in New Zealand Morris Minors are becoming an increasingly rare sight on the roads, and none more so than the Minor Traveller. Thanks to much more stringent WoF regulations (MOT to the Brits), the lack of leaded fuel, the awful 'equivalent replacement', and an increasingly anti-old car Government non-Japanese vehicles are nearly a thing of the past. But we were not going to be disuaded. 'Moose' was going home with us no matter what!.
So we packed up a container load of belongings and had the Trav stuck in there as well. Allied Pickfords did a great job of packing all our stuff, we just had to deliver the car to their depot for loading into the container. It cost us about £1500, including insurance, for just the car.
We said goodbye to 'Moose' at the depot and then returned home to do the final tidying up before leaving for NZ. God houses are boring to live in when they're empty!
Whilst the Trav was in-transit in a dark steel container in the bowels of a ship, we made our way home via the sunny and warm cities of Marrakech and Los Angeles. Marakech is amazing, we stayed in a traditional guest home right in the heart of the old Medina. Highly recommended, even if it is a huge tourist trap. LA is just a trap.
Back home in New Zealand, the tenants had been kicked out a couple of weeks before, we moved back in to our house in Auckland and awaited the delivery of our Minor from the UK. It arrived right on time about 6 weeks after we dropped it off and there wasn't a scratch on it. Excellent service by Pickfords.
Since we were last in New Zealand, they've introduced comprehensive laws that cover the modification of any vehicle. And imported vehicles are looked at very closely indeed! We knew it could be a problem when we brought the Trav home so we had an engineer's report done on the car in the UK. It came out with flying colours, the engineer stating that it was significantly improved and strengthened, far exceding the requirements for the power of the new engine. Apparently NZ authorities didn't agree :(
I was presented with a list of things that had to be done before I could legally drive the car on NZ roads. - fit a dual circuit master cylinder - replace all copper brake lines with steel lines - replace all stainless-steel braided brake hoses with plain old rubber hoses - crack test the custom front suspension arms - fit crush tubes to the gearbox crossmember where the bolts go through it - fill all holes in the firewall (rubber grommets will do)
There will no doubt be more because the vehicle inspector still has to examine the disc brake adaptions, seat belts and seatbelt anchors, and seat fixings - any one of which could be deemed 'unsafe' and need 'repairs'. Three years on the road in England, 4 MoTs, and a thorough engineer's report mean nothing apparently.
So, on the anniversary of our return home to NZ, the Trav is still up on blocks getting the new master cylinder fitted. It should be back on the road ready for round two with the vehicle inspector in the next week or so. I just hope it makes it to this year's Beach Hop at Whangamata in April ... we did last year even though it wasn't legal ... (shhhh, don't tell a soul
