Thursday, July 31, 2008
'Not a booze trip'. Why not?

I read an article published in the Waikato Times over the weekend about the student car rally,, the 'Hori 440', being organised to travel from Hamilton to Palmerston North. The Waikato Student Union representative Andrew James (yes, THAT Andrew) was quoted as saying "The purpose of the event is not a booze trip" in an attempt I assume, to allay the fears of the non-student population about the notorious Undie 500. "That event has been canned due to the lack of support of Dunedin City Council and concerns about a repeat of the drunkenness of previous years. Other towns in the South Island have also banned it."

Personally, I have to ask....why not? Why is the purpose of this trip NOT a booze trip?

Last year the Undie 500, an epic event which those of us from the north could only hear about from our friends down south and watch the numerous videos on Youtube for years, sparked 'riots' and was subsequently canned this year. Student culture, particulary Otago student culture was put under the spotlight and couch-burning, all day/weekend/week benders and dress-up street parties were vilified on a scale almost on a par with civil war making national and international headlines.

New Zealanders and travel are now synonymous with us kiwis being classed as the most nomadic and prone to venturing around the world than any other population in the world in an article I recently read in The Australian. We're used to getting in the car, on the train, on the bus, on the plane, on the bike or in the Bongo with our mates and heading out into the wilderness. While the Undie 500 became a casualty of our traditionally good natured pastime, there are still examples of mass gatherings of boozing kiwi's having a GREAT time and without the chaos that ensued at the Undie 500.

The Waitangi Day Circle Line Pub Crawl in London is a massive event, one on a scale which the Undie 500 or Hori 440 could not compare. The number of attendees was pitched at around 12,000. Parliament Square is filled with New Zealanders cloaked in everything from All Blacks jerseys to Double Brown costumes and full up to their eyeballs on whatever New Zealand brew they can get their hands on and despite anti-terrorism laws which prevent the mass gathering of people in such areas, it is the one day in which this law is not enforced. I think it's pretty safe to say New Zealand is not seen as a terror threat....anywhere.

Domestically, other mass booze trips continue without riots and the drama that is anticipated with Hori 440. The Hawera Pushbike Pub Crawl sees people on all sorts of variations of 'bikes' having the most grand of days out, again without serious incident. And this includes drunk cyclists on the open road!

And then there are the thousands of other roadies that go on without sanction by a university or city council every weekend, long weekend, Christmas holidays, Easter holidays and everything in between. When was the last time you heard about a couple of car loads of friends being involved in some massive car crash? How often do we hear about these types of stories? Very rarely, if at all. The car crashes that we hear about are of young, stupid drivers trying to get away from the police in a high speed chase or of repeat drink drivers finally being put away after their 7th conviction. True, the statistics of young people killing and maiming themselves in cars is at times sickening and yet the 20-24 and 15-19 year old age groups rate the second and third lowest groups in terms of deaths on the New Zealand roads to date this year. The only age group with a lower representation are the 0-14 year age bracket.

Is it the safety factor that is most influential here? Or is it the fact that students have been branded with the 'out of control larrikin' label which strikes fear into those on the outside of this perceived cauldron of booze-fuelled mayhem?

Drunken student life is often seen as giving

Organisers of a planned Hamilton-to-Palmerston North student car rally later this year are confident it will not degenerate into the same sort of drunken chaos which marred the now infamous Undie 500.


The Waikato Student Union (WSU) has confirmed September 19 as the date for the Hori 440, which will see 30 cars spend between eight and 10 hours on the road from Waikato University to Massey University. Each car is likely to carry five people, one of whom organisers said would be a designated sober driver.

The event has been described in Waikato University magazine Nexus as the "spiritual successor" to the notorious Undie 500, which saw students travel from Christchurch to Dunedin, where alcohol-fuelled disorder in Dunedin's student areas resulted in a number of arrests. That event has been canned due to the lack of support of Dunedin City Council and concerns about a repeat of the drunkenness of previous years. Other towns in the South Island have also banned it.

"The purpose of the event is not a booze trip," WSU director and Hori 440 co-organiser, Andrew James, said.

He said the union was aware of the controversy surrounding the Undie 500, and was determined to ensure its own event would be well-organised and participants would be well-behaved. A specific post-rally event was planned, and participants would be well away from Palmerston North's central business district.

"We want to stay away from the middle of town so we're not a nuisance. At the end of the road trip there will be an event for all the competitors that'll be a bit of a party, with a DJ and food," Mr James said. He said discussions with police were ongoing, but the event did not yet have official support from management at Waikato University or Massey University. Mr James said that formal backing from the universities would be sought, and he was liaising with Massey University Students Association to organise the event. Accommodation options for Waikato students on the rally were being explored.

"There's obviously a lot of planning going on with this. We'll be contacting people at both ends. We've actually had really good feedback from the Palmerston North City Council. We're all working together to make sure it doesn't flop, and there is no carnage," he said.

Vehicles will be decorated, and among the prizes to be dished out will be one for the vehicle which records the lowest fuel consumption. Cars will need to be road-legal to enter.

Mr James said it was hoped the Hori 440 would become an annual event.

Waikato Uni student and WSU director Andrew James is helping plan the successor to the Undie 500, and it’s called…The Hori 440

By Andrew Neal

A student-driven car rally, a “spiritual successor” to the Undie 500, is being planned by WSU Director Andrew James and friend Travis Donoghue.

“It’s designed to be the pinnacle student social event of the year,”
Andrew “AJ” James said. It is planned to be held on either September 19 or 26 this year.

A convoy of decorated students and cars will is planned to depart the University of Waikato car park and travel to Palmerston North, making five stops along the way, arriving 8 to 10 hours later.

It has been proposed that prizes to be given to entrants for categories such as best dressed, best car, “and many more.” James suggests the entrance fee for the event will be “small.”

He added that he hopes to avoid the problems of the Undie 500 by having a specific destination in Palmerston North for a post-party to reflect and celebrate the day’s events.

“We’re providing an event at the end of it, there’s no ownership at the end of the Undie 500, whereas we plan on taking responsibility for the whole event,” says James.

There are proposed rules and regulations for the event to ensure all participants are kept safe during the journey, and James has begun talks with the Police and Transit New Zealand to ensure the legality of proceedings.

The event is planned to feature an environmental theme, and prizes will be given to the car with the least fuel consumption.

“Cars in the event will have to be “average student cars” with nothing worth over about $1500,” says James.

Initial talks have begun with the Massey University Students’ Union (MUSA) and City Council to achieve their input into the event.

Sponsors have also been contacted for the event and James says that he has had a good response from companies supporting the event.

Mysteriously, the stops will feature activities that have “not yet been decided on,” but are assured to be “epic.”

The event was voted on at the WSU on Monday July 7th and the event has been placed under James’ portfolio, thus making it his event to manage and control. Look out for AJ during B Semester “Fiesta,” as he will be doing a survey on the event.