Where: Tanks For Everything; tank-driving experiences, McLeans Island Rd, Christchurch
What: Come on, admit it, you'd love to drive a huge Centurion tank with a gazumpa gun on top.
The throbbing roar of its 27-litre Rolls-Royce V12 engine and the clank, grind and shriek of steel tracks amongdiesel smoke and dust has an unbeatable bad-boy ambience.
Tanks For Everything has 12 military vehicles besides the Centurion; a FV432 16-tonne battle taxi, a 10-tonne Saracen armoured personnel carrier, an agile Ferret scout car and more. And after you've hauled on camouflage overalls and hard hat, and had a quick lesson, you can drive a few of them.
Jonathan and Wendy Lahy-Neary emigrated to Christchurch from Manchester in 2002 and two years ago, on a flight back from the UK Jonathan had a brainwave. "We've always wanted our own business and many Kiwis are petrol heads, so it fits with New Zealand's adventure tourism and it's a great excuse for me to collect cool toys."
Jonathan had to get a firearms licence and sign an affidavit that he would not start wars or overthrow the government before he went tank shopping.
"It's not difficult to buy tanks, there are dealers all over the world, but you have to haggle. Tanks aren't that expensive, the Centurion was only $45,000 but the price can double with shipping and paperwork."
Tanks For Everything leased dusty shingle land in pine forest near Christchurch and opened in late 2005.
Anyone over 8 can either drive a tank or sit in the commander's seat. The oldest customer was 82 and had driven a Sherman during World War II. He hadn't been inside a tank for 60 years but slipped into driving mode as if it was yesterday.
Besides one-off drives, which cost from $15 to $395, Tanks For Everything has a corporate package - there's nothing quite like bonding on top of a throbbing V12 - and hosts children's military-themed birthday parties.
Wendy, a schoolteacher, puts camouflage helmets on the kids, marches them around, gives them a ride or two in a tank and then they get to climb all over them.
