AWESOME
The Beach Hop in NZ was absolutely mammoth this year. This festival was already big, but this year it even rivalled Wintersun with the number of people and cars. If I was told 100,000+ I wouldn’t disagree.
There was wall to wall people and cars. The age group was across the board with masses of younger people right into the social aspect of the event as well as the culture.
The Whangamata Beach Hop is/was a car event, but everyone is/was catered for.
The organisers of the tenth anniversary Beach Hop played on a theme of Classic Cars & Hot Rods amongst Sun, Surf and the sounds of local and international rockabilly bands.
They promoted heavily in automotive magazines that resulted in international exposure for the event. The NZ Beach Hop now has broad overseas appeal and the promo paid dividends well and truly this year. There must have been truck loads of magazines and Tee Shirts sold.
We found out that a picture of Cliffs Beach Hop tattoo he got last year was put in a magazine.
The crowd dressed more in the garage style of Route 66 clothing that gave the event a trendier, cooler, younger vibe I thought. I didn't see too many poodle skirts, even among the dancers. Anything was OK to wear really with the usual Melbourne Cup style of dressing in costume or theme out in force as well.
As well as all the Hot Rods and Classics, there were also people with other special interest vehicles who rocked up and added to the colour of the event. Everything was free entry again. The organizers had lots of memorabilia on sale and they sold plenty. I presume that this is how the event is funded. Tee shirts, posters, hats, singlets etc, etc.
I flicked through a New Zealand tourist guide and read comments about many towns but the description for Whangamata was "For the Young and Horny". Well, I wouldn't disagree. In fact, I think I could add to that but I will save it for my book, sealed section of course LOL.
I spoke to some Beach Hop regulars who felt that the heavy influx of young people for this festival is a negative. I thought the opposite was true. I didn't observe any problems. You could not drink in the streets and there was a heavy police presence that I suppose would have kept control of proceedings. I think that the younger Beach Hoppers added excitement and vibrancy to this festival. A massive positive indeed.
Even though it is smallish, the town of Whangamata faces the Pacific and survives with a healthy income from tourism. There is warm waters, surf, fishing, boat cruising etc, etc.
The shopping strip has lots of modern shops, cafes, eateries & bars.
We caught up and mingled with befriended Aussies from Qld, Kurri Kurri, SA, Goulburn, Bright, Sydney and of course, many from Melbourne. They were all so overwhelmed by how good the Beach Hop is. They also commented on the great time they were having in such glorious weather.
I was informed that when the Beach Hop first started, it didn't have the presence of bands as it does now. Marie from Rockabilly Rebels who is a regular at Wintersun was the one who suggested to the organisers that the BH event should include some Australian Rockabilly bands, so the main man Noddy, went to Wintersun to check out the talent.
I have been to many Hot Rod events now. I am absolutely convinced that a rockabilly band with a fat thumpin’ bass sound and drivin’ back-beat is the most direct way to deliver a boost-like-effect to an automotive event like the Beach Hop. And the line-up of rockabilly bands for the Beach Hop killed em.
Walking down the streets and hearing the combined energy of the cars and bands was an adrenalin rush. Every so often there was the start up and revving of engines. The loudest sound you ever heard.
Firebird, Flyin’ Saucers, Flattrackers, Retro Rockets and the Atomic Hi-Tones were the Oz rockabilly bands who entertained. We drove past where Firebird were playing one night and I don’t think anyone would have seen them apart from the first 4 foot of the crowd as it was like sardines right out into the street. This was the repeated situation everywhere.
Rockin’ Daddy’s was the featured band at the main Saturday night Rock & Roll dance.
There were other Australian rock & roll bands from Qld & NSW who also catered for the dancers.
We saw the Recliner Rockers from New Zealand (I think they are some of the guys from the Voodoo Creepers) who were a very entertaining bunch of guys.
Marie and Dave from New Zealand were at the Beach Hop with their band the Rockabilly Rebels. You can catch them when they appear in Oz at Wintersun for their first time at Rockabilly Headquarters with Ignition.
A local Whangamatarian who goes by the name of Gerry Lee is a one-man talent show.
This guy plays the piano, sings and has his backing stuff to fatten his sound. He is absolutely fantastic. The rock and roll dancers just loved him and rightly so. If he ever ventures to OZ and comes to Melbourne, the rock & roll dance promoters should grab him. He is the best I have ever seen working alone like that and every song is very danceable.
The final day of the event was at Kickers Park. There were two stages set up for the bands, 50's & 60's, Kustom Kulture, craft, food, clothing and bling stalls. Also cars on show everywhere.
My favourite stall (food again as usual) was run by some back packers from Belgium, Israel, France, England and the USA (I asked). They were selling apple juice crushed in front of you, pita bread cooked in front of you made from gritty wholemeal flour (that they had ground themselves), then filled with avocado and hommos that they had in big pots (again made up themselves). They also sold organic dried apple that was so good. I never did get to try the mussel fritters but next year, I definitely will.
I thought to myself, "how amazing", to be 3 1/2 hours from home, in another country eating food prepared by people who had travelled 10,000 klms from several different countries. All sharing the beautiful surroundings and weather.
The funds raised by the Beach Hop go to the local emergency services.
In the Beach Hop magazine, there is a form for people to vote for the car they liked best. The top 4 cars are parked in front of the main stage at Kickers Park on the Sunday. Beside each car is a bucket where you vote by throwing in money. The car with the most votes gets an award, the honour and $500 for the owner. The money from the buckets goes to the local life saving club. Kickers Park has the Life Savers Club and building on it at over looks a surf beach. The winners of the major prizes were drawn on the Sunday as well.
The main prizes were a Harley, a Mustang and a Roadster.
Going over on the plane, our guitarist Kevin sat next to 22 year old USA engineer Keith who was taking a break from studying in Saudi Arabia to hitch hike round New Zealand for 2 weeks. Keith ended up hangin’ with us all weekend. We dropped him off Sunday on our way back to Auckland just before we turned on to Motorway 1. Kevin (an experienced hitchhiker from years ago) wrote a sign (SOUTH) for Keith to hold up. He had a ride, before we drove off. Personally, I didn't like Keith hitching and kept asking him if he had ever heard of Ivan Milat.
Advice! When returning to Auckland from the Beach Hop, allow plenty of time. We got stuck in bumper to bumper traffic with road works in a 40km section that made the 2 1/2hour trip nearly 5 hours with all the returning traffic.
We flew to New Zealand with Emirates and I was very impressed indeed.
We all talked to so many festival goers, locals and tourists all weekend. It is the best way to find out the best places for fishing. Next year, we are thinking of making a fishing/surfing holiday trip of it with our kids after Cliff has done his gigs. There is so much to see.
If you haven't been yet, watch for air sales and do it. If you combine forces with others, you can rent a holiday house to keep costs down.
Very good review Figster would love to eventually go to one some day..
Oh and by the the way It's Iven Millet, Bro..
Ps: knowing Kevin, from the early days when we played with Joe fox Talbot in the Jets, picking up stray's seems to be a pass time for our Kev, he says It's a social experiment lol.....
Another excellent write-up that included a description of your surroundings. It was like being there. I must jot down the Beach Hop on my 'To Do' list. Great spelling and grammar also Figjam. I'm impressed.
Live & let Live, Love & let Love, Rock & let Roll, plus related clichés.
Thanks for taking the time to do those write ups FigJam, and keeping us informed on what`s happening at various HotRod and dance festivals. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the New Zealand Beach Hop. I have been R&Roll dancing in NZ, and believe me 50`s rock and roll is very popular in N.Z, but never made it to the Beach Hop. But after reading your interesting article I think it`s time to check it out. So I`ll just add it to my Wintersun, Bright, Greazefest, Wintersun Mildura & Narooma festivals. Think I might just sell the house and permanently travel - HeHe.
Re: Beach Hop 2010
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