General Beach Hop Talk

[Hillbilly]

Hi there
Got our Ultimate Pass tags and distributed them to everyone in our household. We're so excited we're just about peeing our pants to get down there. Chevy finally registered and warranted on Thursday and we're off on the Pukekohe Cruise tomorrow for a bit of a blow out.
I see that the U Pass holders are starting somewhere else in the parade this year. Does this mean that everyone still gets to see us cruise past?...and where is the wharf? Is it the north side of town down by the estuary?...
Seeya soon....can't wait ;D

[Pontiac Pete]

Hillbilly said:

We're so excited we're just about peeing our pants

DOWN BOY!

[Beach Hop Rock'n'Roll Festival]

Howdy Hillbilly!

Pleased that NZ Post delivered your Ultimate Passes on time. We've just finished making up all the Ultimate Packs ready for you to collect - what a mission! Special Edition T Shirts, Baseball Caps, Programmes, and Posters into each one........

Yes, we have the Ultimate Pass cars assembling down at the Beach Road reserve. This is at the Northern end of town and right by the harbour where all the boats are moored - a beautiful backdrop. The Ultimate Cars will approach the Main Street from the Northern direction which is opposite to all the others. We are promoting to the public that they can view the Ultimate Cars along this route and even have the route maps in the local paper. You will notice that we have really spread things out this year with more bands playing at the northern end of town than in the middle.

There are lots of advantages of having the Ultimate Pass cars doing it like this including a shorter cruise with no one else to hold you up means the cars won't get so hot. And you get first shot at parking in the Main Street - if you want. We take feedback from each year and make changes to try and keep everyone happy.......

I hope this helps!

Noddy

P.S Have a good cruise with the Puke Club!

[Hillbilly]

Hey Pontiac Pete,the other half use,s my login too!My bladder control is just fine.

[Pontiac Pete]

Hillbilly said:

Hey Pontiac Pete,the other half use,s my login too!My bladder control is just fine.

Alright then....DOWN GIRL! ;D

[MoparFan]

Hi Noddy

What is the chance of getting the statistics for the weekend posted? Things like estimated crowd, number of registered cars, number of bikes, estimate of total cars / bikes. Yes we all hear the rumours but the official count would be good.

The other thing I would like is a copy of the local paper with the review of the weekend in it. Perhaps you could scan any relevant articles and post them so we could review as you did for the boys with the build up.

No other motive than to see how it was reported and would like to send the paper to a guy in Canada.

Regards

Peter

[VetteGirl]

How about a For Sale Street?
On the Saturday all cars that are For Sale could park in the same area, making it just a little bit easier for potential buyers to find and see everything on offer.

[Doms]

Actually I think that's a really good idea. You could include it on the map with the programmes and even set up a full-on swap meet.

[BDA]

They have what is basically a swapmeet/fair on Sunday anyway. Why would you want an official swapmeet? There is enough of them everywhere else in the country as it is and swapmeets always end up being just jam and potplant sellers mixed with car enthusiasts hauling garage loads of commodore and mid 80's falcon parts to sell. Sorry to be negative but I wouldnt like to see the beach hop turn into a swapmeet or a car fair.

Sure if you want - put a for sale sign on your car, I had a for sale sign on my car but I had it on the seat in the car, if someone liked my car enough to want to buy it they would look inside the car to see the interior and they would see the sign on the seat.

Just my 1/50th of a dollars worth..

[MoparFan]

Hi Noddy,

I didn’t catch up with you at wintersun but from you article in the mag you had your hands full taking in the atmosphere. We had a ball again and love the opportunity to take in the cruising and the drags at Willowbank.

Keen to see what ideas you came back with to help the beachhop grow, the temporary fencing around the pub is a classic example. I appreciate they park their cars after the cruising and the streets remained closed from Friday through to Sunday night for the car display etc, the problem I see with trying to replicate that at the beachhop is the infrastructure, Coolangatta has the bars, restaurants and other venues to cater for the crowds something that Whangamata would struggle with.

Rumours are starting to get out about the Friday/Saturday nigh being limited to Ultimate pass holders. What’s the story? Is there some substance to these rumours or people just second guessing you?

I’m aware you promised a big update soon, probably in conjunction to the web site update but is there anything you can give us to we our appetite?

Cheers

Peter

[Beach Hop Rock'n'Roll Festival]

Howdy Peter!

Yep - we had a blast at the Wintersun. Did you see the review we did in NZ Hot Rod Magazine? It is a great event but I can assure you there were plenty of dramas behind the scenes – just like we have. I won’t share them on the forum as that wouldn’t be fair to the organisers……

I like rumours! They really get people talking and excited BUT HERE IS THE TRUTH ABOUT THE NIGHT CRUISES......

The Police wanted them canned at BH06- and who can blame them? But we have managed to come up with a plan that means we can still keep the cruises. As you know the Wintersun entrants can only choose to go on the cruise one night out of the 3 - and they pay for the privilege. The night cruise runs from 6 to 8pm and after that there is no atmosphere in the streets.

Friday night at BH06 will see the town centre closed to all traffic at 5pm. From 7pm to 9pm only registered entrants will be able to enter the closed road area. This may be extended to 10pm if the behaviour is acceptable - i.e no skids. All entrants will be able to take part, however you will only be able to make 3 passes, although you can park up in the closed circuit if you can.

Saturday night will see the night cruise limited to Ultimate Pass entrants only - with the same time limits. From the publics point of view there will be up to 300 cars cruising which is still a bloody good show. Some entrants might see this as being elitist, but in fact it isn't. The Ultimate Pass costs $100 and includes over $130 of merchandise PLUS the Saturday night cruise. That is good value and it is the sale of these passes that help us with our cash flow.

And yep, there will be a liquor ban at BH06 - just like the Wintersun. But we will be having restricted alcohol areas for the public where you can have a drink in a safe place.

WE CAN'T WAIT!!!!!

Cheers,

Noddy

P.S We are currently testing the new website - it's kool!

[MoparFan]

Thanks for the info Noddy,

It looks like a good balancing act.

That should help people decide what they want to do regarding the ultimate pass. I would imagine you will be selling them like hot cakes. Other may chose to take in the early half of the week and head off home Saturday afternoon. All I know is that we will be there.

Cheers

Peter

[aylanator]

Noddy, I have heard from a reliable source that Shell NZ thinks that the Beachhop brings the wrong sort of people to Whangamata and their service station,and this is why they are not interrested in offering any sponsership. Have you heard this to? I think if everybody who reads this posting boycots Shell products and tells everyone they know to do the same maybe they might rethink their policy. Might even start a fuel war. Seriously I think Shells attitude STINKS

[monty]

Thats why we now fuel up at Caltex at the other end of the main street as we think their attitude leaves a lot to be desired as there turn over at the beach hop must be better than any other weekend (including Xmas/N/Year) during the Year.
Cheers
MONTY

[Beach Hop Rock'n'Roll Festival]

Hi Guys!

We could never be seen to actively promote that Beach Hop entrants boycott a particular business - we would be in deep doggy poo if we did that. The local Shell station do support us with the road closure so please remember that.

However it is true that we were told by Shell's Area Manager, that Shell had concerns with the behaviour of some idiots on the forecourt during the Saturday night of the festival last year. They extended their hours but had to close earlier than expected because people were smoking next to the pumps..... and that is fair enough as the safety of staff in number one. We have worked to assist them by putting Portaloos on the forecourt so Shell can lock theirs and having paid security guards in the area. The truth of this is that a local registered security guard can be hired for $15 per hour - 8pm to midnight is just $60. Peanuts when you consider the turnover during the BH There will also be a liquor ban which should keep the drunks away.......

Shell told us that the reason we couldn't lease the vacant workshop at the back of the Shell station was that we might attract undesirables to the area. Personally I find this offensive as the group of people who will at the workshop working on our cars do more for the community than a lot of others. The other reason for leasing the workshop was to have a base so local people, including businesses, had a place to drop into for information about the Festival.... undesirables? I don't think so!

Another point to remember that as we have increased the festival to a 5 day event, most cars will be filling up their tanks at least 3 times while here. Once when the arrive, again for the cruise around the peninsula, once when they get back (it is 200km) and again when they leave - hey that is 4x! Now multiply that by $60 per tank by how many cars? That is a lot of dosh! And there are only 2 stations in town.....

Cheers,

Noddy