BeachHop 2006

[Broncy]

Rock on 2006. Great weekend sitting high in the 79 Bronco .. What a great view. Loved the early mornings at the cafe watching the cars cruise by the diner. Shame about Sat night , but a great weekend regardless and willing to offer any support/assistance to make 2006 the one to remember.
Cheers . Paul and Linda

[BDA]

I have been doing some research into viable dates for next year.

I'm not trying to be pushy to the hop team, just presenting possible options.

I am doing this completely off my own back and I have no idea WHEN or IF the team are going to run one next year.

Unfortunately next year ANY public holiday weekends around the usual hop time fall within the school holiday period. (see chart below)
The best non-school holiday weekend around usual hop time would be the weekend of Friday 28th to Sunday 30th April. Or maybe slightly earlier in the year and have it Friday 7th April to Sunday 9th April. people going will have to take more time off work to go, but wouldnt that be worth it if we have a more calm event?

Also I have been in contact with the four and rotor nats guys about what date they are running their national event next year but they seem to run it around the end of January or beginning or February.

Who would want to go to the event that much earlier in the year? I would, for one.. its much nicer roadster weather.. ;D

Some good news, in 2007 Anzac day (Wednesday 25th April) and the weekend before is outside the school holidays.







2006 - PRIMARY AND INTERMEDIATE SCHOOLS

Term 1
Tuesday 7 February
To
Thursday 13 April (96 half-days)

Term 2
Wednesday 26 April
To
Friday 30 June (94 half-days)

Term 3
Monday 17 July
To
Friday 22 September (100 half-days)

Term 4
Monday 9 October
To
Wednesday 20 December (104 half-days) *

* Or to a day in December which ensures that the school has been open for instruction for at least 394 half-days in 2006.




2006 - SECONDARY AND COMPOSITE SCHOOLS

Term 1
Tuesday 7 February
To
Thursday 13 April (96 half-days)

Term 2
Wednesday 26 April
To
Friday 30 June (94 half-days)

Term 3
Monday 17 July

Monday 21 August
To

To
Friday 11 August (40 half-days)

Friday 22 September (50 half days)

(Total 90 half days)

Term 4
Monday 9 October
To
Friday 15 December (98 half-days) *

* Or to a day in December which ensures that the school has been open for instruction for at least 378 half-days in 2006.



2006 Holidays

Schools will be closed in 2006 on Saturdays and Sundays and on the following holidays:

Waitangi Day Monday 6 February (falls within school holidays)

Good Friday 14 April (falls within school holidays)

Easter Monday 17 April (falls within school holidays)

Easter Tuesday 18 April (falls within school holidays)

Anzac Day Tuesday 25 April (falls within school holidays)

Queen's Birthday Monday 5 June (falls within Term 2)

Labour Day Monday 23 October (falls within Term 4)

[BDA]

I have heard back and the four and rotor nats are being held on Auckland Anniversary weekend. January 28-29th 2006.

School Holidays are still on so I am guesing it would be hard to get the levels of accomodation needed for the weekend.

I don't know what the best idea would be to do.

[Doms]

I think holding the Beach Hop at the same time as the rotor nats is an excellent ideas - very few people are genuinely interested in both events, and those that are know where their alegences lie. Plus it would be much nicer to have the event in January when the weather is still nice.

[Beach Hop Rock'n'Roll Festival]

Cheers BDA! You have given me the BEST news all day....

Here's how it works:

The Beach Hop coincides with the local Rock'n'Roll Club's birthday anniversary. This is always held over the last weekend in April and they apply to the NZ Rock'n'Roll Association for these dates. So we are bound to these dates.

The plan for Beach Hop 2006 is -
1. ANZAC day is Tuesday 25th.
2. Many holiday home owners are going to take Monday (24th) off to make a 4 day weekend meaning their houses will not be available for rental.
3. Beach Hop 06 will start Wednesday 26th and go to Sunday 30th
4. School starts Wednesday 26th = Beach Hop OUTSIDE school holidays!
5. Cruise Night Thursday night - we had 280 cars registered last Thursday - would make an awesome cruise night in itself.
6. Liquor Ban in the Main Street Friday and Saturday nights.
7. The Main Street closed from 6pm Friday and Saturday nights. Remember, the Beach Hop isn't just a car show. It is a celebration of the 50's and 60's. The cars can get the limelight during the daytime but can be parked up at night to enjoy the other aspects of the festival - the music, bands, dancing etc etc.
8. We have already raised the idea with the promoters of another event, such as a burnout comp, at another location on the same weekend to give the younger enthusiasts something else to go to.
9. Whangamata is an ideal spot as it is relatively isolated with 2 roads in. We will encourage the Police to hold checkpoints at Waihi and Kopu from 4pm Friday and Saturday checking rego, wof, licence, drinking and alcohol in the car for minors. This would take minimal Police resources and you can bet the texts would be flying........

We will fix the night time problem!

Regards

Noddy & Crew

[hot49]

;D on yeah nod and the team all good rockers and rodders would agree with such a formula, constructive input will prevail.

[BDA]

BIG THUMBS UP NODDY!!

Any more you want me to do, any research on info I can do just let me know. I'm your man!! haha ;D

Your plan sounds like a goodie!!!

bring on BH06. Yeeehaaaa

[Stingray]

Hi guys,
Isn't it a pity that the undesirable element has invaded the most fantastic hot rod event NZ has ever experienced and spoilt what once was. I have attended the last 3 years and still remember the first where there were no restrictions and no problems. The enjoyment of walking out of a bar at midnight after listening to a good dose of rock and roll to the sight of a street full of rods and muscle cars, some parked and some cruising, was a buzz that will live with me forever. It felt like walking on to the set of Happy Days! I don't envy you on how to fix the problem but I'm disappointed at the suggestion of closing the main street on Friday and Saturday nights. I'm hoping there is another way to re-gain the freedom of the 'old' cruise nights we had without the larikens as I believe that these were an essential element to the whole event. This year myself, my wife and friends gave up and went back to our tent at 8pm on Saturday night as the atmosphere in the main street with the barricades and drunken louts had killed the event. I can hop in my jappa and drive in to Auckland if I just want to hear a band playing. The hot rods, low riders and the traditional 'cruising' is a key part of this event. I don't bring my Corvette to the Beach Hop to park it in the shadows.
What if we tried a 'No Tolerance" approach to these key things in the main street between the roundabouts:
No Glass.
No Burnouts - Instant Vehicle Impounding.
No vehicles unless registered for the event.
No excess passengers than the vehicles legal amount.
No J-Walking - all pedestrians must watch the cruising from the footpath and cross at the provided crossings.
Any breaking of these rules would have to carry harsh penaltys. Instant fines, instant arrest or instant vehicle loss. It would mean extra police but I'm sure they would be happy to help make the event work and I would almost wager that there wouldn't be any fines issued to the genuine Beach Hop attendees.
Whatever happens, PLEASE don't kill the night cruises.

Regards,
PJ

[Hillbilly]

Noddy
You ARE THE MAN!!
You're so positive and seem to have already got 2006 under control.

I hope that we didn't sound like complete a***holes regarding the ultimate pass cruise, but we just wanted to show our car off in the parade for a bit longer. We thought that we would have cruised up one side of the main street and down the other, and THEN parked. I realise that you can't please ALL of the people ALL of the time!! Please note that it wasn't us who verbally abused you. You do such a marvellous job and we take our hats off to you every year for the amount of time and effort put in.
We had a fantastic weekend and thoroughly enjoyed our (and everyone elses) cars. We thought that, if you needed extra help that you can enlist volunteers (like 'Hot August Nights' does) and we could do 'say' four hours each for the weekend. This might give you all a bit more of a breather, and as they say, 'Many hands make light work!' Just a thought anyway. I'm sure that there would be alot of rodders out there who would be only too willing to help.

(Mrs Hillbilly) from 'The Noise Boys' !!

[Doms]

The night cruise must stay, it's the highlight of the event for me and many others! Just shut down the roads and make it a STRICTLY registered cars only event.

[Beach Hop Rock'n'Roll Festival]

Okay - I'll post this here and on the main part of the board.....

Legally we are unable to limit access to the Main Street at night time. We tried to do this at our debrief with the Police after BH 04 - you can be assured of that.

It is a PUBLIC road - it is either open or it is closed.

If it is CLOSED then we can restrict access, like we do for the parade/ street festival - the cars drive in and park up.

If it is OPEN then the public has the LEGAL right to be able to drive on it. We ILLEGALLY started turning non entrant cars away on Saturday night around 7:30pm (thanks to the guys from Matamata Rod & Custom Club!) and the mood changed for the better straight away. But when the Entrants refused to do skids by the Shell garage, that is when things started getting ugly with bottles put under thp wheels of cars etc and the Police made the call to close the road.

Those are the facts.

So PLEASE don't go on about only letting Entrants into the Night Cruise. We will be raising it again with the Police but you must understand we have to work within the law and at this stage it can't be done.

Cheers

Noddy

[phead]

There have been some awesome ideas posted, all of which are geared towards removing the drunk teenage element.

Holding the Hop outside the school holidays is one option, but would it work? In the past few years Friday nights have been marginal, and Saturday nights real bad. School holidays or not, the youths can - and will - still come over Friday and Saturday nights and create mayhem.

As a family with thre ekids we enjoy the Hop, but hosting it on a school week means that we wouldn't be able to head down until after school Friday, so we 'd miss the incredible beach cruise -the best bit of the weekend.

Remember seeing all the 5 to 12-year-old kids laughing and waving at the side of the road during the cruises, and the entrants' kids having a blast riding in the cars? Why exclude them? (And no, I'm not Michael Jackson)

So here's a radical suggestion: Start the Beach Hop early, run it Tuesday through to Thursday night, and have the car side of things (Beach Cruise, night cruises drive-in, bars etc then.

The young kids who are working and like to spend all their wages on booze bottles to throw around probably would not be able, or want to, take time off work during the week, while the 'grown ups' could book their holidays ahead.

Those who wanted to stay for the weekend could then do so, and end up having a full week of fun at Whangamata.

Give the early part of the week to the real car enthusiasts, and give the weeknd back to the rock 'n' roll festival which can have its closed roads on Friday and Saturday nights for dancing/whatever.

You could then still have BH06 07 08 etc etc in the school hols, and Whanga would get a bigger bite of the tourist $

Hey, just a thought.

Whatever's decided, Noddy and the Crew will make it happen and they'll get 110% support.

Thanks.

[SteveB]

It was my first time and now I'm kicking myself for not getting to earlier years. Outstanding event. It was clear that there had been a lot of organisational work done, yet the event still had a relaxed and informal feel and an awesome atmosphere. That's the memory that I have of the event and what will bring me back next year, not the memory of running the gauntlet on Saturday night.

Ideally, I guess we'd want everything the same, except for the idiots. We know that isn't possible, but it's very encouraging to see that maintaining the BeachHop theme is central to the steps you have mentioned.

Perhaps another approach would be to have a sponsored golf tournament for Policemen on the same weekend at the local course. Give them free entry, a few decent prizes for just being there, etc. We know that they enjoy a beer or two and I'm sure they'd be into the general BeachHop scene. No need for them to be on duty or expected to do anything. Just advertising the fact that there will be large numbers of off duty cops in town should do the trick. Maybe have an 'adopt-a-cop' for the cruises.

Personally, I prefer the subtle approach and if I had to pay a bit extra for that, fine. However, if street closures, booze bans, etc are what it takes to keep the event going, I'm confident that the organisers haven't taken that step lightly and accept that as being the price we have to pay.

Whatever the outcome, we'll be there. Thanks for a great weekend.

Cheers,

Steve.

[HotrodBoy]

Excelent idea having beach hop just after anzac means us south islanders can drive up over anzac weekend in a relaxed manner. Also having beach hop at the end of january would clash with Street Machine and Muscle car Madness-the south island's biggest car culture event. Please keep the night cruizing/park up in the main st , just ban the booze from the street and crack down on the skids in the street-theres a time and place for skids and it aint in a crowded street.

[turdhead]

Hey Noddy & crew,great weekend yet again.The Wellifornians & Dannivegans had a blast.Dont let the arseholes drag ewe down!The only thing that I would like to see is more rockabilly,maybe some bands from Wintersun or the U.S,just a thought.You guys are a winning team & deserve a lot more than you get.We will be back,heck,someone has to drink that beach hop brew for you kats!!A big thank you from us to you,,stay cool daddyo,,,Sharpy ;D