Visitors ready to celebrate sparkling New Year

Janelle Kirkland | 30th December 2009

They come for the sun, they stay for the fireworks.

Visitors to Hawke's Bay have made it clear they want to see in the New Year with some sparkle and shine.

"Most people are asking where the big fireworks display is," Napier i-Site manager Carolyn Neville said.

She's sending them to the Sound Shell on Napier's Marine Parade, where the annual family festivities are on again tomorrow night, with a live band and fireworks.

In Hastings, it's a similar story, with iSite staff recommending the Fiesta of Lights family fireworks event at the Hawke's Bay Showgrounds.

Numbers through the Napier information centre's door had been steadily increasing since Boxing Day and today had been their busiest morning yet, Mrs Neville said.

"People are definitely in town for New Year."

Bars and other venues are also planning memorable nights, with a mix of live bands, DJs and dinners lined up.

Hastings i-Site assistant manager Steph Tait said numbers through the door had been similar to previous years, but tickets to Splash Planet had been a "real boomer".

Other people were looking for secluded beaches, she said.

One thing they weren't finding were trips to Gisborne, with 14,500 punters attending the annual three-day Rhythm and Vines festival where New York artist Moby is to perform.

"The buses are full to Gisborne at the moment," Ms Tait said.

"If you want to go, you have to go all the way to Rotorua, wait a couple of hours and then go. I think it takes about eight hours."

Festival founder and programme director Hamish Pinkham said more than 100 media outlets were covering the event, including the BBC.

Hawke's Bay camp grounds are reporting full houses as holiday makers settle in.

Napier Police Sergeant Mal Lochrie said they would have the usual extra staff for the celebrations and would be keeping a watchful eye on the main event at the Sound Shell as well as popular spots north of the city such as Waipatiki Beach.

Wairoa Senior Sergeant Tony Bates said they would have an extra crew working in the Mahia area. The peninsula was the busiest area in the district over New Year's Eve but the crowds were generally well behaved.

Wairoa was normally quiet.

Kennedy Park Top 10 general manager David Aslallo said people would be lucky to find accommodation right now, as all the park's 91 rooms and 170 campsites were filled and they planned to celebrate onsite with a pipe band.

Bay View Motel and Holiday Park manager Rob Sefton said the 20 rooms and 30 sites were also filled, and New Year was likely to be celebrated with karaoke at the hotel next door.

* A list of New Year's events will be in tomorrow's Entertainment Extra.