Waihi’s Beach Hop Warm Up Party
Beach Hop is an annual event at Whangamata, half an hour east of Waihi, that sees thousands of custom cars as people gather in the small seaside town for three days of classic nostalgia But before they all get to Whanagamata, many of the hot rods stop off in Waihi for the day for the Beach Hop Warm Up Party. The main street is closed – so are most of the schools – and the community gets up close and personal with vehicles from around New Zealand, with some even coming from Australia. |
OceanaGold Waihi is the major sponsor of this event, but the company’s involvement doesn’t stop there. The Waihi site also provides the trophies, and a team in the hugely popular ‘drag race’.
The ‘drag race’ attracts teams from around the region, and involves men dressed in women’s clothing running a relay down the length of the main street. Instead of batons, they pass handbags. Locals say it’s the sort of thing you have to see to understand, but it has become incredibly popular amongst the participants and the hundreds of spectators who line the road. Things got so serious the organisers have now had to place a mandatory hula hoop section in the sprint to slow down the runners. This year the OceanaGold team was placed second in what looked at first to be a dead heat. They promise to be back next year. |