Fiona and I came to one of the first of these about 9 years ago, not long after we first got our Motorhome. It was held at the Falls Camping ground which was then owned by Jan Molloy and partner who along with others helped get the festival under way. I remember the band that was there then was Kantuta along with some others.
Jan and her partner later sold that and set up the Bay of Islands Campervan Park which they still own.

Click on any Image to Enlarge

This year I called Jan who and she was able to squeeze us in for a couple of nights. We’ve been here before, and it is so handy. They’ve had quite a bit of rain this year so the parks were a bit on the damp side so we had to be mindful of parking so we could get out easily.

It is such a great location as you can walk pretty much everywhere and there was a Coach doing a regular circuit of the venues so you could see all the bands playing.

We arrived half through the Friday on a lovely fine day with the odd shower and settled in. There is a Countdown supermarket right opposite, so Fiona went over to get some last-minute provisions.

The next day, we were up early and walked to Jazz HQ which was about a 25-minute walk at the Scenic hotel in Paihia. On the way along the waterfront, we passed a band playing on the footpath outside the shops with several people dancing and getting into the swing of the festival.

After getting our day ticket at the Hotel, we sat down to enjoy some of the music by a really good Napier Blues band called DejaBlue. Fantastic sound and we were able to get a really nice Seafood Chowder for lunch. They were followed by The Nairobi Trio who were really entertaining and again, some great sounds.

Here are some more Images from the Festival

Click on the Gallery below for an Enlarged Slideshow

It was early afternoon then when we decided to head to the Paihia Club where we heard a couple of bands, one of them from Taranaki who were really good. Courtnay and the Unholy Reverie!!….

They played a Led Zeppelin song and several of their own. Fantastic sound washed down by a G&T and the acoustics there were good too.

After a couple of hours, we wandered on to the Paihia Sports bar and then caught the coach to the Twin Pines Manor at Haruru Falls, where we saw another good band, Herbie and the Heartbreakers!

About 6pm the bus arrived, and we decided to call it quits and head back to the Campground while the bus was there.

A great fun day out and lucky with the weather being able to walk to almost everywhere.