Over the past few months, many people will have heard the distinctive sound of pipes and drums as the Whangarei and County Pipe Band worked towards their competition season.
The hours of hard work and effort came to fruition earlier this month when the band won the Grade Three title at the New Zealand Pipe Band Championships in Tauranga.
Led out on to the arena by drum major Barrie Tinsley, the 32-strong band played two competition events, the March-Strathspey-Reel and the Medley.
Although the band felt that both events had gone well, no results were announced until after all the bands in Grades Three and Four had completed their performances, some three hours later.
The tension during those hours was matched by utter jubilation when the Whangarei and County Pipe Band were named winners of the MSR and Medley events. This achievement was further enhanced the next day when drum major Tinsley led the band to victory in the Street March event, ending the contest weekend with a clean sweep of events.