Brian Kelly: So long, Tauranga, stay stunning

While you're sitting back on a Saturday morning reading your Bay of Plenty Times Weekend, I am doing my first on-air breakfast show on Coast FM - and I have got to say I'm a little nervous.

After 31 years of being in my Classic Hits comfort zone, stepping into a major network radio station is quite daunting, let alone leaving beautiful Tauranga and moving to the Big City.

I guess I will get used to it and the Coast audience will get used to me.

After I finished at Classic Hits last Friday, I had a week not only of packing my belongings in readiness for the move, but I also had some time to drive around and enjoy Tauranga and the Mount and there was one thing that I really noticed - the number of overseas visitors that have been visiting and staying. It blew me away.

On Monday afternoon a fleet of camper vans drove through Bethlehem festooned in French flags and other red, white and blue bunting. Not far behind them were four very large tourist buses, again filled with French supporters.

I read in Monday's Bay of Plenty Times that some of the supporters were forestry owners from the southwest region of France and were here mixing business with pleasure, although after the All Blacks wasted their team there probably wasn't too much pleasure.

The tie-in with Te Puna and its French links goes back to the 1850s and I would like to say well done to the Te Puna Rugby Club for welcoming them into the area.

The French supporters also managed a mass walk up and around the Mount and no doubt a few of them would have visited the newly re-opened hot pools. I still think more should be invested in that facility to bring it up to world standard.

Walking down Devonport Rd over the last couple of weeks, after weekend rugby matches, you can certainly spot the tourists. Whether they are wearing their country's colours or arriving in camper vans it has to be good for business. No doubt cafes, souvenir shops and hotels and motels have noticed the boost in income.

The visiting rugby teams have been staying at the Sebel and Hotel on Devonport which are by far and away our nicest hotels, so no doubt they will go away with memories of what a beautiful place Tauranga is.

And well done to the shops that have gone out of their way to dress their shop windows in a rugby theme. The support that we are giving the All Blacks is amazing - let's hope they continue to deliver.

However, the argument continues to rage over a big screen on The Strand.

I can't help but think that we have missed the bus on that one. For the last couple of weeks tourists have been visiting and apart from shops and bars showing their support for Rugby World Cup we still don't have an area to celebrate this amazing event.

Perhaps we just stick to the large screens the various bars have set up along The Strand.

It would be nice though if The Strand itself was made more pedestrian friendly, like closing it off to cars so members of the public could stroll along and pick which bar they would like to settle in to watch a match.

A couple of Friday nights ago a group of friends and I settled in one of the bars there to watch a game and I have to say the atmosphere was great. It wasn't too crowded and we were able to converse while watching the game.

Maybe that's all we need. If you want Party Central then obviously Auckland's waterfront is the place to be, especially this weekend with the All Blacks match and the Warriors in the NRL grand final tomorrow.

This is going to be an amazing weekend all round. Let's enjoy.