Tourists bowled over by Kiwi's kindness

Brian Soanes is a generous host at his Mount Maunganui bach.

The 60-year-old Morrinsville plumber was left the 1940s bach by his parents and has been the sole owner since his sister died seven years ago.

Last week, two French backpackers walking past asked if they could pitch their tent on the back lawn.

Instead, Brian offered them a bed in the sleepout - a gesture that obviously made an impact on two young men spending their first Christmas far from home.

"Nous sommes tombes sur une famille au grand coeur," they wrote, thanking Brian and his wife, Betty, for their kindness.

Translated the message means "We fell upon a family with a big heart". It is the latest message to grace the sleepout toilet walls, which are lined with words of thanks for a great time.

When the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend approached Brian this week, he was relaxing on the deck with friends of his son, who was at work, driving trucks for Fonterra. However, his dog was there, as were several other young men and women watching cricket, playing a guitar and relaxing with beers.

Brian showed us photos taken each New Year's Eve and there was always a crowd.

Asked how many the bach could sleep, he said 27 people had stayed one summer. "As long as everyone's got somewhere to put their head, that's the main thing."

He rents out the bach to "friends of friends" to help pay the rates, but lets others stay free of charge. "just to give people a bit of a holiday".

His parents bought the bach 50 years ago for 1500. The original structure has been added on to and the front is now brick, but on the back lawn stands a wooden army hut from World War II. Brian plans to restore the hut and has replaced the original tar roof with corrugated iron for preservation. (Tar was used in the war because of a shortage of other materials.)

Brian's bach is next door to that of the Joneses [see main story] and the two properties are among the few remaining old baches on prime land between Mauao and Mt Drury.

Like the Joneses, Brian hopes never to sell, saying, "everything's for sale at the right price, but once you leave the area down here, it's a day you'd never be able to come back. It's too expensive."

Juliet Rowan