A brilliant day at Awanui

Bill Subritzky found it impossible not to talk when the newly-renovated Awanui Hotel opened on Awanui Day. He wasn't the only one. Photo / Peter Jackson

Bill Subritzky might have been expected to enjoy a bit of a lie-in on Sunday, but he didn't. He, and others, had plenty to do, cleaning up after the 12th Awanui Day, and if many hands made light work, so did the fact that the community had enjoyed another "excellent" celebration.

Motorbike numbers were down - just on 200 turned up, less than half the number that would have been expected had the day included the traditional Treble T rally. Covid restrictions put paid to that, but there were more than enough to make their presence felt, in the street and on the roads north, south and east of Awanui throughout the day.

A couple of bikes were ridden "a bit quick," Bill said, but, as was the case with everyone else, the riders generally behaved themselves impeccably.

"It was brilliant," he said, although he was struggling to find the right word to describe the opening of the newly-renovated Awanui Hotel.

There was standing room only from the 11am opening to well into the evening. The crowd was happy and lively, the old photos that were mounted around the walls bringing back all sorts of memories.

"A lot of older people were there, and you had to talk," Bill said.

"Memories were served with every handle."

Just to be sure he hadn't imagined it, he was back on Sunday for lunch.

As for Awanui day itself, the food was "wiped out" in the usual short order, the stallholders, while down a little on numbers, all had a good day (the Big River Café reckoned it had an even better day than last year), every parking place was taken, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

Bill's niece, Tawny Subritzky, was happy too. She opened her boutique, Nused, on Saturday, and attracted plenty of custom.

She plans on being there for a while; she was 18 months into training as a midwife in Whangārei when the course was "pulled," meaning she would have to move to Auckland to continue.

She plans to resume her studies at some point, but for now she's happy to be in business in Awanui.