Party planners racing the clock

Nathan Twaddle (front) and Simon Watson, at rear, go through their paces on Lake Karapiro in the early morning mist. Photo / Janna Dixon

In little more than a month, Lynda Lee will make herself homeless. The Cambridge web designer is turning over her attractive cottage to four couples she has never met - and she couldn't be happier.

"It's a win-win for everyone," she says. "I think it's going to be brilliant."

Lee is one of many Cambridge residents who can't wait for the start of the biggest sporting event to be held in New Zealand since the 1990 Commonwealth Games.

About 700 athletes from more than 50 countries will descend on nearby Lake Karapiro for the World Rowing Championships, attracting about 250 media and up to 90,000 spectators. Athletes are expected to start arriving in mid-October and the week-long regatta starts on October 31.

Cambridge, a wealthy rural town famous for its horseracing success, is also home to New Zealand's top rowers. Hosting such a massive event is a big ask but the locals are ready.

About $10 million has been spent on improving the 19ha Mighty River Domain at Lake Karapiro, which now boasts a new $4.9 million events centre and finishing tower named after local rowing legend Don Rowlands.

Trees are being pruned, public gardens manicured, flags hung up and staff hired. This is Cambridge's big chance to be noticed.

Lee's central Cambridge bed and breakfast, Beechtree Cottage, has been booked since the start of the year by four couples who have children in the British rowing team. With just six motels to its name, the town is relying on bed and breakfasts or private homes to cope with an expected 18,000 bed nights.

"It's the first time I've rented the whole place so I'm not sure where I'm going to go yet, though my neighbour has said I can move in there and pay him x amount of dollars a night," Lee laughs.

Lee runs website www.cambridgenewzealand.com, through which locals can advertise their properties or businesses. She says average prices are $200 a night per couple for bed and breakfast or between $120-150 for singles.

Renting a whole house costs from $500 a night, though one optimistic homeowner who lives opposite Lake Karapiro is asking for $2000.

While some might be tempted to fleece their international visitors, Lee reckons her guests are getting a real bargain. "My usual nightly rate is $250 a night for the first couple, self-catering, and thereafter $50 a person a night - and that's no food, only bed linen and towels. But for the World Cup Rowing I am only charging them $600 a night in total for eight people, and that includes food in the fridge for breakfast and servicing daily."

While there's money to be made from the influx, restaurateur Barry Levings reckons locals owe it to their "beautiful little town" to do their bit.

Levings, who owns Onyx Cafe and Bar and GPO Bar and Brasserie, has taken on more staff, organised more seating and says his kitchens will stay open "for as long as it takes".

"We're gearing up for the world champs but also for the busy period leading up to them, when all the rowers arrive in town."

Entertainment will be laid on at the lake, with New Zealand bands Opshop, Autozamm, the Ladykillers and singer Gin Wigmore scheduled to perform on various nights.

But once that winds up, spectators will look to Cambridge's bars for action.

Levings, who has lived in the town for 16 years, has added "at least" another six staff to the roster at Onyx.

"We're a busy place anyway but we have committed ourselves to doing as much as we can, because we have an obligation to the town.

"I've told my staff that we will not stop cooking until people have stopped coming in, even if we have to be cooking at midnight."

Onyx will open two hours earlier than normal to catch the breakfast trade and a private function room will become part of the restaurant.

Levings' other restaurant, which seats more than 100 people and has a large bar area, will also be open for seven days, rather than its usual five.

"It's just a matter of us managing everything," he says.

"It's not just the money. Cambridge people support us 365 days a year, so we have to support them. Imagine if we had a ho-hum attitude.

"It wouldn't reflect well on Cambridge, would it?"

While he's anticipating being rushed off his feet, he hopes to see some rowing.

"We were actually going to the Melbourne Cup this year because we didn't realise the date clash, then we realised that we wouldn't be going anywhere."

Levings will, however, get to experience the Cambridge version of Flemington's most famous race day.

The First Tuesday Trust, a charitable group formed by local businesspeople, has scored the rights to hold the only official Melbourne Cup event in New Zealand.

First Tuesday spokesman Phillip Quay says it will be the next best thing to being at Flemington, with the day's racing broadcast on big screens in a VIP marquee at Lake Karapiro on Tuesday, November 2.

There will even be a fashion contest, with the winner of the Cambridge Melbourne Cup Fashion in the Field event getting automatic entry into next year's competition at Flemington.

Indeed, Cambridge is even attracting a few Aussie fans who will skip the opportunity to watch the Melbourne Cup at home.

Sydney Rowing Club stalwart Michael Rowan is one of about 40 rowing fans from his club coming to Karapiro. The group, many of whom frequently travel to rowing regattas overseas, are staying for the full week of competition, then heading off for a bit of sightseeing.

Rowan and his mates bought a block of front-row tickets in the grandstand several months ago but they have had a harder time finding accommodation to suit.

"We would have loved to stay in Cambridge but we needed to have all of us together in one place," he says.

"Cambridge is a very appealing place, but we're staying in Hamilton, just to make the logistics easier."

Rowan, a keen horseracing fan, is thrilled that he'll be able to combine his two loves at Karapiro.

"There's a race meeting at Ellerslie [on the Tuesday] but I thought it would be a bit tricky to get up to Auckland for that when I should be at the rowing.

"It's going to be great to watch the Melbourne Cup while we're at the lake."

Phillip Quay and his cohorts have elaborate plans for equine tourism ventures, such as a horse museum, horse shows and visits to studs, plus jazz concerts and a Cambridge fashion week.

They are working closely with another new organisation, Destination Cambridge, to turn the town and its hinterland into a tourist magnet like nearby Taupo or Rotorua.

Destination Cambridge chairman Philip Coles, a fifth-generation resident and rural real estate agent, says townspeople need to maximise every chance they get.

"We don't want it to be like the V8s in Hamilton. The organisers of that were fantastic about getting people to the event but as soon as it was over, people went straight home.

"A lot of retailers and restaurateurs felt like they had missed out."

To that end, a park-and-ride system will transport spectators to and from the lake, with paddocks donated by local farmers transformed into two makeshift parking lots on either side of Cambridge.

Certain roads will be closed during the event, with restricted access for residents. Two Fonterra-sponsored buses will also transport people from the park-and-ride areas into Cambridge, where local retailers hope they will help swell recession-hit coffers.

Shops will open for Sunday trading for the first time in the town's history from October 17, and a fashion show is also planned that day.

Businesses and schools have been encouraged to "adopt" participating countries and rowing-themed displays are expected to dominate shop windows.

Destination Cambridge, Waipa District Council and the local community board have also funded flags for the main streets of Cambridge and nearby Te Awamutu, and the council's parks and reserves teams have altered their usual planting schedules to ensure the public gardens are looking their best.

Parks team leader Max Ward says his staff realised early in the year that they would have to mess with nature's usual plans.

"Normally we have two plantings a year, with a changeover in April and October. This year we thought, 'Oh heck, that's not going to work'."

Tweaking the schedule means the district's flower beds will be in full bloom when the rowing crowd hit town and Ward's staff are working on "a few surprises".

"I told them they had to come up with something different, so there's been a bit of Kiwi ingenuity involved."

Ward, who lives in Te Awamutu, says locals are so used to rowing regattas at the lake that some still don't realise what a big deal this year's event is for the region. "I think there will be a lot of people who suddenly realise that it's over and they forgot to go!"

There's little chance that Karapiro farmer Peter Britton will forget about it. Not only does his 84ha farm occupy a prime site overlooking the lake but he has been flat-out making sure things will run smoothly on the water.

Britton, who works part time for the Karapiro Rowing Club, is one of a team of volunteers who have been toiling for months on maintenance chores at the lake or in his home workshop.

"There are 12 or 13 boats and 15 or 16 motors that need to be looked after, things to be repaired or built.

"Anything on the water needs quite a lot of maintenance," he says.

This crew, most of whom rowed in their youth, have been doing thankless tasks such as painting pontoons and stringing buoys along kilometres of lane wires.

"There's a regular crowd of us, a big rowing family, who all get together and enjoy each other's company," he says.

Major sponsor Mighty River Power has also been heavily involved in the tarting up of the domain, which now features improved road access and new toilet blocks.

But it also gives crucial support in an intangible way, by managing the lake levels within a 30cm range in the lead-up to the contest, and then within a 20cm range when racing is on. Weed management is also key.

"That means a lot of planning and management of the whole river," hydrogeneration manager Gavin Williamson says. "We have to have the whole river chain and lakes in sync."

Former New Zealand rower Maree Kaati knows all about putting the work in before a major regatta - the months of training, and coping with unexpected problems.

Kaati, who manages the Cambridge Visitor Centre, is focusing on making sure the athletes, officials, supporters and spectators will make the most of their stay. The centre will be open longer hours during the contest and a satellite office is being set up at the lake.

While Cambridge might lack the slick tourism infrastructure of bigger places - "if it wasn't for people running bed and breakfasts we'd be stuffed" - Kaati says the natural environment gives it an edge.

"It's such a beautiful spot. You go to other rowing venues and they basically just have a 2km bath. You couldn't have a nicer vista to hammer home New Zealand's image."