Excited teens escape family bach for beachfront
Whangamata¯ ’s beachfront was awash with hundreds of giddy teenagers on Saturday night.
The demise of Mount Maunganui’s beach party had many expecting Coromandel beach towns to be the likely destination for New Year’s revellers at the weekend.
Whangamata¯ was proving to be popular. Crowds of high schoolers, eager to escape the family bach, were walking the town’s streets and congregating outside the surf lifesaving club after dark.
Police officers kept vigil on the crowd of around 400, who were said to be friendly and possibly fewer in number than the night before. On Friday, 15 arrests were made.
On the sidelines, lingering parents kept a watchful eye on the seething mass of teens that left some dumbfounded.
‘‘All dressed up and nowhere to go,’’ said one mother who asked not to be named.
Greetings were squealed, cigarettes shared and iPhones pressed to ears. Streetwear t-shirts and short shorts were the uniform of the night.
No alcohol was seen to be consumed, though many claims of consumption were made and a few staggered. The crowd was generally giddy with excitement.
‘‘Are you living your best life?’’ one teenage girl demanded to know from a teen boy.
Anthony Thompson was one of many from Auckland holidaying in the Coromandel beach town with family.
He was catching up with friends from high school, but Thompson said the people in the crowd were largely unknown to each other.
Disgruntled party-goers Alice Brotherton, 16, and Kendra Bakker, 17, said the gathering was ‘‘lame’’ due to ‘‘too many 12-year-olds’’.
Brotherton, from Tauranga, and Bakker, from South Auckland, were visiting Whangamata¯ as they heard it would be more ‘‘lit’’ – slang for overly exciting – than Mt Maunganui.
While they were holidaying with their respective families, Brotherton was keen to point out she was tenting in the backyard. This implied a greater level of freedom.
The pair lacked enthusiasm for the Wavefront concert that was planned for Sunday, as the $25 door charge was prohibitive and no alcohol was allowed.
Police numbers increased as the hours waned.