Conferences

Gabriel The Steam Locomotive and a Carriage infront of the Kawakawa Sign

2023 Annual Conference - Bay of Islands

Conference information

When: Friday 2 to Monday 5 June 2023

Host group: Bay of Islands Vintage Railway

The FRONZ Conference for 2023 was at Paihia in the Bay of Islands from Friday 2nd June to Monday 5th June.

Our host group was the Bay of Islands Vintage Railway and our major sponsors were Waka Kotahi / NZTA and the New Zealand Rail Heritage Trust.

We are very grateful to these organisations for their ongoing support as without their sponsorship the attendance costs for participants would be even higher.

FRONZ holds a conference every King's Birthday weekend, where key people from member groups get together to network and share their rail and tramway experiences.

Official Conference Program Includes:

Friday 2nd June:

  • Registration and mix and mingle at the Copthorne Hotel and Resort in the Bay of Islands from 17:00 to 19:00.

Saturday 3rd June:

  • Full day in conference sessions at the Copthorne Hotel and Resort.

Sunday 4th June:

  • Morning conference sessions at the Copthorne Hotel and Resort, including the FRONZ AGM. After lunch we will board buses to visit the Whangarei Steam and Model Railway Club (who also have some interesting trams!), returning at approximately 16:30.
  • From 18:00 the annual FRONZ Awards Dinner will be held at the Copthorne Hotel and Resort.

Monday 5th June:

  • This morning we will visit our hosts, the Bay of Islands Vintage Railway. A coach will travel from the Copthorne Hotel and Resort in Waitangi to Kawakawa, returning participants to the Bay of Islands airport in Kerikeri in the afternoon to catch available flights.

Other Conference Activities Available:

Pre-conference mini-holiday:

Arrive in the Bay of Islands on Monday 29 th May. Over the next three days you will enjoy a day trip to Cape Reinga, the Hole-in-the-Rock Cruise in the beautiful bay, and a day touring across to the Hokianga Harbour, visiting the mighty kauri tree Tane Mahuta and also the new cultural experience of Manea – footprints of Kupe. The Friday includes a half day at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds and the other half visiting and touring historic Russell. 

Friday pre-conference:

Arrive in the Bay of Islands on the Thursday and join the holiday group exploring the Waitangi Treaty Grounds and Russell.

Saturday:

For partners of conference attendees there will be an opportunity to get out and about and visit Kerikeri on Saturday. There is the well-known Old Packhouse Market to visit, the Kerikeri Stone Store, and Kerikeri is also a nice spot to just wander and window shop (for those that enjoy that activity!).

Getting to Conference:

Fly or drive?

For those of you in the (upper) North Island, driving may be the best options.

For those further afield flying to the nearest airport at Kerikeri will be preferable.

The airport is 22 kms from the conference venue and because there are few taxi options, FRONZ has hired two 12-seater vans to enable us to take you to and from the airport.

If you book flights please immediately advise your flight details (arrival and departure times) to Margaret Gordon so your pick-up and drop-off can be scheduled.

There are limited flights to Kerikeri, so we recommend you book as soon as possible to get better rates and availability.

You can choose to fly out on the Tuesday morning (rather than the Monday) as we will still be operating the airport shuttle until then.

As soon as flights are booked please advise Margaret Gordon of your arriving and departing flight details so that we can schedule airport transfers.