This morning we walked another 6 times down and up Bluff Hill.

Later in the afternoon we went to the Mission Concert. Being locals now(!) we managed to bump into a couple of people we knew – one being a guy on security and the other being Noel’s second cousin once-removed. The concert is a big thing in Hawke’s Bay although this year’s wasn’t as sold out as some years. It was billed as the British/Irish invasion. Quite what Leo Sayer and Billy Ocean thought of that I’m not sure…

The main lineup was Leo Sayer, Billy Ocean, Sharron Corr, Melanie C and Ronan Keating.

We parked the car not far from the venue but then got a tractor to the entrance!

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We arrived about 5pm and met up with Pauline and her friend Nicki. We’d all brought food/drink so had a pretty good picnic in the baking sun (yes, baking even at 5/6pm!). Some people got into the swing of it by dressing in a UK or Irish theme.

There were some more minor bands playing before the bigger line-up which started at 8pm.

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Billy Ocean.

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Leo Sayer.

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Sharron Corr.

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Melanie C came on then Ronan Keating.

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Leo Sayer in the background!

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Usually, the hills around the stage are completely full. This year there was room on the hills and it was easy to move around.

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The Moon and Leo Sayer.

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Sharron Corr.

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The Hawke’s Bay Trio…aka Pauline, Noel and Nicki.

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There was a brief break before Melanie C and Ronan Keating.

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Melanie C and Ronan Keating sang a duet.IMG_4177_resized

Then all 5 acts came out and sang at the end.

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Only count four there – Billy Ocean gone walkabout…

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The music ended by almost 11pm and I was impressed with how ordered an exit it was – I saw one police van in the distance but that was it – no police helping to move us on or tell us where to go.

I think that was because they were all down the road waiting to catch drunk drivers – on the way back there was a roadblock where the police were breathalysing everyone. Luckily Noel had been a good boy and passed.