What a summer it has been... Storms, a cyclone, floods and to top it all off two weeks of power outages. Extraordinarily difficult circumstance to try to operate any business on Kawau Island.
It is completely understandable and no wonder Davo & Robyn have elected to close the bistro early.
The 5th of March is their last day operating the Bistro not only for the season but for good. After nine years at the helm, Davo & Robyn have decided that it's time to pursue new adventures. If operating a hospitality business on an island doesn’t have enough challenges, add to the mix of 2 ½ years of pandemics, cyclones, extended power outages, storms and so on it is clear they are incredibly resilient people. They have made many good friends on and off the island and we thank them for their efforts and wish both Davo & Robyn all the very best for the future.
While the closure is early and disappointing for the members it does enable the committee to get on with the internal renovations. The priority is the kitchen followed by refurbishing the public spaces.
One of the things we would like to achieve at the club for members is to establish an area that when the bistro is closed this area could be accessed seven days a week via a pin-coded entry, additionally we are looking at how we can tie this into access to the showers and toilets as well with the same entry criteria.
There are a number of logistical issues to overcome with this but we are hopeful we will be able to work through those. It is a very careful balance when undertaking renovations not to do anything that could undermine the very character we all enjoy but at the same time providing a facility that is better suited to the aspirations of its members and better serves the local community.
Once we have the final designs in place we will, of course, distribute these within a newsletter for everyone to see, but I can tell you it's looking pretty good.
At this point we envisage these renovations to be completed prior to the commencement of next season, Labour weekend 2023.
The committee is in what we hope is the final stages of negotiations for a new operator of the Bistro and while I can't be more specific as to who they are until this is signed off, I will advise everyone immediately.
To celebrate the opening of next season and the re-launch of the bistro we will be holding a family focussed regatta which will most likely become an annual event.
Fingers crossed for decent weather.
Jon Whisker
Chairman
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