"There's an 80-year-old in there amongst them but they are very fit people and love to get out and look about - and they have loved being in Hawke's Bay."
The youngest member of the group was 62.
There are about 600 Friendship Force clubs across about 60 countries, and members of the Napier club had been hosting their American and Canadian guests
over the past week. The Bay's scenery, fine foods and wines and equally fine weather had left them smiling.
The group had arrived in the country on February 21 and had so far been to Auckland, Rotorua, Taupo, Hobbiton village and arrived in Napier last Sunday.
"We hosted them for dinner at home that night and served up some hokey pokey icecream - they just went 'wow!' " Mr Stevens said with a smile.
He said Friendship Force International, which was started in the US in 1977, was all about fostering and developing international friendships and meeting people from all over the world.
The local club hosts visiting groups while overseas clubs will host them when they travel, which several will do next year to Japan and Indonesia.
The latest tour group, which was set to head off for a few days in the Wairarapa on Thursday, has added to groups from Japan, Brazil, Europe and Australia who have also enjoyed the "Hawke's Bay touch" to their Kiwi visits.
"Everyone loves to travel and everyone loves to meet people," Mr Stevens said.
One couple they had hosted had previously travelled the world for 10 years - on their small yacht.
But nothing came close to enjoying the Kiwi tradition that spans generations - fish and chips on the beach.
"They'll always remember that," Mr Stevens said.
