This has to be one of the nicer places to park a Motorhome and it is the NZMCA’s park in Whitianga.
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Great Motorhome parking
After arriving around lunch time, we set off on the bikes to check out the town and eventually stopped in a cafe in town for lunch. After that, we biked around the waterfront to check out the Marina and a general nosey around.
Plenty of room
I was expecting it to be chocker block but it was just pleasant with smiles in the sunshine.
We headed back to the camp to meet our neighbours Andrew and Annette and see their very new Autotrail Scout Motorhome. Interesting layout and bags of room too. It turns out that Andrew was at the same primary school with Fiona in Waiouru when they were in the primers.. small world 🙂
paddleboarding
A nice night there and in the morning all the locals were in the canal, swimming, radio controlled yachts, paddle boarding.. a great place.
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Boats and water
A big house opposite
Our little spot
Kids jumping off the bridge
boating
biking
paddleboarding
Andrew was telling me that the site is apparently going to be a future Hotel.. lovely spot!
The Pauanui Club parking is just the best. Even when its busy.
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The park
Our Grandchildren’s other Grandparents have had a bach down here for a long time so Alex and Sarah head here with the kids when they can. Its a lovely spot too just up from the beach and easy bike riding from the Pauanui Club for us.
Lots to do
We also caught up with an old school friend of Fiona’s who have a house down here too. Evan and Janette bring their family down here too and it was nice to spend an eveing with them as well.
Parked in Pauanui
The parking area was as busy as it has ever been with several regulars commenting on how busy it was. At one stage there were 3 vans who couldn’t get near a power plug, and for those that did have power, the main circuit breaker popped in the mornings when all the toasters and jugs went on. All in all though it is fantastic value and theyre just the best to deal with.
One of the old timersup up and away
Next door all the holiday makers with vintage planes had bought them over from Auckland for the Whitianga air show so it was neat to see them doing their thing.
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The park
The Mini Golf course next door
Skateboard park
perfect parking
Nice veges at the park
We went for a walk into the shops which are only minutes away via a tunnel and it was amazing to bump into so many people we knew… a bit scary 🙂
The Township
A great few days in a nice place and the nice thing is you can bike everywhere !
I hope everyone had a great New Year and enjoyed the sunshine. There was plenty of it !
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Cooks Beach
We spent the New Year with our Family (Sons and Daughters in law and Grandchildren) on the Coromandel Peninsula and it was fun. We also caught up with our Motorhome friends Bruce and Judy who have Rafes twin at their home near Whitianga.
Flaxmill bayInteresting cliffs
We headed up the windy road to Cooks Beach and had a quick look around before heading to Bruce and Judy’s place. They had their friends Graham and Shirley coming for tea as well with their new Roller Team A class. We would be parked together on an empty section across the road which was really handy.
Rorqual (right) with Whitianga behind
Earlier while we were on Cooks beach, we spotted Rorqual now being looked after our son Andrew and Jenna. They were on another friends boat down an Cathedral Cove but would catch up later.
Looking down on Rorqual left and out to Cooks Beach.
We headed up the Shakespeare Hill reserve at the end of the beach to the lookout up the top and could see from Cooks Beach, all the way around to Simpsons Beach and beyond on the other side.
Looking across to Whitianga from the lookout
The track is pretty steep in parts but an easy walk to the top and well worth it for the view in all directions. Looking down from the lookout we could also see Rorqual anchored in Lonely Bay by Cooks Beach.
Rorqual
Back on the beach there were some amazing Rock formations.. very typical of this area..
Amazing rock formations
Andrew and Jenna were dropped off back to their boat and headed in to the beach in their tender and we met them on the beach and then walked back to Rafe.
Bruce and Judy’s Motorhome.. same as Rafe
It was neat catching up with Bruce and Judy again and meeting their friends. Shirley is a really amazing painter shirleycresswell.com so it was really interesting talking to her and Graham about where they’d been and what they had done.
Rafe in the spare section
Later Andrew and Jenna headed back to Rorqual before dark and we later headed back to Rafe. Nice to catch up with them too.
A fantastic warm up for New Years Eve !
Just a bit of housekeeping …
Now that we’re permanently in our new house in Devonport and I’m doing a bit more photographic work for clients, I’m finding it much harder getting content to publish posts as often as I was.
So this year, the posts will be mainly photos with captions and when there is something to publish
Pahi is a lovely spot and my go to place for a real Blob out.
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The parking area with the old Hotel in the corner
It has a very reasonably priced community campground run by the locals and just recently they have invested in some gravel so can provide some all weather parking which is great. I’ve been here after some heavy rain in the past and it was very boggy so a great improvement.
Great outlook
I didn’t get the chaps name who served me in the office but very helpful and cheery.
Looking down from the road
After settling down Rafe, I went for a walk down to the Wharf where there was a local painting his boat. It was an older launch probably in the early 1920’s odd and he was doing a great job. I had a great chat to him while watching his roller dry 🙂 He would have been happy chatting all day but thought I’d better cut it short so he could finish the job 🙂
The new Gravel
Back at Rafe, I joined the neighbours who had two Caravans from both Dargaville and Whangarei for a natter.
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The childrens play area
The Office
The parking area with the old Hotel in the corner
Close to the water
The Community Hall by the wharf
How to get here.., From the Brynderwyn turnoff. Head to Paparoa and turn left down the Pahi Peninsula until you can’t go any further. Its about 5 k’s from Paparoa.
Painting the boatLovely beach
Another great hideaway on the Kaipara harbour and great parking at a great price.
Turning left at the Bryndrwyn’s is the Kauri Coast road which heads all the way to Dargaville and beyond to the Hokianga Harbour. About 27k’s along is the little settlement of Matakohe where the Kauri Museum is and about another 20 k’s off to the left is the lovely little settlement of Tinopai.
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Its down the end of this peninsular that juts down into the Kairapa Harbour where you’ll find the Tinopai Campground, right on the waters edge.
The Campground
With Fiona at work and this being somewhere I’ve wanted to come and see, this was me for a couple of nights. At $10 a night with power right on the waterfront, it doesn’t get much better.
There are Toilets and $1 showers along with a small Laundry.
I was parked in Chris’s Parade.. yahoo
After settling in Rafe and putting some chocks under the front wheels, I went for a wander. Right next door is the Marina.. VERY tidal with all of the boats sitting in the mud at low tide.
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Right on the water
Looking out to the Kaipara
The wharf
The Marina right next door
Resting in the Mud
The colourful ablution block
The Laundry
I’d only been there an hour or so when a local on a quad bike came around giving away fish. I didn’t have any filleting gear so politely declined but what a fantastic atmosphere. Later that day, Sue the campground lady popped around giving away fruit off a tree..
The following day Lillian and Lester arrived with their Dethleffs Esprit and parked right next door and we enjoyed a couple of cold ones out of the wind later in front of Rafe.
Neat spot
Tinopai used to have a service station which sadly has closed so you do need to be aware that there are no shops or services here. Its very remote but you can get an Internet signal if you have Netspeed or WN.
A lovely spot to come and get away from it all and very reasonably priced.
We headed back to the camp to meet our neighbours Andrew and Annette and see their very new Autotrail Scout Motorhome. Interesting layout and bags of room too. It turns out that Andrew was at the same primary school with Fiona in Waiouru when they were in the primers.. small world 🙂
