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LED’s that don’t last forever :-)

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After 9 years and 94000 plus k’s, the LED running lights on one side of Rafe’s bumper had decided to fade on me and the driver’s side were significantly duller than on the other side. This is apparently a symptom of them on their last legs. I thought I’d get ahead of the curve while they were still dying and get some new ones and arrange to have them replaced just in case I got on the wrong side of the COF people.

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And After with the new LED’s

First port of call was to my trusty reliable friends at North Shore Diesel who have done the services on Rafe since new, to see what the trouble was. Within 20 minutes or so, their workshop manager, Nandra had narrowed it down to dying LEDs on one side rather than water in a connection or similar. Nandra was able to get the part number for me off the current ones making it easier to get a replacement.

I found one on a site in the US quite easily, but most vendors were either out of stock or new stock was almost double the price in US$. Looking further afield, I found a place in Latvia that had them at the old price 213 Euros plus about $30 freight.

The Kit from Latvia

They arrived about 3 weeks later and last week, I booked it in with our local bumper experts, Fleets Street Panel beaters just around the corner from us. They had the bumper off just about year or so ago to sand it and repaint it after the Italian paint fell off it due to NZ’s harsh UV light so I figured they would be familiar with it and all the body tools to get it off.

The Bumper on the floor with the LED Cluster on the right . Pic Nathan Hale

Being short staffed, Nathan (the CEO/Owner) did the job himself, and although there was a stray bolt that wouldn’t play the game, it came together well. He took these photos to show how it all looks stripped down.

Click on the Gallery below for an enlargedĀ slideshow.

Pic Nathan Hale
Gee its ugly with the bumper off :-)Pic Nathan Hale
Close up of the back of the cluster on the bumper. Pic Nathan Hale
The LED cluster. Pic Nathan Hale
The Kit from Latvia Pic Chris Miller
And After with the new LED’s Pc: Chris Miller

So, we’re back in business for another 9 years or so. I always thought LEDs didn’t give up but it’s amazing how they do. Apparently, there are some on a new popular brand that only last 2 years before giving it all away.

The LED cluster. Pic Nathan Hale

In the last few weeks, I’ve been contacted by a couple of people who have a similar setup to mine and similar aged vehicles with driving lights so it’s good to know how we deal with it.

The Hella Part numberĀ  for Dethleffs Globe4’sĀ  is : 2PT 010 458-701

Cape Reinga trip 23, Northland

Waipu Caledonian Park

One of my all-time favorite places to stay and very good value. It’s also close to a couple of great Restaurants and Bars for later in the evening. I see too that the loos have had a bit of a do up which is great. Nice bright Scottish paintings on the outside.

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On the way back from Whangarei after topping up with fuel, we stopped in to see some of our old boatie friends from Auckland in Ruakaka. After lunch with Chris and then a pop in with Tina and Mark and their family, we decided we would just stay in Waipu in our old favourite park.

The Museum

They had just had a big festival there and some of the trucks had carved up the wet ground quite badly, so you had to be selective about where you parked! I parked on the outside edge closest to the driveway where it was unmarked and pretty dry.

Nice and safe next to the gravel.

It was blowing dogs off chains, so I set Rafe back a bit from the trees just in case and also for a TV signal šŸ™‚Ā  The weather looked iffy too!

The plan was to get something in town to eat but in the end, we snacked in the van and had an early night given that we were heading home the next day.

A great 10 days or so away and nice to do the bits we’ve never seen in Northland.

Rafe’s tracker map to the Waipu Caledonian Park – Armada GPS
Cape Reinga trip 23, Northland

The Hundertwasser Art Centre

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I don’t know how many times I’ve photographed and driven past the loos at Kawakawa, but Fiona and I had both seen the publicity on the new Art centre in Whangarei and it was on the must do list šŸ™‚

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Nice easy parking

We arrived in Whangarei just after lunch after stopping in at Manganui for a piece of fish and a Scallop or two for morning tea šŸ™‚

Very styley 60’s šŸ™‚

With the weather looking decidedly dodgy with wind and rain, I decided on the Whangarei Central Holiday Park which is easy walking distance to anywhere in town. It’s also very reasonably priced with very nice people running it. Everything works and its handy!

After settling down Rafe, we set off with our umbrellas towards the new art centre, about 10 minutes’ walk. It’s amazing! The first thing to do while it was not raining was to check out the dome and the roof garden. There are some really rare trees from the islands there too with curled leaves… interesting but to think how quickly this has come together, it’s amazing and on the roof too.

Back downstairs on a wavy tiled floor, you feel almost like you’re on the water. Up one floor for the gallery on Hundertwasser are lots of examples of his art and design, and basically several rooms on how he did what he did and when. Really interesting artwork but with his unique style.

Fiona in the tower. The Marina in the background

He also had an amazing motor Sailer which I think he might have sailed out from Europe.

We spent an hour or so here and then went for a coffee at the Centre’s Cafe.

Some of the art

By the time we finished here it was time for tea. We found an arcade in the main street full of Restaurants and bars and eventually settled on an Indian Restaurant called Tumeric. It would have to be the best Indian meal we’ve both had for some time and was very reasonable. Amazing food.

Click on the Gallery below for an Enlarged Slideshow

From the tower out over the roof top garden towards the city.
Looking out from the tower
Lots of tiles and Coulour
Fiona in the Gallery

It was getting dark as left the restaurant and we ambled our way back to Rafe at the Park.

Outside our new favourite Indian Restaurant šŸ™‚

A really interesting day starting in Ahipara, Manganui for Fish, ticked off the Hundertwasser building and a great Indian meal… what a day:-)

Rafe’s tracker map to the Whangarei Central Holiday Park – Armada GPS
Cape Reinga trip 23, Northland

By the beach at Ahipara

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After leaving Awanui, we were going to head to Ahipara. Fiona mentioned that she’d never been to Kaitaia so we were off to see Kaitaia which was on the way. We were going to stop for a coffee but couldn’t find any easy parking. After a visit to the Dump Station, we had a quick look around and decided to head on to Ahipara which is just short of 14k’s away.

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The road entrance to State highway 1 to Cape Reinga šŸ™‚
Looking back to Ahipara and the road around to the headland.

As we entered Ahipara there were two Cafe’s which were really busy… so we checked in at the Ahipara Holiday Park being the only place to stay.

Just in front of where we were parked.. huge parking area.

Although slightly on the expensive side, the parking spots were bigger and flatter than I’ve seen anywhere so that more than made up for it.Ā  The Loos and Showers were really good too and there was also free Wi-Fi if we’d wanted it. It was only 10 minutes’ walk away to the beach. You generally get what you pay for these days šŸ™‚

Check out the room!

After setting up Rafe and opening vents, and plugging in, I took the camera for a walk down to the beach…. The bottom end of the 90 mile beach! I looked around for anything that looked anything like what I could remember from years ago with the beach buggy, but it all looks very different from what I remember… it was a long time ago though.

Looking north towards Cape Reinga!
People enjoying the water.

I went back to the camp and Fiona, and I took Rafe to the Cafe we saw coming in and had a really nice lunch and then went for a drive down to the bottom end of the beach along the foreshore road.

A local friendly Goat

It’s amazing looking up the beach, you can see the bend of the land going right up to the cape. There were a few people having a swim and enjoying what is probably the end of Summer. A great spot.

After an hour or so we motored back to the Holiday Park and blobbed for a bit.

Later in the day.

The wind had died down a bit later on and the sun was shining so it was nice with the stereo on and with all this space, no neighbours šŸ™‚

Rafe’s tracker map to the Ahipara Holiday Park – Armada GPS
Cape Reinga trip 23, Northland

Bus Trip up Ninety Mile Beach ā€“ Cape Reinga

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This was just such a treat and Fiona and I had been looking forward to it.. the highlight of the trip if you like. We met the bus I was later told; was a 400 HP beast that was once a Petrol tanker but was custom made for its current purpose of ferrying people like us up to the Cape on the sand.

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The driver picked us up outside the Awanui NZMCA park along with a neighbour in the park with his two grandsons and we were off.

Jason the driver and guide was a scream and very good with the flow of interesting information that went all day.

After turning off the main road north at Waipapakauri, we headed a few k’s towards the beach before we got to the sand. The weather for the trip was perfect and once Jason had changed into 4-wheel drive, we were off up the beach… all 56k’s of it apparently šŸ™‚ As Jason said on the commentary ā€œ It’s the only state highway that gets a wash twice a day ā€œ:-)

Getting out for a stretch

About half an hour or so of cruising up the beach, we stopped and got out for stretch and a look around. It’s an amazing beach with nothing really in either direction apart from the sandhills behind.

Looking South. the hole in the rock.

There was a rock of the beach with a hole in like the one off Cape Brett.

Jason running the Bus up the Te Paki stream for the sandboarding.

A bit further on, we were heading up the Te Paki stream beside the massive sand hills where we stopped to let to let those younger and more adventurous than us to boogie board down the sand hills. Jason gave them all a few safety lessons and they were off.

Jason doing the safety briefing.
Jason doing the safety briefing before they head up the dune.
Sandboarding !

They all seemed pretty happy with the occasion and about 45 minutes or so later, we set off again up the stream to rejoin the highway up to the Cape.

After Lunch

Next we were heading up to Tapotupotu Beach for lunch which Jason had stashed away. The road wasn’t for the faint hearted in a big vehicle and although there were a few Motorhomes there, it definitely wasn’t for me.

Looking towards Maris van Diemen

About an 1 hour later with a great lunch by the beach, we all headed back to the bus and Jason then took us all up to the Cape Reinga carpark to walk down to the lighthouse.

The oceans meeting

It’s about a 45-minute walk down to the lighthouse and back and quite steep in places but on a really nice track. As you go down on the left you can see Cape Maria van Diemen where the lighthouse used to be, Cape Reinga in front and the beach that we had lunch at off to the right with North Cape way off in the distance.

Click on the Gallery below for an Enlarged Slideshow

Arriving on the beach
A sandhill in the sun
Looking South.. wonderful.
Jason running the Bus up the Te Paki stream for the sandboarding.
Jason doing the safety briefing.
On the way up.. Jason was saying the escalators were being serviced šŸ™‚
The Lighthouse – pic by Fiona
Cape Reinga

The last time I was here, I think I was 13 years old or thereabouts. We were on a family trip with a 4-wheel drive with a beach buggy on an A frame. It was a trip for a photo shoot with a friend of my Dads who was a specialist Motor Racing photographer for a magazine article. The beach buggy got stuck on top of a sandhill… think all wheels off the ground so I got to learn how to drive it while we got it unstuck šŸ™‚

Back to the trip… it was fantastic to see it all again and all the improvements that have been made for easier access.

At the pub on the way home.

We were all back in the bus heading down the road for an ice cream stop and to the famous Waipapakauri where Fiona and I had a G & T to celebrate the end of a great day. We were only a few K’s north of the Awanui NZMCA park.

Back at Awanui.. great day !

A fantastic day and I’m really pleased we took the option of a guided bus trip. It wasn’t expensive given what was involved and a lot of fun and entertainment. Thanks, Jason, for the great commentary and a brilliant day out.

Rafe’s tracker map to the Awanui NZMCA park – Armada GPS
Cape Reinga trip 23, Northland

Awanui ā€“ almost the centre of Northland!

It is a really handy spot and this is where one of the most recently opened NZMCA parks is.

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Plenty of flat room

On one side is the main rd northwards to Pukenui and beyond up to Cape Reinga and the other side has a river winding its way past. It’s a lovely flat site.

Fantastic spot to park

I was intrigued by the sign in hut or cupboard as it really is. The face on profile looks like a significant small building but if you look at the side profile, its looks very different šŸ™‚ Very clever.

The front profile šŸ™‚
The side profile of the “shed”

We had spent the previous two nights up at Pukenui intending to drive up to Cape Reinga but after coming across a company based in Kaitaia only 7 k’s or so down the road, they suggested that we get ourselves here before 9am the next morning so they could pick us up before heading up the beach to Cape Reinga. They had a modified Truck which was a Petrol Tanker in a past life and modified it for use on the beach with 4-wheel drive and sand tyres. .. so here we are..

Nice safe spot

The Caravanner next door had his two grandsons with him and was catching the same bus. The park is fantastic and makes life very easy to plan your way around Northland. Well done to the volunteers who set it up.

Rafe’s tracker map to the Awanui NZMCA park – Armada GPS
Cape Reinga trip 23, Northland

Pukenui on the edge of the harbour!

While were cruising north, we stopped in to the Pukenui Holiday Park to find they had some room and at a reasonable rate. The wind was blowing, and the rain was threatening so power was a must. A nice park spread out over two levels with little plateaus of space for both Caravans and Motorhomes. There are also some cabins too.

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Neat Paint job

They also had some very tame small ponies and sheep helping with the grass and entertaining small children. Jo the owner has been here for 20 years or so and with Tania, they were both very helpful.

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Quirky Cabins
Dethleffs Corner
Great Cafe, 4 Square and Liquor shop a few minutes walk
Houhora Harbour

A really interesting park with handy access to the harbour and lots of places for walking.

Down by the water

5 minutes walks down the road is a nice cafe, 4 square and Bottle store and a bit further on is the jetty overlooking the Houhora harbour. Very popular fishing spot and they tell me that a Kingi can be caught in minutes šŸ™‚

Great Cafe, 4 Square and Liquor shop a few minutes walk
Great big parks

A nice park but while we were there, I got on to a company in Kaitaia that did 4-wheel drive bus trips up to Cape Reinga with a guide and went up the beach. Thats us we thought but we had to get back to Awanui (The NZMCA park) where they could pick us up on route.Ā  .. Fantastic!

Rafe’s tracker map to the Pukenui Holiday Park – Armada GPS
Cape Reinga trip 23, Northland

Mangonui, the Home of great Fish and Chips

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Years ago, we had friends up here who lived in Hihi. We used to come up here and stay over the New Year period with them and other friends.Ā  We stayed in a pup tent under a Ti Tree:-)Ā  Ā It was always heaps of fun and Mangonui was the local big town if you like.

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The Famous Mangonui Fish Shop

So, Mangonui was on the must do list for this trip. We stopped at a parking area just as you enter the town with Toilets, a dump station and is also a freedom camping area between the trees. A nice spot.

The parking by the water.. Toilets, and Dump station along with freedom camping.
The Old Oak Boutique Hotel

We then walked about 15 minutes around to Mangonui Fish shop passing all the lovely historic buildings, the Pub, a big shopping building, the over the water 4 square store, and lastly the fish shop.

Walking along the waterfront
The 4 Square shop

It’s a great spot and the fish is so fresh having the boats come in right next door. Some of the Lemon fish is actually caught from the shop.

Click on the Gallery below for an enlarged Slideshow

The parking by the water.. Toilets, and Dump station along with freedom camping.
Opposite the parking area
The walk into Maunganui
The Old Oak Boutique Hotel
The Famous Manganui Fish Shop
Local Fishing wharf
The Hotel
Neat Buildings
The walk back to Rafe

After an hour or so of indulging in this delicious food, we walked back via and ice cream shop opposite to Rafe and started heading north again.

Cape Reinga trip 23, Northland

The Treaty Grounds

After watching the Shakers with the Olives, we set off for the walk along the waterfront to the treaty grounds.Ā  We’ve been here in the Bay of Islands so many times but haven’t really spent any quality time here at the Treaty grounds, so were well overdue for a visit.

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The Shakers getting the Olives off the trees.

At the entrance, we made our first priority a coffee and something to eat so headed towards the Cafe. We were really early for the guided tour so had plenty of time to kill.

Fiona on the new boardwalk up to the Treaty House

We decided to go on ahead anyway and walk up to the Treaty house and have a decent look, something I have never done and it’s really interesting. There is part of it at the back which is partly stripped to show how it was built as a kitset in Australia to be put together here. Really interesting.

Who knew there was a back courtyard!

I didn’t realise either that there was quite a big courtyard at the back of it which you never see.

Fiona decided to walk back down to the entrance to catch the guide for the walk back up. I walked over to the Meeting house just in time to catch the previous cultural show. They’re a fun bunch! Lots of humour but with a serious educational theme as well.

The very talented group doing the cultural shows.

There were about 30 people in the group and one person was volunteered to be the chief. He had to receive the challenge and then be accepted into the meeting house on behalf of all of us. He was Dutch and although his English was OK, he did really well as they had primed him to do a 5-minute speech which in the end was lucky if it was 30 seconds but all in jest but I’m sure he had some anxious moments thinking about it šŸ™‚

Our “chief” being welcomed onto the Whare

A great show and well worth doing and great performers.

Click on the Gallery below for an Enlarged Slideshow

View back to Paihia from the Treaty House
The Treaty House
Being welcomed into the Whare
The very talented group doing the cultural shows.
Looking back on our walk back to the park.

The show had just finished when Fiona turned up with her group, so I went into the show again with her šŸ™‚

We wandered back down through the grounds checking out a wonderful new Museum largely dedicated to the Maori Battalion and the contribution they made over the years. Both Fiona and I come from a strong Army background, so we found it really interesting. During the war, the Germans found the Maori Battalion to be fearsome warriors and extremely effective soldiers. It’s great to see them getting some recognition for their efforts.

People inside the whare after the show.

We checked out the other museum too which was more about the Treaty grounds and the early settlers. Really interesting and very well displayed with some great audio-visual displays as well.

Looking back on our walk back to the park.

It was back to Rafe at Jan’s Motorhome Park after that and a G&T to finish off the day.

Rafe’s tracker map to the Bay of Islands Holiday Park – Armada GPS
Cape Reinga trip 23, Northland

Lunch at the Duke of Marlborough from Paihia

From our spot in Kaikohe, we rang ahead and booked a spot for a couple of nights at the Bay of Island campervan park which is nestled in between Olive trees on the main road into Paihia. Its a perfect spot for walking to Paihia and to the Treaty grounds, both only 15 minutes away and it is very reasonably priced too.

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Paihia Wharf

The first day we were there we walked about 15 minutes into Paihia to catch a ferry over to Russell. The ferries were flat out so there were three ferries shuttling people across but there was plenty of room and it’s only a 15-minute trip across.

Leaving Paihia

We had booked into the Duke of Marlborough for lunch but were a bit early so walked around the waterfront, ate ice creams and drank coffee and eventually went to the Duke for a G&T. The ā€œDukeā€ as it’s known apparently is NZ’s oldest licensed pub. There are several others that claim this title but as Russell was NZ’s first capital and one of its first settlements, they’re probably right šŸ™‚

Fiona ready for lunch šŸ™‚
My Snapper and Chips
The Group across the road enjoying their lunch

Fiona and I came to a wedding here several years ago and they’re slick operators where the food and Beveridge’s are concerned. There was a table setup for a group of about 10 across the road at the top of the beach having their meal out on the edge of the water… lovely!

The Duke of Marlborough behind the trees.
The Russell Ferry that was sunk after a collision with a boat a few days later. The boat in the background is a Classic called Wild Duck. It used to be a Flying boat tender in Mechanics Bay.

As the time crept on, we crossed to the road to the jetty and caught the ferry back to Paihia.

The ferry we caught back was being skippered by a lovely guy who also collected the tickets was the ferry that was sunk a few days later, by an alleged helmless 600hp go fast boat that hit the port side. He was badly injured and airlifted to Auckland in a critical condition. A terrible situation and from my past boating background, being hit on the port side means the ferry had right of way. Witnesses say there was no one at the helm. I hope after the investigation that the transgressor has the book thrown at them.

Leaving Russell

After getting back to the camp, I had a great chat to Jan who owns the camp and previously ran another bigger camp at Haruru Falls. It turns out that Jan is the big sister of an old Auckland Star colleague of mine who was a subeditor and used to lay out my photos on the fashion pages… Small world šŸ™‚ She was ex media too but in Televison!

Click on the Gallery below for an Enlarged Slideshow of the Park

The Shakers in action
The crew get stuck in.
Jan with the Olive oil
Rafe with the Olives
The Shower and Toilet block

The camp is a little pearler with very tidy loos and showers and some apartments, some of which go up the hill. The camp sites are separated by Olive trees which is nice and the next morning, we were entertained by the ā€œShakersā€ shaking out the Olives from the trees. The Oil is bottled along with the Olives and donated to charity.

The crew get stuck in.
The Shakers in action

A great park in a lovely spot and so handy!

Rafe’s tracker map to the Bay of Islands Holiday Park – Armada GPS

Fiona & Chris, two empty nesters put their dreams of doing something different into reality… Living in their Motorhome, come along for the ride.

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