With the Covid Germ still out there still and it stifling our travel plans, I thought it would be a good time to revisit our month in Europe in a Motorhome following friends Gary and Dianne a few years ago… about 15 odd posts!
Enjoy
————————————————————————————-
We were early to check in to the Lamb Hotel so we went for a wander around Ely...After checking out the Cathedral which is massive, we headed down the main street towards a market.
Click on the images for Hi Res or a slideshow
Inside the cathedral
The buildings are amazing and the streetscapes just sensational. Everywhere you looked, there was a piccy.
The cathedral at Ely
We ended up in a pub called the Ministers Tavern right opposite from the cathedral and the Lamb Hotel along the road a bit. The barman was wearing a Lions rugby jersey and when I asked for a Chardy, he described it as cheap aussie stuff so I was really pleased to be able to tell him we were Kiwis but I’m sure he knew anyway.
Our friendly barman with the Lions jersey.
He was more interested in telling us that the Lions beat the Maoris with a huge smile on his face.
We talked briefly about the Lions tour and he was a real rugby follower. Nice guy too. He was pleased when I told him that the cheap Aussie Chardy was actually quite nice! It was the only Chardy he had! We checked in at a wine shop around the corner and they seemed to be light on the Chardonnay offerings too.
The main street
The markets down the road
The friendly pub where we had a chardy with Lloyds bank next door
A house near the cathedral
The cathedral
It was too hot for wandering around much more so we went back to the Hotel for a blob.
With the Covid Germ still out there still and it stifling our travel plans, I thought it would be a good time to revisit our month in Europe in a Motorhome following friends Gary and Dianne a few years ago… about 15 odd posts!
Enjoy
————————————————————————————–
The night we’ve been packing for finally rolled around and we were off to the airport for our almost midnight flight to Singapore from Auckland. We’d dropped the car off with daughter in law, Sarah earlier in the day and caught a shuttle to the airport.
What we didn’t know was that both of our sons, Drew, his girlfriend Jenna and Alex were on the same flight up from Wellington. We could have driven our car to the airport and they could have driven it home.. never mind. The shuttle was booked and paid for and it was too hard to undo.
At Singapore with our A380 about to take us to London
We left Auckland at 11:55 and about 2am, we both finally got some sleep. I find it really hard to sleep on a plane and dozy bouts is as good as it gets. I end up tired and grumpy at the other end and after a decent sleep, I’m right again:-)
Arriving at Changi at 6:30 odd, we had two hours before the next flight left at 9am. .. 13 hours !!
Both flights was pretty good though. I was watching the flight track and it was interesting to see that we flew over India and then up through Tajikistan and across to Moscow, out to the Baltic sea past Vilnius and then down to the English channel to Heathrow. .. well clear of the trouble spots!
The terminal transfer Train
Arriving at Heathrow was a doddle and what a massive airport. 5 Terminals all connected by trains in tunnels and you walk for miles between things.
Just to get our luggage was a hike through several buildings. I was expecting to get our bag and then go through Immigration. Not here.. you get in a queue, yep, they love their queues and once through Immigration, you get your bag. There wasn’t any customs that I could see.. we simply walked out, amazing. The immigration guy was a great guy and was more interested in having a chat about some of the strange photos he’d seen of people coming through than holding up a big queue 🙂 .. nice guy.
Click on the images for Hi Res or a slideshow
We were both knackered and made our way straight to the airport Hilton (terminal 4) where we were booked for the night and crashed.
At Paddington with the amazing roof
The next morning, we were up early and caught a train to Terminal 3 where we caught an Express train into Paddington station.
People going for it at Paddington
Paddington is amazing with one of the big wired WW2 looking hanger structures over the whole platform area. Just like you see in all the old movies. Great for piccies so I took a few here. It was busy too with people everywhere.
The huge shopping area in Terminal 3 at Changi
Waiting for the Express to go to Paddington at Heathrow
The Baker street sign
Busy at Paddington
We caught another train from here to Kings Cross and then changed again to catch our prepaid train to Ely. Kings Cross station is very like Paddington with the huge Hanger like look .. amazing.
A visitor from Hawkes Bay checking out the Baker street sign
On the way to Cambridge was the Baker Street stop. My immediate thought was Sherlock. When we stopped, the double entrance doors perfectly lined up for the Baker Street signs and while I took a piccy a young girl wandered into the shot to photograph it herself.. all this without getting out of my seat ! My lucky day.
After lunch, we rocked into Ely. A few trains, cabs and stuff but we’re here and its fantastic.
With the Covid Germ still out there still and the fact that I’ve been pretty much house bound with a nasty flu for the last couple of weeks, I thought it would be a good time to revisit our month in Europe Motorhome following friends Gary and Dianne a few years ago… about 15 odd posts!
Enjoy
————————————————————————————–
Rafe is in Taupo safely tucked up and snug in Gary and Diannes Shed and being very spoilt on carpet too!
Our last view from the place on the hill.
They have sold their Rosie and are waiting for their new “Basil” to arrive from Germany. Basil is a 8.8 metre Niesmann and Bischoff, with all the bells and whistles and yes, it will fit in the shed ! .. more on this later when it arrives.
Click on the images for Hi Res
Fiona with Boxes and Suitcases
We’re packing up for the trip and we’re also moving our of our room in Milford which we’ve been renting from our son Andrew.
We’ve also packed our bags for Europe. We’re heading first to the UK and after 10 days or so, we’ll be picking up “Ralph”, and yes really, it is its real name 🙂 Its a rental Hymer and we’ll be joining our friends from Taupo, Gary and Dianne on a trip through Europe.
Empty Wardrobe
Gary and Dianne both lived in Prague for a couple of years and have done several motorhome trips through Europe so know it well.
We’re crossing on the Chunnel together and heading through Belgium, German, Poland and up to Estonia and back down again. Through the South of Poland, Czech Republic, France and then back to the UK.
Ralph the left hand drive Hymer
Once we get back from the UK in early August, we’ll pick up Rafe from Taupo, come back to Auckland for some final sorting out of our stuff and then we’re off to the bottom of the South Island until Christmas, effectively fulltiming ! ..yippee.
Follow us by clicking on the Follow button on the top left!
This is one of those real gems. We’ve stayed here a few times now and it although the facilities are a bit rustic, they’re clean, they work, its a reasonable price and they’re nice people.
Click on an Image to enlarge
The parking out the back.. early morning
We checked in at the hotel and after parking Rafe, we were pleasantly surprised to see it was pretty dry given the rain the area had been getting. The secret was that there is a good layer of scoria under the grass where you park. There was a couple of ruts from earlier people but they were easily avoided and it was easy peasy.
After having a look at the Coromandel Mining Museum up the road a wee bit, we went for another walk into Coromandel town for a look around for an hour or so and then wandered back. The shops were open yippee! The Mining Museum is run by volunteers and it is well worth a look at it.. really interesting with a lot of images of early Coromandel. I even found a list of the rules of being a Teacher in the 1870’s… quite funny looking at it now but they were deadly serious.
Coromandel Hotel
After getting back to the Hotel, we went for a drink in the Hotel and later had a meal there.
The Ablutions
The food is something else.. We both had Pork Belly and it was amazing. I even sent a happy snap off my phone to a mate in Taupo and he agreed by long distance.
The Pork Belly Yummmm!
Great hospitality, the food is fantastic and its an easy walk to town.
Rafe’s Tracker map to the Coromandel Hotel – Armada GPS
After checking in with Leanne, the camp manager, she advised us that as they had huge amounts of rain, they still had some sites we could use but most of it was roped off due to mud and slush. This is normally a magnificent part of Coromandel and to see it like this was a real shame for them… its only water and will dry out but with the Covid thing and everything else, they needed that like a hole in the head.
I was given the option of two waterfront dryish sites to park on and we easily got in without skidding but the mud was out there 🙂
Click on the Gallery below for a slideshow
At Long Bay
Tucks Bay
Tucks Bay from the headland
Once we’d plugged in and settled Rafe, we set off for a walk around the headland towards Tucks Bay. You can also camp around there as well. Its an easy 15 minute walk each way and is well worth doing. There is also the Kauri grove as well up behind the camp which is well worth checking out too but we didn’t get to do that this time.
The track back to Long Bay from Tucks Bay Tucks Bay
With the clouds blowing away later in the day, it was just amazing sitting on the side of the beach doing absolutely nothing but taking it all in.
Great sunset
A great destination with plenty to see and do… stick this one on your to do list.!
We’ve had a month or so of being housebound mostly due to Rafe’s Bumper project and also a full annual service. Getting it back meant we could escape !
Click on an Image to enlarge
Rafe in the park with newly painted bumper!
Coromandel is somewhere we both thought would be great for a few days before Fiona had to return to work. We only had 4 days so we figured somewhere not too far and where we haven’t been for a while!
NZMCA park
The Thames Coromandel District Council are making some great improvements on the coast rd from Thames. Every time I come up here its different. This time they’ve widened the road north of Waiomu.. there are still plenty of narrow bits but I saw they’re dealing with some of those too.
Star and Garter pub
We arrived in Coromandel early in the afternoon on a Sunday so many of the shops were shut. The important ones like the bars and one of our favorite ones, the Star and Garter was open and they had a special on Gourmet pizza’s $10.. that was us for a late lunch!
After a walk around the town, we returned back to Rafe in the NZMCA park.
Click on the Gallery below for a slideshow
Home of the first National Bank
Where i was introduced to my first Husband Waiting chair 🙂
Neat buildings
The local butcher shop
You never get sick of Coromandel, the charm of the shops, even though most were shut as it was a Sunday, there were people wandering around and all of them very friendly. It has a great atmosphere with all the old buildings and everyone seems happy to have a bit of a natter.
We called in to an Metal Art shop which backed on to the NZMCA park and bought an amazing sculpture of leaves made using recycled parts of copper hot water cylinders. Clever use of old materials.
Where i was introduced to my first Husband Waiting chair 🙂
Later, it time to go down to get Fish and Chips for tea and we headed back to Rafe for the night.
A great Day in Coromandel town, it never disappoints !
Fiona & Chris, two empty nesters put their dreams of doing something different into reality… Now back in a house, they were living in their Motorhome, come along for the ride.
..After checking out the Cathedral which is massive, we headed down the main street towards a market.
Bugger It, we are off - www.buggeritweareoff.com 
You must be logged in to post a comment.