Where ever you are, I hope you’re having a great time (now that we’re allowed to) !
We’re in Little Waihi enjoying the water and doing very little 😃.
Happy New Year all and enjoy the time away.
Happy New Year
Monthly Archives: December 2021
Merry Christmas
Another year flashes by and we’re into Christmas again… fun times and sunshine.
We’re heading down towards Gisborne where we haven’t been for a while, so we’ll see where we end up!
Thanks to everyone for supporting the blog this year.
More Motorhoming while we can’t travel overseas.
Merry Christmas everyone and Fiona and I hope you have a great New Year… be careful on the roads and if you see us out there, please come and say hello.
Origin at Otorohanga
We were staying in the reasonably newish Otorohanga NZMCA park which is only 800 metres to the Town centre.
Click on an image for Hi Res (iphone images)
One of the first shops we popped into was an Art Deco shop which had all sorts of stuff in it including quite a bit section on Steam Punk as well. Lots of Cloche hats and neat things.
A walk across the road and down through the Ed Hillary lane was a huge display of Kiwiana including a neatly displayed board of Kiwi slang and its American or English equivalent. Also there were old ads for wringer washing machines and reminders of the half pint of Milk at School. I was a milk monitor at the school I was at in Central Wellington so remember it well. Nice cold milk in winter for morning tea, Yum!
As you come out of the arcade at the other end is the railway station. We parked the bikes and went in for a couple of Latees. There we met Roger who owns the Origin coffee company that imports Coffee from their own farm in Malawi and brews it in the Railway Station. The coffee is fantastic. One of the best I’ve had for a while.
Roger started Origin in 1999 and has gone from strength to strength since then. When you’re in the Station, don’t expect a big selection of food apart from Toasted Sammies and Cakes. The good news is, you’re welcome to bring you’re own food. Roger is keen to concentrate on the coffee 🙂
Click on the Gallery below for a Slideshow
The original Railway station built in the late 1880’s
The cafe with the roasting gear.
The Roasting equipment
Great parking
After half an hour or so of chatting to Roger and enjoying the Coffee, as we were leaving, the Auckland to Wellington Train pulled in… this is a trip I want to do as well.. looks great !
We biked back to Rafe at the park to think about when we can do that Train trip 🙂
The Coastal Walkway
It was going to be a scorcher so we got the bikes sorted and headed from the Bell Block park down towards the Waterfront to join up to the Walkway.
Click on an image for Hi Res
From the Bell Block park to the Wind Wand is about 20k’s round trip so its a good ride and you know you’ve used some muscles when you return 🙂
The trip is mostly downhill to the Te Rewa Rewa bridge but its a fantastic pathway. Some of its boardwalk but most of it is a wide concrete path which eventually goes through the side of the Fitzroy Holiday Park. We stopped at the Kiosk for a cuppa and something to eat and then rode on to the Wind Wand. Great fun.
Click on the Gallery below for a Slideshow
The view from the bridge
Fiona on the bridge
Looking back at the bridge
Coming into Fitzroy camp
The Kiosk at Fitzroy
Looking towards the port
A train going under the path by the Wind Wand
There we left the waterfront to have a quick look at some shops and then headed back along one of the shopping streets and back down to rejoin the Waterfront.
Just fantastic. A great outlook and apart from the uphill bit at the end going up through the houses was pretty easy. .. Well worth doing!!
A couple of glasses of wine later with some neighbours in the park and that was us for the day 🙂
Wow what a Park.
Another one from a few3 years ago.. Bell Block NZM<CA park had not long been opened.. great fun biking into New Plymouth.
As we drove Rafe down from Awakino, I was quietly hoping that we would be able to squeeze in to the new NZMCA park in Bell Block, just outside New Plymouth.
I needn’t have worried as when we arrived there were only about 4 vehicles there and as the day went on, more popped in.
One of the best Dump stations I’ve seen
Merle and Alan
Some four legged neighbours
Its a HUGE park and really nicely set out with the 3 metre spacers in the ground so no room for arguments. There is one of the best Double sided Dump Stations there with Fresh water dotted all around the outside perimeter of the park. With nicely smoothed out Gravel all over the park, there is no worries if the heavens open up. It just couldn’t get any better.
We rode into the City via the Coastal Walkway and it is a 20k round trip and was easy on our Huff’n’Puff bikes!!
Another nice spot and the seat on the top of the bank is a nice touch too 🙂
The Netspeed Speedtest
Download: 16.55mbs
Upload: 23.48mbs
Ping: 49ms
Amazing Museum
While we’re still effectively in lockdown .. here’s a neat place we went to just out of Hawera a few years ago.. amazing place..
After leaving New Plymouth, we stopped in Stratford Countdown for some Milk and a few essentials and after breakfast and a look around, cruised on to the famous Tawhiti Museum.
Click on an Image for Hi Res
Started by a local very clever Artist, Nigel Ogle with his wife Teresa, they built this up using local friends and aquaintances to make their lifesized models faces and they look amazing. I love the expressions too. In 1975, they bought the old Cheese factory where Nigel worked as a boy and this was the start of the Museum.
It is split into three Museums being the local history, the Traders and Whalers and the Bush railway.
Fiona and I elected to check out the Local History which took several hours. This could easily take the whole day if you elected to do all three.
Click on the Gallery below for a Slideshow
The Motorhome Parking
Being helped down
Sharpening
At the shop
The Accountant
The Butcher
A sing song
Oops priceless expressions
Outside
In the tractor and farm museum area
Old Military trucks
Our park
That amazing Mountain
The parking opposite is fantastic with plenty of room for Motorhome parking with separate parking for the cars on the sides.
There is also a well stocked Cafe on site with great Coffee too. A neat spot.
We’ve decided already we will have to revisit and check out the other bits we missed but an awesome display that really is a must see.
We went from here to the Muller NZMCA park in Hawera where we recognised several other Motorhomers who were parked next to us at the Museum! Isn’t it funny how great minds think alike 🙂
Bugger It, we are off - www.buggeritweareoff.com 
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