After leaving Orua Bay, we quickly checked out Graham’s Beach which looks like a great spot to stay.
As were a stones throw from Awhitu Wines, we toyed with the idea of going wine tasting but as it was only 10am (yep, we checked the time) we decided it wouldn’t be a good look🍷😳 so we went on to Awhitu park.
Fiona with Rafe at Awhitu
This was originally a huge farm run by the Brook family in the late 1800’s.
We left Rafe in the carpark and walked down and along the beach to the Brook homestead and cottage. Many generations of the family lived in these houses and there is a picture there if them enjoying Christmas dinner on the verandah in 1950.
The wharf at the Brooks homesteadThe Awhitu beach walk to the Brooks Homestead
The Brooks Cottage
After getting lost in the golf course, yep.. We even had to consult google maps to get back to the carpark. We had lunch and then left to find Hamilton Gap in the West Coast.
The Giant Sandhills at Hamilton GapThe Sandhills at Hamilton Gap
What an an amazing place. There is a self contained Motorhome park there which is free but as it was blowing 20 knots from the west, we decided to press on.
We had a good look around at the most amazing Sandhills built up by the wind. Check out the images.
Make sure you click on them to see the hi res versions.
Fiona checked out a very trendy looking toilet and decided it wasn’t that trendy inside.
Rafe with the Trendy Loos which Fiona says aren’t that trendy inside!
Two days of having a look around the peninsula just on our doorstep and finding these beautiful spaces. Such a contrast.
Sandhills at Hamilton Gap
After an hour or so of looking around, we headed back to Waiuku and then onto Ardmore to check in with Alex, Sarah and our grandsons.
The leading contender was head south and as I’ve been keen to check out the lighthouse at the end of the Awhitu Peninsula which is on the western side of the Manukau Harbour from Waiuku.
The lighthouse
It’s about 100ks from Auckland by road. It’s an interesting drive and who would believe it was on Aucklands doorstep!
We left Milford and headed for Shore City for Fiona’s new specs, then onto Countdown for a couple of days provisions. I like Countdown in Takapuna as its really easy to park Rafe in there. They have these great double length car parks.
At Countdown Takapuna
We headed south towards Waiuku. It’s an amazing little town that gets forgotten about but it’s got so much history. I must remember too to take the grandkids to the Glenbrook historical steam railway. That is just out of town and largely run by volunteers. A great setup.
The road out from Waiuku to the lighthouse is quite windy towards the end and in parts quite narrow but Rafe did it with ease.
Rafe and the winding road
We parked in the carpark and when I saw the steps up the hill. I thought of my mate Alan who visited me for a cup of tea a few days ago at Milford. Our driveway there is almost vertical and Fiona still refuses to drive up it. Alan got to the front door and said “oxygen oxygen”! Im sure he was joking but one never knows 😜
The steps up to the lighthouse were a piece of cake but there were a few of them. I remember seeing someone’s blog somewhere who reckoned there were about 275 odd !
The steps!
The view at the top was well worth it. The lighthouse has been moved from its original location further up the hill but is basically as it was. There was a full community built around the lighthouse keeper and his family with a complete self sustainable farm to provide food, eggs and milk.
The light
Out towards Whatipu, the bar on the left
Towards the city
The winding road to the carpark
Fiona on the lighthouse deck looking out to Whatipu
The Maunkau bar over the signal station
The lighthouse
Looking towards Auckland
Towards the heads
After an interesting hour of checking it all out we checked into the Orua bay Motorcamp about 3 k’s away on the beach opposite Cornwallis.
Our park at Orua Bay
The Motorcamp is largely occupied by permanent caravanners. One of them wandered over for a chat about Rafe. Nice chap. It turned out that he was related to the lighthouse keepers family and had grown up in the area.
Tomorrow we’ll head to Awhitu park back down the peninsula.
One of the things we’ve been a bit careful of was to keep in touch with our friends after renting the house out. Although we’ve been flat out getting the place ready and then had a couple of breaks, it’s nice to come back and see our old friends.
After getting back from a weekend with the grandkids and family in Ardmore, it was nice to be surprised with a phone call by an old boating mate Geoff. His boat Florence Rose was on the slip on the other side of the creek from us and he recognised Rafe parked beside the Marina.
We spent many Christmas holidays and New Years Eves with Geoff and his family around the harbour with our old whale chaser Rorqual and she now is moored just along from Rorqual at Milford.
I walked around to see them and what he was up to. He’s just spent 4 days with his sons, anti fouling, and painting the hull so was pleased to be nearly finished.
Geoff with his boat, Florence Rose on the slip looking very sharp. Son Ben on the back of Flo Ro
While we were nattering, out came a good idea that we should stay in his driveway in Rafe and go out to one of our favourite restaurants in our old suburb Devonport.
After arriving and settling down Rafe in Geoff and Bevs driveway and after a few drinks and nibbles, we were off to the Restaurant. There we were met by two other old friends, Mark and Tina.
At the restaurant looking happy. L to R, Geoff, Mark, Geoffs wife Bev, Marks wife Tina and Fiona.
After a great night and a couple of Rums to finish the night of, we settled down for the night. Good fun and great to catch up.
At the end of the week, it was time to think travel again and with a son with a birthday, Ardmore was the destination. After provisioning for the weekend at the easy to park in Countdown Takapuna, I headed to the Ardmore NZMCA park after getting some diesel at .91c a litre In Manurewa ! Fiona was driving out to join me after work.
I caught up with some if the regular liveaboards in the park which was great.
Our view of the Freewheelers.
The Freewheelers were having their Christmas rally and were there in great numbers, all parked outside the NZMCA Ardmore park.
Click on the images to see them in Hi Res
Freewheelers enjoying catching up on Satruday morning
Freewheelers are single people out enjoying their Motorhomes and they’re a lot of fun.
They had a Its in the bag night in the hall and it sounds like they had a great time.
The crew looking happy on Saturday morning
With more than a hundred people turning up in 80 vans, it was a fantastic turnout.
Inside the NZMCA park looking out towards the Freewheelers in front. Fiona’s car next to us.
We went out to tea in Takanini with our friends Roger and Marion which was great. In the morning moved around to son Alex’s family in Ardmore in the morning.
Uretiti has to be in one of the best locations for a camping ground. Right behind the sand dunes and onto a beach that runs from Waipu Cove in the South to Ruakaka in the north. It’s about 10 kms long!
The park itself is huge and you basically park where you want to. As it is all grass, it’s sometimes a little tricky getting level but there is plenty of room with Long drop toilets and cold shower stations dotted throughout the park. There are walks around the dunes for those looking for some exercise.
Don’t forget to click on the images to see the Hi Res version
For the benefit of those offshore. Uretiti with the beach on the right and the main highway on the left. South of Whangarei
We parked on the beach side next to a track through the sand dunes to the beach.
We’d spent a great day brunching and riding around Whangarei Town centre which was fun so when we got to Uretiti, we were ready to blob out. On arrival, Fiona discovered that we had run out of tea😕 so in the morning we were off for a shopping trip to Waipu, then back to Uretiti to enjoy the sun. We parked on a knoll parallel to the beach and had a bit of a view of the dunes.
The awning out with our new mat down on the knoll.
It was time for a swim. Even though it was a hot day, I’d have to say it was “refreshing”! I wasn’t in for long but it’s always nice to be able to tick off that first swim.
Fiona on Uretiti beach
After a couple of hours on the beach, it was time to watch more Motorhomes and caravanners roll in for parks. Even when Uretiti is busy there are always plenty of gaps. It is huge!
The clothesline in action
With the sun coming down, out came the awning and down went the new mat under the awning for the first time and it was great to put the bike clothesline into service too.
With the phone ringing with work coming in, we knew we had to head back to Milford the next morning.
Our first night at Uretiti showing how much room there is
Uretiti is a magic spot. It’s even better when you have a NZMCA/DOC pass and we’ll be back.
After a few last minute things to do to get the house ready for the tenants saw a couple of quick trips between Milford and Devonport but the tenants are in and it all looks good.
I celebrated with my first night away by catching up with long term friends Alan and Grant for a few cold ones and stayed the night at a reserve in Torpedo Bay in Devonport.
There were a few jobs to be done this week so we were in Milford until Saturday morning and now the fridge is pretty much sorted, we’re off.
At the Caledonian Reserve
The forecast was evil. Thunder and lightning was due and it was blowing a cross wind for most of the way north. We stopped for brunch at the Cider Shed just north of Warkworth. We’ve been there a few times before and they’re always good for a nice feed. There is a nice big level carpark making it easy to park large Motorhomes.
After a good break, we headed further north to Wellsford and then finally Waipu. Checking out the new NZMCA bible, we found the Caledonian park behind the shops. What an amazing place to stay. With power too, all for $10 a night.
Fiona with the menu in McLeod tartan at the Pizza Barn
We walked down to the McLeod Pizza Barn so Fiona felt right at home(she’s a McLeod) after an hour or two there we walked back to Rafe at the Caledonian Park.
All the Motorhome parks at the Caledonian park .. All with power and water.The Celtic Barn at the Caledonian Park
By midnight it was raining pretty steadily and about 3am it was all in thunder and lightning. With the huge roof vent above our bed, it was fun watching the fun and games above. By the sounds of it, nothing like what they had back in Auckland.
On Sunday, we thought we’d head up to Whangarei and have a nosey around. We parked in the Motorhome parking in the Town centre while we had brunch. Whangarei is very Motorhome friendly with plenty of parking for bigger vehicles and several dump stations. The town centre is a fantastic place where it seems half of Whangarei meets, lunches and enjoys the ambience.
The walk to the town centre
Fiona waiting for brunch at the town centre
The town centre Marina
One of our neighbours at Pohe bridge
At the Pohe bridge
On our bike ride. The town centre from the Riverside bridge.
After a few hours of taking it all in, we set off to try a new park we heard about on the NZMCA Northland Facebook page called Pohe Bridge. A big carpark next to a new bridge. There is a cycle way / walkway which goes all around the harbour from the bridge and back again. Off came the bikes and we were heading back into the town centre again. Across a foot bridge, through the town centre and back along the northern side and back to Rafe.
We opted not to stay there, only because the sun was shining and we fancied getting some mileage out of our Doc pass which we’ve hardly used, and thought Uretiti beach seemed like a nicer spot with the beach.
Our first night at UretitiFiona on the Uretiti beach
A walk and sit on the beach for a while and we settled down for the night.
Every now and then a good product can fail which can be simply bad luck. We get it repaired and life goes on. When things like a fridge fails to work or fails to be useable, there are consequences like food going off or a cancelled trip. When there is a failure due to a silly design fault which lead to these consequences, there is plenty of room for an end user to be a bit miffed.
Rafe at Uretiti Doc park this weekend
About a year ago, I was chatting to a neighbour at Uretiti DOC campground in Waipu. He had a New Euro Motorhome with the same fridge as ours and was showing me how his door lock mechanism had failed so he couldn’t open his fridge door. He ended up taking out the decorative panelling off the front so he could get to a shaft to open his door with a pair of pliers! The shaft had failed when two bits of coat hanger like wire, end on end had slipped past each other rendering the door mechanism useless. There was no proper joining shroud to keep the two bits of wire lined up. He’d gone to some trouble to show me how to get at this shaft and seemed fairly convinced, I was going to be next. This thankfully, hasn’t happened yet but I was very appreciative for the efforts he went to so I knew how to deal with it. My memory from this was how Micky Mouse, the whole setup was for a supposedly quality fridge that was more expensive than my fridge at home.
Friday night was looking good to get away up north for a few days. We’d both just finished work and decided to stop at the Silverdale Roadside Cafe and BP station for some diesel and food.
We’d just got going when the fridge starting beeping with a light flashing as well. It beeped for 30 seconds every 2.5 minutes. It was driving us nuts and we knew we’d never be able to sleep with it like this. At the truck stop, we turned off the fridge while we had tea and got some fuel as it seemed to keeping stuff cold, just making a racket!
After tea, reading through the “book” gave error messages for things like no gas, no power and talked about other buttons beeping with the alarm but nothing for this error. It did talk about having a “door open” alarm and the “light on in the fridge” alarm. That’s what it had to be as the fridge was still working perfectly.
In the meantime, we had a fridge full of food and didn’t know how to fix it.
Our fridge. If you have a fridge like this and it beeps at you, you’ll know how to deal with it!
We decided we’d go home, rescue the food and try again Saturday morning if we could find a fix.
Isn’t Google great for this… “Why is my fridge beeping” gave me a list of answers from several caravan sites and they all mentioned two fridges, ours being one of them. The fridge, can’t remember the model number now but it’s definitely the same as our one and they’re in all the newer bigger motorhomes and caravans.
Well, the nitty gritty of it is, they have a bad built in design fault or as some call this “an undocumented feature”! The led light is part of a printed circuit board inside the door catch assembly with an edge connector poking out the back into the fridge space.
Who is the fruit loop who thought putting an unprotected printed circuit board in a fridge was a good idea? Why not give it sealed plastic cover and some heat shrink and make it reliable?
The door catch with the cover onDoor catch with cover off with the cover on the shelf.
I could see by putting my finger in the door switch that the interior led light went off but still had a faint glow so the door switch must be short circuiting by moisture. This was mentioned on various sites as well.
The fridge catch with the cover off. Note the unprotected wires at the back
The recommended fixes from the Internet: pull the door catch cover off, wipe the plug surfaces dry and reconnect, reset fridge.. This didn’t work. Next step, disassemble again and disable the light by pulling the plug off. Yippee, success, but no light but at least the bloody fridge was quiet, works efficiently and we could sleep without the damn thing beeping all night!
So we shifted all the frozen and perishable foods, cheese and wine etc back into Rafe and we finally got away at 10am. It seems I’ll have to get a new door micro switch.
This was Pete’s first rally with his new Dethleffs Black Magic so it was great to see the Kiwi ingenuity being applied to his van.
There is a notable absence of anywhere in the Ducato cab for holding coffee. Pete decided this had to change and came up with a nice tray with locking blocks underneath the hold it between the two front seats on the seat arms.
Pete with his coffee cup holder
Clever use of dead space and with the use of matching vinyl from the floor and a nice wooden surround, it really looks the part.
This is Richards second year at a Dethleffs owners rally so it was nice to catch up again. Being the clever chap that he is, he significantly upgraded his dining area with a new table. Looking at the photo again, it looks like it might be Kauri. Very Nicely done!
Bugger It, we are off - www.buggeritweareoff.com 
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