Every now and then when you’re off the main roads and you start looking for a good place to stay, you find a little purler.
We were in Matakohe after having a look around Tinopai. The weather was on again off again rain so we checked into the Matakohe Holiday Park which is just past the museum. The off season cost for both Fiona and I was $34 for a powered site which I thought was pretty good given the facilities were all in good nick and included a dump station.
Don’t forget to click on the images for hi res or a slideshow
What a huge welcome from a really friendly hostess who couldn’t do enough for us. We were shown to a park which had a view over the harbour with plenty of room around us. There seemed to be a picnic table and a bit of grass around every park along with plenty of taps scattered around for water. The park also had a nice community feel there as many of the guests knew each other and they were very welcoming as well.
Our view of the water.. weather wasn’t helping
We’d only been there an hour or so (around 4pm by then) and by 6pm, it went to being quite empty to pretty chocker and many of them seemed to be regulars. In the morning, we topped up with water, tested the dump station and we were off.
Kids area with a view
Chalets you can stay in
Busy by 6pm
Love the home made signs
Wonderful hosts and a nice little park if you’re in that neck of the woods.
We were going to take our grandson Ayden for a school holiday trip to Rotorua but unfortunately, he came down with a germ and after another night with his Mum and Dad on the ranch in Ardmore, he was still too crook to travel.
Fiona and I thought we’d try a new campground out at Martins Bay at the end of the Mahurangi Peninsula overlooking Moturekareka Island and also a bit of Kawau. A lovely part of the world and we were pretty much the only people there on our second night.
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Rafe looking lonely
The Motorcamp is one of the Auckland City commercial campgrounds like Whangateau and Orewa. They were having an off peak special of $15 a person so given the rain and the showers were rolling through, we thought we’d give a shot.
Powered sites along the beachfront
Its a huge campground with lots of permanent caravans with decks and addons but there are also plenty of powered sites, I think in the region of 130 odd I saw somewhere.
The Balcony parking up the top.
Caravans everywhere you looked
Washing Time
The boat wash down area (coin operated)
Holiday Homes
Looking down at Martins from the Scandretts track
A Kowhai half way up to Scandretts
Martins Bay with Kawau Island
A good facilities block with token and 50c showers and a well setup kitchen and TV room. Being in a popular fishing area, there is a boat and fish washing area and a separate storage area for boats and tractors.
Above the main part of the campground on a hill, there is a raised area with views over the whole bay where you stay if you pay a wee bit more.
From the Scandretts track with Martins bay and Whangaparoa in the distance
On our first full day, we set off along the beach past heaps of baches for a walk up to Scandretts Park. Its an easy walk up a well worn track up to the top of the hill and you can walk down to Scandretts Bay, or several tracks take you out to a pah at the end of the point. The views are amazing.
Scandretts Bay looking towards Takatu Peninsula
We had rolling showers with lots of fine periods while we were there and they had just had lots of rain so quite a bit of the park was roped off to recover.
Moturoa Island and Whangaparoa in the distance
A nice park which I reckon would be packed in summer and very handy to Kawau Island and the other islands.
We were on our way back to Auckland from Kerikeri when we found out our old friends Gary and Chris were at Uretiti Doc park for a few nights. We thought we’d surprise them.
As we arrived right on the dot for “elbow exercise time” (with a glass in hand) at 5pm. We started on some wine while Fiona made us all a nice chicken tea.
We weren’t far into the conversation when Gary filled me in on the new Netspeed Router firmware upgrade and what a difference it had made for him.
With all of my speed tests around the country and comparing notes with Gary’s tests, it became very obvious that his speeds were generally 5 mbs a second or so faster than mine. I put that down to the fact that the sides of his van are fibreglass and the sides of mine are composite with an outside shell of aluminium. I’d assumed from that despite us having external aerials, that the router in automatic mode with aerials, was favouring the internal aerials which gave Gary a better signal. Well. .. No more 🙂
The good folk at Netspeed have released a router firmware upgrade which gives you the option to tell the router to only use the external aerials. The firmware upgrade is free but you will have to install it yourself or get someone slightly techy to do it for you. Netspeed will also do it over the phone with you too. It only takes five minutes and is not complicated and well worth doing. The big thing with this upgrade is not to be rushed and let the upgrade finish before fiddling with anything.
Wait for that magic moment when you get the box pop up that says “Success!”
Back to our elbow exercise.. While chatting away, Gary brought out his laptop which had the upgrade file on it for my router and in a few minutes had it installed on my router. In Uretiti, I immediately went from 2 bars of 4g to three and that added about 15 Mbps odd to my download speed as I was able to get my roof aerials really pumping rather than let the router do as it pleased with my useless internal aerials… Useless inside a metal cage anyway.
What a wonderful sight
Thanks heaps Gary.. We had a great night. Nice to see you both again too.
The Netspeed speed test at Uretiti earlier
Download: 24.42 Mbps
Upload: 2.45 Mbps
Ping: 49 ms
After with the external aerials pumping!
Download: 46.62 Mbps
Upload: 3.39 Mbps
Ping: 35 ms
Connection Type: Wi-Fi
The upload speed is still awful but it is an iffy spot but it’s well worth doing the upgrade !!
How to do the upgrade.. Call Netspeed for the link for the download then download the right file for your router.
Log into your router as administrator.. For security reasons, I’m not going to tell you how to do this here but look at your router instructions.
Follow the instructions in the following screens.
The login screen on your router once you’ve logged in. Open browser.. Type in 192.168.1.1 to get here.This is in Update. Click on Local update to upload your file and WAIT until it finishes!Once it has finished, you can go to this screen in Settings and set your aerials up. I’ve got mine on External only
Have fun and enjoy the extra speed. Call the fine team at Netspeed if you get stuck or need help.
The forecast was definitely sorting out our location for us this weekend.. Parakai so we were plugged in for the heat and close to the pools. Parts of the Hawkes Bay was without power and roads were closed everywhere with snow. Somewhere warm and close by was the order of the day.
The last time we were at Parakai, it was hosing down and there was mud everywhere. It was very much the same this time except we were lucky in that we got to see a lot more of the sun but jeepers it was cold!
Muddy bits roped off. All the grass was muddy. Gary and Chris’s Fuso next to us. The latecomer with his wheels down next on the right.
One of our neighbours who arrived later in the night missed the concrete strips (easy to do) and his rear dual wheels were a good 4-6 inches down in the mud.
The pools were fantastic and it was nice to see our fulltiming friends, Gary and Chris again after their trip up North.
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I had just bought a new toy through the Noel Leeming / NZMCA discount scheme. It was a Philips Induction plate and what a little beauty. I’d just put enough frozen peas in the pot for four with some warm water. Then I hit the go button, wow, I wasn’t timing it but it wouldn’t have been much more than a minute and it was ready to eat. Then we did the steaks in a Staub pan while the girls were getting some chips from over the road. These took a lot longer and as its so easy to control the heat, better cooked and quicker than gas. Well worth getting.
After a good feed, we blobbed for a while and then went for a swim. Later, Chris made some nice scones for tea and we had a couple of glasses of Italian red to finish the day.
The Permanent area
The pool entrance
Outside the Railway Museum
the next morning, Fiona was keen to re visit the Antique shop at Helensville railway station so we went around there and quickly checked out the Railway Museum and café for a cuppa.
Chris and Gary (walking away) with their Fuso
Gary and Chris headed off for Rays Rest and we headed home.
A nice weekend and despite the cold, Parakai definitely looks better when the sun is beating down.
Over the last few months, we’ve had various council people meeting with tree people, and more recently crane people, and the other day, some cone people turned up to get me to shift Rafe and coned off the carpark.
The trees .. the one on the left was leaning on the house, the other two had borer.
Its all been about some 300 yr old Pohutakawa trees that cover us and our neighbours. One of the trees lost a limb in a storm a few years ago and damaged the roof requiring a full roof replacement so there has been some concern in some of the biggest blows we’ve had recently.
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Our land lady tried to cut them back a few years ago but council people and red tape kept getting the way.
Let the fun begin
Recently some new aborists and council tree specialists met and decided that as one tree that was leaning on the house and the other two were riddled with borer they had to go. As one was a neighbour’s and it wouldn’t survive the wind on its own, the landlady had to deal with that too making things slightly more complicated.
In the end, the council backed it and the cone people, the stop/go girls, the crane people, the tree people all turned up and things started to happen. The traffic was blocked off and away they went.
It was great to watch. I’m not sure that its my kind of job but when you them scramble up the trees with all their gear and see how high they go, it’s amazing.
The trees .. the one on the left was leaning on the house, the other two had borer
Apparently more than 50 tons of firewood
Clear of trees
The Cooler looking out at the view.
They had planned to take two days but they got through it pretty quickly and around lunchtime the second day, they were packing things away.
The Throne
Everything went well.. A few people came around to make sure we had permission and to check the trees were a dead loss. We ended up getting a collection of borer ridden bits and leaving them along the grass for the sightseers to look at.
The two stumps are neat. One has been turned into a throne and the other has a bowl carved out of it for holding ice and wine or beer bottles. Very nice.
Its all done .. The Neighbours remain tree on the right.
I’ve been thinking about the big Queen Palms at our tenanted house in Devonport. Maybe we should make them vanish before a someone notices them 🙂
On our way North, we stopped in at Warkworth. It’s been a while since I’ve been to Warkworth as its one of those towns that you tend to drive through rather than stop at and it never disappoints.
Remember to click on the images for Hi Res or a slideshow
The River
We parked down by the river where there is one big Motohome park which Rafe fits in like a glove. It must be 7.6m long 🙂
Our carpark by the river
We went for a walk along the river side and then around to a French cafe in the town. I couldn’t believe how many Cafes and Real Estate agents there are in Warkworth. The Cafes are pretty much all next door to each other too.
New Seating
The main street
After a nice lunch, we went for a walk around the shops and then we headed back down to the river to Rafe.
It’s all looking very nice. The council have done a great job with local business’s contributing to the costs. It seem to be enjoyed by many while we were there and is a really nice place for lunch or just a stopping off point.
Motorhome Parking
There is also motorhome parking at the end of the main shopping road within walking distance to the river.
With a great forecast for the weekend after weeks of wind and rain, friends Rob and Helen were keen to get away. “Were we doing anything this weekend?” Was the question. We’re joining you guys at Sullivan’s Bay which is where they were keen to go.
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As far as the eye can see. Looking down to Sullivans Bay
A lovely day but it was cold so after topping Rafe up with water, we were off.
Helen walking past Rafe
We arrived at Sullivan’s Bay about midday and Helen arrived back from Snells beach not long after.
The last time we were here the weather was awful. Because it has been wet, the self contained area was closed and we were parked just outside on the grass.
Although we were only 50 feet or so outside the SCC area, the Internet reception was almost non existent but from inside the SCC area, we got a better signal without aerials!Interesting!
We arrived back to Sullivans about 5:30 and with a snacky tea of meatballs in Rob and Helens Tracker and after a few glasses of nice wine, we were ready to hit the hay. A very pleasant day.
Rafe and the Tracker..
The next morning Rob and Helen left early. I went down to watch a couple go for a swim. It was 4C and at dawn was -2C! They weren’t in long and I think even the seagulls were shocked.
It was -2 C that morning. Even the Seagulls look worried!
A nice spot in paradise. Yes, I know, I’ve raved about this place before but it is really nice!
Heading back to Auckland after a great weekend in the Helensville area, we stopped at a place called Provenance which we’d been to before a long time ago when it was Beesonline.
The Parking
A huge carpark which makes it easy to get a Motorhome into and a very park like environment with a bridge to get to the Café.
Click on the images to see them in Hi res or slideshow
When we went there, there had been thunderstorms the night before and the weather had been misbehaving badly so the pictures don’t show it at its best.
Nice outdoor area
I imagine their outdoor areas would be nice in the sunshine. It was also really interesting to see they had a huge garden where they grow a lot of there own veges and herbs.
Someone knows how to grow Lemons!
They also have about 10 or so absolutely laden Lemon trees. Someone here knows what they’re doing.
Looking from the Carpark
The Garden
The Garden
The Entrance
Great Fireplace
The Bar
You can see your van from the cafe
There was a big fire raging when we got there and it was all very warm and toasty inside despite the weather and we sat down and ordered some lunch.
Corrugated Cow on the roof
As I was still nursing my implanted tooth, I went for a mushroom penne type of meal and Fiona had the same. It was just amazing.
When it was Beesonline, it was very popular and its good to see the same high standards still apply. They still have some hives out the back too.
Bees out the back
If you’re heading out west to Muriwai or beyond, it is just on the left before you get to Waimauku on the main road.
Before we enjoyed a great lunch at the Helensville Railway Station Cafe, we visited the Helensville Train Museum right next door.
Run by the Helensville Railway Station Trust by volunteers, this is well worth checking out.
Helensville Railway Station with the Museum behind
There is a gigantic model railway based on Helensville, even replicating well know local buildings and known points. There is even a little orange sign that says, “You are Here” 🙂
The chap that built the model spent 30 years putting it together.
Click on any photo for Hi Res or a Slideshow
Helensville Station. Note the pub in the backgroundThe Pub over the road
After spending an hour or so, checking it all out, one of the volunteers came over and said to me, “come and check this out, I’ll demonstrate it for you”.
There were two red boxes with buttons and bells.
This was The Tyers Tablet system which railways in both Great Britain and New Zealand used up until 1994 on single lines to prevent head on collisions.
It involved a sophisticated coded bell system with switches with electromagnetic locks that allows a small disk, a Tablet, to be released for a train driver when the line is clear. The system was setup between railway stations at each end of a line.
All Packed
Given that it was setup in the dark old days of bleeps over the phone lines, it’s a clever system. Helensville Railway Museum is the only one that we know of still in working order and when you think of what it had to do and when it was invented, it’s pretty clever.
If you want more info on this, Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about the Tyers Tablet system and here’s a youtube vid of the Helensville setup being explained.
The Railway Station in 1910
An old train at the station
Fiona in the ticket office
The two volunteers there were only too happy to show me everything at the museum and couldn’t have been more helpful. It’s a must do if you’re in town.
It’s $3.00 each and well worth it.
Helensville is a neat little town and after spending a nice afternoon in the Hot Pools at Parakai, we took Rafe in for a nosey around.
We’ve been to the Railway Station before we had Rafe and it has a fantastic cafe which is where the original NZ Railways cafe was.
The Railway Station in 1910
There is also a antique shop run by a nice lady who once lived in Auckland but escaped to Helensville a long time ago!
The Railway Station is owned by the Helensville Railway Trust and they’ve recently just done up the building including the loos. There is plenty of parking so it’s an easy place to park your Motorhome.
Just a friendly reminder, click on the images for hi res or a slideshow.
It was time for lunch so to the cafe. Still being ultra nice to my front tooth, I had to skip some of the real bready lunches and had a “Train smash” I think it was called which was basically a full breakfast.. Very nice. Fiona had an Angus beef burger.
My “Trainsmash”Fiona’s Angus Burger
On the wall is a great photo of the staff at that particular time. Looking at the gear, they’re wearing, I’d say it’s late 1800’s or early 1900’s.
NZR café staff in the early 1900’s . The lady in the middle was the manager who recently had her 90th birthday at the Café.
The woman in the middle was in charge at the time and she recently celebrated her 90th birthday at the Cafe. A great story.
There are some really interesting pictures on the wall, one which looks like it might have been in France where a train jumped out of a wall on a second story. Oops!
Oops. Seen on the wall.
Helensville Railway Station with the Museum behind
In the Antique Shop
Antiques
Fiona at the counter in the cafe
The cafe
The outside Cafearea
Post office
The BNZ building
Rafe in the main street
After having a look around, we stopped for a look at the shops in the Main Street.
Main Street
Some interesting buildings, everywhere you look you see history.
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.
What a huge welcome from a really friendly hostess who couldn’t do enough for us. We were shown to a park which had a view over the harbour with plenty of room around us. There seemed to be a picnic table and a bit of grass around every park along with plenty of taps scattered around for water. The park also had a nice community feel there as many of the guests knew each other and they were very welcoming as well.
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