Category Archives: Close to home

Close to home, Waikato

West Coast Beauty

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We spent a nice couple of nights with the two Grandsons and their parents at Ardmore and then we headed off to Port Waikato for our last night away for the weekend.

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The Jandal Wall

The last time I came to Port Waikato in the middle of last year, the camp was run by a very helpful French chap who couldn’t do enough for you.

Last year in October, the camp was bought out by a Hapu of Tainui and the welcome we got from manager Mathew was unbelievable.

He’s a lovely guy and again was just so helpful. With the new management comes some enthusiasm to do a few deals to rev things up in winter. The deal we had was pay for one adult and get another one free for a powered site which was amazing. Where else do you get this with all the other facilities too 🙂

The Powered sites

After finding a nice spot for Rafe and settling down, Fiona and I decided to walk the 1k or so down to Sunset beach. A nice easy flat walk and the beach is amazing. There is something that is quite magical about our West Coast beaches.

The wild west
The Tv room and Kitchen
A local bach
The front fence

We spent an hour so  taking it all in and then headed back to Rafe.

Sunset beach

As it was a holiday park and despite the cold weather, the park was reasonably busy with plenty of caravans and lots of Bach owners in their permanent chalets in the park.

Great decorating skills

Some have gone to some trouble to set them apart from the others.

Along the beach

The rain came down overnight which we expected and we enjoyed a leisurely run home with very little traffic.

On the Estuary

Its a great spot, the camp is well setup and with Mathew on the handlebars now, you’ll really enjoy your stay. Check it out.

Rafes Tracking map
Close to home

Huge, Close to Auckland and very reasonable

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This amazing campground started out as a picnic area in the early 1900’s. About 1949, all 34 acres of it was developed into a campground and run by the Rodney Council.  As time went on the council decided it wanted to divest of its interest in the Campground. The local bach owners got together and wisely formed a company with the bach owners as shareholders and the Pinewoods campground is run as part of this.

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Looking towards Orewa. Baches on top of the cliff. Orewa in the distance.

There is a green with a stage and a big screen for movies and entertainment for kids in the summer. Plenty of neat play equipment and lots of lawn to run around on.

Some of the baches

Many of the current bach owners have been coming to Pinewoods all their lives with parents or even grandparents, and lots of children looks forward to the Christmas holidays when there is films, fishing contests, talent shows, beauty pageants, a sports day, and even tennis and golf tournaments (for the not so young).

Rafe and one other in the new area.
Neat table tennis table
Play equipment
The stage and the screen
Motorhome and Boat parking
A Map of this huge area.
The newly developed concrete pads. before they were grass.
From Jacobs Ladder looking towards Orewa

It really is a well set out place and HUGE.

The new pads with new power boxes.

The Motorhome park I stayed on was one of ten new concrete pads with new power boxes and plenty of water taps and even grey water disposal every second or third site.

Baches forever.

Toilets and Showers were handy and and spotlessly clean.

With the NZMCA discount, I was charged $16 a night in the offseason which I thought was very reasonable.

From Jacobs Ladder looking towards Orewa

I went for a walk around when I first arrived as the weather was due to deteriorate. I ended up right at the top of the Camground where there is a very robust set of concrete steps down to a small private beach called Jacobs Ladder. Apparently it is very popular for fishing off the rocks.

From the bottom of Jacobs Ladder

Around further is access to the Red Beach Surf life saving area which the camp helped setup years ago. A neat sandy beach and safe for the littlies for swimming.  I’ll be back, a great spot with friendly staff too.

And down a short pathway, Red Beach looking stunning.

The Netspeed Speedtest for this site
Download: 10.99 Mbps
Upload: 5.33 Mbps
Ping: 34 ms
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&q=-36.601961,174.705411

Rafe’s track to this magic spot
Close to home, Europe 2017

Back to Rafe

We arrived in Auckland about an hour earlier than planned around 10:30pm and immediately grabbed a cab and headed for the Hotel Ibis at the airport. Our son Alex was going to pick us up in our car around 7:30 in the morning but with the body clocks being as they were, we were awake and ready to go by 5:30am wondering what to do with ourselves 🙂

It was great to see Alex, Sarah and the boys at their home in Ardmore after a long time away.  Unfortunately, we had to press on and pick up Rafe from Dianne and Gary’s shed in Taupo otherwise we had no where to sleep !

Click on the images for Hi Res

We left Ardmore around 9:30 and headed south stopping at Cambridge for lunch and then getting to Taupo about 1pm. Rafe’s COF had expired and it was booked in for 2pm which it flew through.

I hate the waiting and standing around with WOF’s or COF’s as you never know what is going to spring out of the woodwork but today was a good day 🙂

Lovely spot

We headed up to the National Equestrian Centre which is off the road north to Rotorua, just after the turnoff from Taupo. Its a magic spot and is $10 including power, showers and toilets.

Caravan Alley

With the jet lag the way it was, neither of us felt too good about driving north until we’d had a go at our body clocks and getting some sleep so we elected to stay here, despite the weather for the next 3 days and it just came down cats and dogs.

Toilets, Showers and rubbish right opposite

Although my front wheels were close to the gravel. There was quite a bit of churned up mud just in front so I was keeping an eye on that. The land around Taupo is a little top soil over pumice so it is really well draining and although there was a huge puddle behind and partly under us, when the rain stopped and we had to get out, I simply backed back from the mud and drove sideways around it and there was no slipping at all ! The water that was behind us had drained away really quickly.

You can see some of the neighbouring thermal activity here.

Its a great spot to park and the caretaker is really helpful and a really nice bloke.

After leaving there, we thought a night at the NZMCA park at Ngongotaha might be the ticket and then after that Auckland.

At Alex and Sarah’s  in Auckland

On the fourth day, we headed back to Auckland and stayed with Alex, Sarah and the boys in Ardmore.

Liam and Granny Fiona on the sideline.

The next day grandson Ayden was playing rugby at his rugby club around the corner so we all went around and watched that.

Ayden off for the Tryline. On the left, Grandad Paul, Granny Fiona and Grand Gran Mary all providing plenty of encouragement !

A great family occasion. Sarah’s parents Paul and Mary were there too. Ayden scored about 5 tries which was great so a lot of family excitement.

Ayden off again with the ball

Its lovely to be back in Rafe and we don’t realise how spoilt we are until we drive something a bit older. Its nice to be back.

Rafe’s track to the equestrian centre from Taupo
Auckland Parks, Close to home, Day Trips, Marine

Busy with the Boats

Tim and Annette, my younger Aussie based brother and his wife had been over for the weekend but they were busy doing their own thing so we thought we’d escape from the house and head off to an Auckland City Park. We were headed for Shakespear Park at the end of the Whangaparoa Peninsula, North of Auckland city.

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Rafe in the trees

We had the last park left available as they had restricted the CSC parking to 10 Motorhomes due to the amount of water from the recent heavy rain. It was busier than I’ve ever seen it and most had opted to park on the gravel parks where they could. One of the more obvious vehicles there was Roy and Bernice Vannini who were camp hosts.

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The city doesn’t seem far away

While the weather was good, I went for my customary walks around to see what was happening. There was action everywhere as there were more tan 300 odd sea scouts in boats at the main camp at the other end of the beach. They were having a great time in their boats with plenty of people around in rescue craft keeping an eye on them. Others were just enjoying the beach and the park.

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Its a lovely spot and its the first time I’ve seen it this busy.

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Looking great

Bernice and Roy came over to catch up which was fantastic as I’ve been following their blog over the last year or so. They’re fulltimers and have been for years in their 10m American Bus. Tons of room and they’ve done a lovely job of making it work for them. They’ve recently done a 3 month Motorhome trip around Europe so Fiona and I were keen to hear how they went and mistakes not to make 🙂 We’re heading over there in June and really looking forward to it.  It sounds like they had a great trip and they gave us heaps of ideas and tips, books to read and so on. Very helpful !

Everyones on the gravel. Roy and Bernice’s Bus 2nd along.
Plenty going on
Sea Scouts having a ball
All aboard
Looking out to Rangitoto Island
Rafe on the gravel. Roy and Bernice’s bus by the tree on the left.

Shakespear is a funny place where the Internet is concerned as the first time we came here was without aerials and we got a very slow connection, useable but just ! The second time was later last year and we couldn’t get anything.. with aerials but without the patch for the aerials so I suspect they weren’t working. This time, it was pretty good for a known problem area,  but we’ve got the aerials working well now  but it was slow but usable and it seemed reliable. A tricky wee spot!

With Tim and Annette coming in for tea for their last night in NZ and after having a cup of tea in the morning with Roy and Bernice, we headed back to town.

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Checking it all out

Its always nice coming to Shakespear and its so close too.

The Netspeed Speedtest for this site
Download: 5.96 Mbps
Upload: 1.93 Mbps
Ping: 53 ms
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&q=-36.613140,174.824475

The image from Rafes Tracker.

Rafes Track .. the red dots showing where I went faster than 90k!
Auckland Parks, Close to home

Beautiful Awhitu

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After a good solid weekend of babysitting, we thought we’d escape for our last night before Fiona had to return to work.

The Brook Homestead Wharf
The Peninsula Campground at Awhitu

I wasn’t really in the mood for huge driving for one night so we figured that up the Awhitu peninsula might be quite nice. I called Auckland City and it seems that even in the height of the Summer silly season, you can still use your camping pass at Awhitu and other parks like it. 

Don’t forget to click on the Images for Hi res or a Slideshow

Peninsula Campground. Plenty of room.
Peninsula Campground. Plenty of room.

After booking in on the phone, we were off heading for Awhitu. We arrived around 1pm and settled Rafe down in the Peninsula Campground.

When you book with the Council, the choices are Self contained or not.  When you get to Awhitu, it is Brook Campground or the Peninsula campground. I was a bit confused as to where we were supposed to park as there is no mention of SCC and no signposts 🙂
It wasn’t until we had the downloaded map off the council website that we saw two Motorhome emblems on both the Peninsula and the Brook campgrounds with tags saying SCC camping that we were happy with where we had parked. 

The  Brook Campground which is behind the Brook Homestead and the Peninsula camp is beside the Homestead and closer to the water. Both have nice toilets and great rubbish collection points and both are an easy walk to the beach. 

The Cottage
The Cottage

After settling down and having a look around both Brook Homestead and the Cottage, which they used before the Homestead was built, we sat down for lunch and just blobbed in the sun.  A perfect spot for watching the planes coming in to Auckland Airport and they were far enough away not to be a nuisance with sound. A lovely spot.

The Brook Homestead
The Cottage
Peninsula Campground. Plenty of room.
Nice Bbq’s with the wood all stacked ready to go.
Nice looking loos
Fiona dumping rubbish she found on the beach.

In the morning, we went for a walk down to the beach and had a look around. The Ranger popped in and checked the park so it was then I knew for sure we were ok where we parked although we were on our own. There was no one else there which surprised me.

The Beach with the tide out. Pip gathers out on the mudflats
The Beach with the tide out. Pipi gathers out on the mudflats

The park is huge and there are lots of great walks which we’ll check out next time we’re here but it’s a great spot and not too far away from the big smoke.

AwhituWe only had a night to check this place out before having to head back but we have visited here before but not stayed. See the earlier post.  It is a magic spot with a nice beach and plenty of places to explore. We’ll be back for sure.

AwhituThere is good 4g internet here which surprised me, being where it is although it’s not fast but good enough for Netflix.

The Netspeed Speedtest
Download: 5.84 Mbps
Upload: 1.55 Mbps
Ping: 54 ms

Rafes Tracker map to get here

awhitu

Close to home

Babysitting and new age Car Seats.

This weekend was for babysitting our Grandkids as Mum, Sarah flew to Oz to watch their family horse run in a big race over there. Dad Alex was at work in Wellington so it was down to us to look after Ayden (8) and Liam (4). 

The new spot
The new spot
Have to watch the Grey water outlet doesn't get tangled with a step.
Have to watch the Grey water outlet doesn’t get tangled with a step.

Rafes parking spot at their house used to be over by the Goat Pen in the corner but Rafe tended to get in the way of them getting cars in and out of the garage so we were moved to next to the Garage which actually works really well. It’s also really sheltered from the Southerly and South Westerly winds which is great and closer to the power point too.

One of the two goats
One of the two goats

On the Saturday morning, we all got ready to go to Kawakawa Bay for a swim and a fish and chip lunch. We got everyone organised and got the boys into their car seats. As Liam got in, he gave his tightening strap that goes under his seat a good yank so it was too small and he couldn’t get in. We couldn’t figure out how to undo the ratchet and release it. I even started to take it out of the car but decided it was all too hard and left it so that was the end of that idea.

He must be a beginner :-)
He must be a beginner 🙂

Unpacking began and then we decided we’d walk them around to next door Ardmore Airdrome and have lunch at the cafe opposite and along from the NZMCA park. That all went well and we spent a happy few hours trying to keep them away from the sweet counter 🙂 and watching the planes come and go. 

We headed back to their home and Fiona organised to fill a tub fill of water like a small swimming pool as we couldn’t get to the beach. Another few hours of easy entertainment for them splashing about on the lawn.

The boys having fun in the water
The boys having fun in the water
Fiona watching the boys
Fiona watching the boys

The next day, Sarah’s  cousin Brooke came to pick up Ayden for the day and showed us how easy it was to fix the seat. “You just lift this and push this button here, like that”. Easy when you know how :-). We then tried taking Liam to the Clevedon Markets but as he got into the seat, he started complaining about the seat  and we couldn’t work that out either so we gave up at that point and spent the day at home. All good but I’m not sure why these seats are so complicated. When Alex their Dad, had a car seat, 30 odd years ago, it was all very simple. 

One of the Neighbours
One of the Neighbours

Anyway, Mums due home soon so we’re looking at taking off somewhere for a couple of nights 🙂 

Close to home

The Birds

I didn’t ever think I’d ever become a birdwatcher but when you sit down and watch them, its crazy how clever they are and what they get up to.

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A quiet day at Rays Rest
A quiet day at Rays Rest

I’d popped in to one of my favorite spots on the Firth of Thames, Rays Rest. I’ve done a couple of posts on Rays Rest over the last year or so and although I haven’t been here for a while, it is one of my all time favorite places to stay.
Its not popular with Fiona but I suspect that’s because there are no shops there or “anything to do” but that’s its charm. 🙂  Your choices are to Blob and to Blob.. just great.

Rays RestIt wasn’t particularly busy being a Wednesday afternoon but stinking hot.
The birds were amazing as just before the tide turned, they’re were all quite happily sitting on the sand banks and then it was like someone had blown the whistle. They were off to spread themselves out along the edge of the water for a feed and then follow the water as the tide went out. Its amazing just watching them following the water.

All settled
And they’re off

The weather was due to change and pour with rain. No problem here as it is all well draining sand. There is always a friendly face here too and its amazing who you meet.

The local horses came down for a swim too
The local horses came down for a swim too

I also did a Netspeed speed test here and was amazed it was so good given that it is a rural area and quite remote. See below.

Download: 41.19 Mbps
Upload: 24.30 Mbps
Ping: 54 ms

Rafes Tracker map is below for its location.

Rafes Tracking map
Rafes Tracking map for the trip back to Akld
Close to home, Int'l Motorhomes, My Motorhome

Donna and Dale’s Hymer

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The S650 Hymer is a rare beast on NZ roads so I was really surprised and it was a real pleasure to find one parked right behind me. Donna and Dale hail from Tauranga and were on their way home from up north.

Remember to click on the images for Hi Res

Donna and Dale
Donna and Dale

Dales sister used to live in the UK and had been Motorhoming around Europe for 4 years with it before deciding to return to NZ for good so they returned with it as “baggage”!  Dale made it sound like she just popped it in a corner of her suitcase but I’m sure it was a little more complicated than that 🙂

Hymer

Look at all that space
Look at all that space

Dale tells me this one is a 2002 Mercedes based machine which is just a smidge over 6 metres. It has a 2.7 litre 5 cylinder Turbo Diesel with Automatic Transmission.

Drop down bed above
Drop down bed above

Its interesting with some of the new Motorhomes coming out now with the main bed being a drop down rather than a permament bed. This means smaller vans have a huge amount of space for the living area and galley.

Shower and Toilet
Shower and Toilet

The Hymer group owns Dethleffs along with Burstner and several others. All the older Hymer vans have had drop down beds for years and using the extra space well so its no surprise that the new Dethleffs Travel only has a drop down bed.

A nice big galley
A nice big galley

It was nice to catch up with them and see them enjoying their trusty older quality Motorhome.

Extra hand basin at the back
Extra hand basin at the back

A lovely Motorhome and nice to see it has been reliable and in such good shape after 8 years on the road.  It really says a lot about the quality of these vans.

Auckland Parks, Close to home

Cricket on the mudflats

Fiona had left Bland Bay and was heading back to town to do other things .. and work so she suggested that I spend another night out on the way back. We stopped in Waipu and had lunch and then Fiona went on to Auckland.

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The cricket pitch with the campground behind
The cricket pitch with the campground behind

I rang the good folk at one of my favorite spots when the weathers good, Whangateau by Matakana. A great campground run by Auckland City.

In the Grandstand
In the Grandstand

Today was a bit different as when I arrived, the tide was out and there was a friendly game of cricket with two families involved. One was from Whangaparoa and the other from the UK visiting. They were having a ball. I had to get some piccies.

Looking out to Omaha
Kids enjoying the pontoon
The Estaury

It is a fascinating place to watch as the tide comes in really quickly covering hundreds of metres of exposed mud in just under an hour… Amazing to watch.

The water is coming in
The water is coming in

A nice campground if you’re looking for somewhere not to far from Auckland. See my earlier Whangateau post here.

The Netspeed Speedtest for this site
Download: 12.89 Mbps
Upload: 16.67 Mbps
Ping: 74 ms
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&q=-36.315094,174.765907

Rafes Track to Whangateau Holiday park

Rafes Tracker Map
Rafes Tracker Map
Close to home, Int'l Motorhomes, My Motorhome

We love our Viseo

As B&Brs from Waiheke and being in the hospitality business, Brian and Carol were ready to explore NZ in their 7m A Class Burstner Viseo . They’ve sold the House at Waiheke and now moved north.

Don’t forget to click on the images for Hi Res

Carol and Brian with their Burstner
Carol and Brian with their Burstner

I bumped into them at Rays Rest during a cup of tea and lunch stop as we swapped notes with their Burstner and Rafe. Both Dethleffs and Burstner are owned by the Hymer group in Germany and although they’re quite different, there are a few similarities.

The Living space
The Living space
The Galley
The Galley

They bought their Viseo from a dealer in Taupo in 2011 before the current importer was dealing with them.  It has a 3l Fiat motor with a manual gearbox and plenty of room. Having a solar panel and LED lights makes it really easy to enjoy their freedom camping and the NZMCA parks which they’re really keen on.

They previously had a Mitzi Canter which they had had since 2005.

A great view
A great view

They’ve been all over the country in it several times and are thrilled with it. The favorite place was Lake Tekapo. .. I think Rays Rest is pretty good too 🙂