I was on my way to the Horeke Tavern but after hitting some gravel road and with 18k’s to go and the weather looking iffy, I thought I’d be a wuss and head back to the Equestrian Centre in Kaikohe for a park for the night.
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Great parking
I’d just arrived when a smart looking VW Sprinter based van followed me in. This turned out to be some veteran motor homers in their 3rd month away from their home in Alexandra in Otago. They came over and joined me for a happy hour cold one.
This is an amazing place to stay. A huge carpark with power boxes dotted around so you can take your pick. In the middle at one end is a toilet block with showers and a dump station and potable water too. All this for $10 a night. They have made good use of an old red telephone box by making that the place where you pay and register for the night.
The Red Telephone box
The day we were there, the local pony club were practising. Its a great scene.
They are very careful about making sure the gate is locked behind you and for the night with the padlock. While we were there, 4 or 5 police cars raced by in different directions so they must have their reasons 🙂 .. Despite that, we all felt reasonably safe.
The neeaaaybours
HQ with the red telephone box
The toilet, shower block and dump station
The old Ngawha Springs pools are just down the road. I’m not sure if they’re still open though.
Power boxes everywhere you look
A fabulous place to stay in the North and at a great price!
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Leaving Kerikeri and heading west, I stumbled over the Mission House at Waimate. An amazing old house built by Maoris under the direction of Rev Samuel Marsden in 1832, the idea was to teach local Maori some of the European tricks of building and farming.
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The Mission House
As I came into the carpark, there was one spot next to the Church entrance where I could back Rafe in and leave the front wheels on the gravel.
Rafe parked by the doorway!
The church is fascinating with some of the oldest graves you’re likely to see anywhere. There is one spectacular gravestone what must have been a local chief or Kamatua that looks well looked after. It must be of some significance but there was no one around to ask about it.
Not sure whos grave this is but its impressive
After this, I went into the house. I’m a real sucker for things old and well looked after so this was really interesting. There was even an old woodturning Lathe there too.
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The Church next door
Those stairs !
The Lathe
One of the bedrooms
Waimate
A spooky Motorhome picky!
Its amazing how well it was built given the construction methods of the day. The stairs were crazy. You’d never get away with those today 🙂
The living room
Well worth a visit and only $10 a head to have a good wander around.
When Phil Walker returned from one of his last ocean going yacht delivery trips and settled with his wife Sylvia in Kerikeri on their lifestyle block, little did he know that he was about to get started rather than slow down for their retirement.
On a sunny afternoon he set out the picnic table for the arrival of some of his overseas yacht friends and over a few glasses of wine, they decided that the land should be turned into a an RV park with room for chalets, Â and they had decided on a new name for it too.
That was 12 years ago and what a great setup it is now.
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Taken the next morning when the sun came out
I dropped in on a really grotty day where the forecast was evil and decided it was time to plug myself in, wash my linen, vacuum Rafe and generally tidy myself up.
This was on the wall in the office which sums up the layout quite well.
As you come in
The communal Kitchen area
One of the Tourist flats
Nicely laid out parks
Rafe getting very wet!
Phil’s Horse
Flash looking toilet blocks
As I arrived I met Phil who cruised down on his metallic pink scooter. He gave me all the background and its a fascinating story. Now in his mid 70’s, he runs the park and Sylvia is still working part time locally. What about the retirement I asked ?  There’s  a shrug of the shoulders and a smile.
You don’t see too many new RV parks with the perfectly flat and manicured parking spots, its great. The standard parking charge for a powered site is $18.00. There is a complete laundry available and a fully equipped kitchen.
This would be great in summer
You’ll find it just before the turnoff to Kerikeri. It is well worth checking out for a night or two.
You have to hand it to the Whangarei Council. They really have pulled out all the stops at the Bascule Bridge Parking area.
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Very civilised parking
There are white vertical strips on the fence to mark the parks with a number in the middle of each park. The parks are wide enough to get a decent sized 8 plus metres vehicle in and still be able to create a 3 metre or close gap between each Motorhome.
The opening bridge
I haven’t see this recently so was pleasantly surprised to see how well it was setup. I immediately went to a Hot Dog cart that was there and celebrated with a Hot Dog on a stick and some chips for lunch 🙂
Brightly painted loos
The Hot Dog man was telling me how the Rally was setup over the road and they were starting from the bridge that night with a special stage on the other side of the bridge. The cars were due to line up on the bridge by 5pm and then set off at 7pm.
The walkway into town
I thought I’d hang about and watch the action.
The rally cars on the bridge. This was as far as I could get without paying!
By 4:30pm, the car park was chocker but it was all very gentlemanly and apart from the rally cars noise until around 9pm, it was all good. I went for a walk down to the foreshore around 8pm and met a local couple with their young kids. They had just come down for a look.
The Rally start on the bridge
A great place to park for free and there are some nicely painted up new toilets too. You can also walk or bike into town along the pathways along the waterfront.
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I met Derek while he was doing the rounds of the Bland Bay Motorcamp offer complete strangers Tuna which he and his friends had caught off the beach. He popped his head in the door of Rafe with a nice wooden platter with beautifully cut thick slabs of Tuna with a couple of sauces. I later joined him for a drink and found we had lots to talk about with my family Army background.. .. Back to Derek!
Derek and June and Eagle Rock
Most of Derek and June’s live’s have revolved around his postings during his years in Infantry and Signals in the NZ Army. After 20 years, in 1984, he retired and they bought a Tearoom business in Picton which they had for 2 years. For 5 years after this they had a Motels complex and Guesthouse, also in Picton.Â
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June and Derek in their lounge area
They then sold this and bought an RV in the US and spent 18 months travelling around there.Â
Eagle Rock
Returning to NZ and after selling their house, they bought their Isuzu bus which they modified for their use and have since been living in and enjoying travelling all around NZ with their Dog and their Cat. They even have a custom made cat flap and ramp for their cat to come and go on.Â
The cat Flap and rampBedroom
When asked their favourite spot.. NZ was the answer.
The cat Flap and ramp
The Living area
The kids from around the camp admiring the Marlin
While I was with them in Bland Bay, Derek with 4 friends in a 26 ft odd runabout caused great excitement when they returned to the beach with a 149kg Marlin. The whole camp got involved. A lovely couple enjoying their Motorhome.
The forecast was fantastic for the best part of the next week. My thinking was I had to be near a nice beach and it had to be northwards. With the holiday weekend approaching, I thought I might be lucky getting a park at Bland Bay but thought, I’ll give it a go.Â
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Bland Bay
After 50ks odd of winding road around the Whangaruru Bay, I arrived at the Bland Bay Camp. In the office was manager Wayne who couldn’t do enough for me and even though I’d just walked in off the street, made me very welcome and even found a waterfront site for the night. If I wanted to stay longer, I’d have to move one back which was fantastic.
Rafe with the best seat in the house
I’d just plugged in Rafe, opened vents and settled things down and then went for a walk (5 steps to the beach) to get a piccy with my phone for Facebook.Â
The Office and shop
No sooner had I posted it when several old colleagues from my days at the Herald as a photographer, reminded me to be on my best behaviour as another ex photographer Ross lived here. Several suggested I look him up and found the address. An hour later, I’d found Ross in his kitchen preparing Veges for his freezer. In his early 70’s, he’s a picture of health, fit as a buck rat living off his huge vege garden and the fish he catches in the bay and loving it. He’s just the same and it was great to see him.
Derek and Judy’s bus Eagle Rock further along the beachfront
I’d just got back to Rafe when a face popped in the door with a platter of Tuna with two sauces inviting me to try them out. This was Derek who I later had a drink with and his wife June by their bus further down the waterfront. A lovely couple who have been living aboard for 2 years or more. Derek was in the Army for 20 odd years and he knew a few people that people in my family knew so we had plenty to talk about. A great evening.Â
First Thing.. well worth getting up for 🙂
The next day I moved Rafe back a parking space and found myself next to Terry and Louise with their grandson Max in their Dethleffs Sunlight. I spent most the day nattering to them and lazing in the sun. I really wanted to go for a swim but with a cool onshore breeze and the water being so cold, couldn’t quite get there.. One day soon :-).Â
The Bland Bay tree which was struck by lightening recently and is now a shadow of its former self.
Yum .. friends of Dereks
The Dump Staion on the end of the toilet and shower block
The new Toilet and Shower block
Later in the afternoon there was a lot of excitement when Derek and his friends in a 26 foot odd runabout with half cabin had returned to the beach with what turned out to be a 149kg Marlin. Huge excitement and it was later put next to Derek’s bus and packed in ice for all to see. Amazing.
The kids from around the camp admiring the Marlin
After another day with Fiona having finished work and she was going to drive up and join me. Shops or beach I asked her.. It didn’t matter she said so Wayne managed to squeeze us in for two more nights and she arrived later in the morning.Â
This camp really is spectacular. Right on the beach sheltered by another peninsula, it is just a lovely. Â Although several people asked me not to rave about this place as they wanted to keep it for themselves :-), it really is special. At $22 pp powered, in peak season with nice loos and showers ($1 shot), a dump station, UV treated bore water and a good internet signal, it doesn’t get much better.
There was nothing in my diary for a few days and Anniversary Weekend was coming up. Fiona had to work for three days so I was off. I thought if I could, I’d try and catch up with old friends Gary and Chris who were with Mark and Tina at Ruakaka. After checking that they were there, I was off.
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Motorhomes and cars everywhere you look
After arriving early in the afternoon, Mark and Gary arranged for a parking spot on Marks front lawn.
Their House
Mark and Tina are getting stuck into a house that they had bought that needs plenty of TLC and had some experts in the previous day to remove all their weather boards which had some asbestos in them. Mark and Gary were wrapping building paper all around the weatherboard less house to keep the weather out. I was just in time to help where I could but they’d pretty much done the worst of it by then.
Mark up top with Gary helping below
Gary pulling out more strapping
From the inside
On the lawn
It was Mark and Tina’s wedding Anniversay so we headed into McLeods Pizza Barn in Waipu for tea. The pizzas were fantastic and the McLeod beer is good too. The girls were knackered afterwards so the 3 of us headed into Rafe for some after dinner drinkies. Very pleasant and nice to catch up them all again.Â
Early the next day, the building inspector turned up and then a safety inspector. Both were happy with what was happening but I couldn’t get over the “dob in” factor of the neighbours. It’s great to be a concerned neighbour but I couldn’t help but feel that this was just trying to cause trouble. A needless waste of many peoples time.
Tina and Chris keeping an eye on things
Great to see their new house and that they’re really tearing into it. It’s just as well they’ve got a Motorhome they can stay in while they’re doing it up.
What an amazing place. A must do if you’re in the Kaiwaka – Dargaville area and well worth seeing.
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Kauri dam
Those with self contained vans can stay the night there too and there is also the Matakohe Holiday park a short walk away.
A full steam sawmill setup
The museum is a fantastic collection of all things kauri and has a full Sawmill Hall full of all the things that were used to prepare and process kauri. There is even a model of bean Rock lighthouse made of Kauri Gum.
An early caterpillar Bulldozer
The Sawmill Hall – amazing
The last Logan kauri yacht
There was also a barrel making display and its amazing how so many other businesses benefitted from the Kauri Industry.
The washing machine section
Extracting gum
Pit sawing
Bean Rock Lighthouse made of Gum
Tudor Collins donated his massive negative library to the museum
Free overnighting outside for CSC vehicles
Local Photographer and famous for his collections of historic images, Tudor Collins donated his huge negative library to the museum when he found it was being set up. There are some fabulous images on display.
Kauri dressers and Tudor Collins images
Allow at least a morning to do it properly but you could easily spend a day there.
While we were in a park in the north, Sculptor Nick and partner Tracy rocked in with their girls Mila and Ruby, and their Homebuilt Caravan.
They found it in a barn in Balclutha and after recladding it and modifiying their table so it could add extra beds for the girls, they’ve set off around the country for a year on the road.
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Tracy and Nick with their girls
They installed this heater as they didn’t really want the gas cooker to stay and the water is heated by the tank surrounding it.
They were not keen on going down the track of having a gas oven so they settled on a wood burner which also heats their water.
Its all insulated and warm and toasty and it was nice to see them happy and getting around NZ.
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.
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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.
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.
They are very careful about making sure the gate is locked behind you and for the night with the padlock. While we were there, 4 or 5 police cars raced by in different directions so they must have their reasons 🙂 .. Despite that, we all felt reasonably safe.
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