One of the great new secrets of Mangawhai is the Motorhome parking behind the history in the new Mangawhai Museum.
Parked behind the Museum
It’s a huge area and perfectly flat and also has the dump station and for a donation, fresh water.
One of the most decorated dump stations
We arrived here fresh from having a look around Bennetts chocolate factory and the old Mangawhai shops and were keen to check out the Museum.
In a brand new purpose built building with a cafe, it is really well done and well worth a look through. There is a lot of history on the Niagara sinking and a huge amount of items donated by the founding families of the the area.
Plenty of room
what a memory!
A model of the old wharf by the Hotel
Inside the museum
After visiting the Museum, we unhitched the bikes and went for a bit of a trek around the new housing areas opposite the Museum. As we left, we saw our caravan neighbours from the pub carpark the previous night arriving at the dump station.
Lots of room and dead flat
Another great free parking discovery at Mangawhai and the Museum is one of the best!
There were thunderstorms predicted and the showers on the road from Kaiwaka to Mangawhai were pretty heavy. We were going to stay at Scandrett but decided, given the weather, we’d be better off plonking the 4 odd tons of Rafe on gravel or tarseal.
We looked at the Hakuru RSA on the way but as there was no one around decided we’d try the Mangawhai Pub which was an NZMCA Park over Property. Not my first choice on a Saturday night as we’d be sharing the park with pub patron cars. We thought we’d give it a go as there was a caravan who’d been there for a few nights who hadn’t had any trouble so we parked over in the corner as close to them as we could and headed in for a drink.
The pub carpark
It’s a really nice old historic hotel right on the water. Everywhere you looked, it reeked with history and lots of character. As we settled down for our first drinks with a bowl of chips, a huge thunderstorm hit and lots of rain. I love a good thunderstorm, especially when you’re nicely tucked up inside out if the rain.
In front of the pub
The rain didn’t last long so I went for a walk down to the beach in front and checked out the estuary for some piccies. I also did some more in the morning.
We settled down for tea and watched TV and about 11pm, we felt a few very gentle rolls of the van, like someone in the van had moved. Someone’s sense of humour as they were leaving the carpark! We ignored it and a second later it stopped and we heard more cars drive away. No harm done. A nice spot and really handy to town and it is free after all. Maybe not Friday or Saturday nights though!
Don’t forget to click on images for hi res or a slideshow
Parked in the corner
The main street of Mangahwai. Bennett’s chocolate factory on the right
A character building on the main street
The café at Bennett’s
Bennetts Chocolate Factory
Behind Bennetts Factory
The next morning we parked around behind Bennetts chocolate factory. I wasn’t aware but there is a huge large Motorhome friendly park behind the building.
I love carparks like this. Behind Bennetts Chocolate Factory
After a cuppa at Bennetts chocolate factory café and some chocolate. we went for a wander around the shops in Mangawhai.
After the Covi Show, I picked up Fiona and we decided to head up north. Waipu sounded good and we with the weather looking good for the weekend, we knew we could probably stay at the Caledonian Park.
The trip was easy and we scooted up the motorway and up to Waipu arriving early in the afternoon. We were greeted with a No Camping sign which looked a bit flash but looked as though it might have been forgotten about and left out by accident.
It is such a nice place to stay that I thought it was worth a phone call to see what was up. The really nice chap on the other end said that it was because they had two weddings over the next two Saturdays and they didn’t want big motorhomes being in their faces just outside the window BUT ! .. if we were to park down the other end and and park end on, we were welcome to stay the night.. yippee !
Parked end on at the end of the field. Alan and Bev on the right. The wedding in the hall in the distance
$10 a night with power, just behind the main street in Waipu, fabulous spot and walking distance to everywhere.
Just after we got settled, a knock on the door from another motohomer asking about the sign. I gave him the number, explained about the weddings and he parked more into the trees than I was. Fiona wanted her TV signal so that prevented me from getting right underneath 🙂
Alan and Bev were English and had been here for most of summer and are retired camp ground owners and have been coming here to see their family. Nice couple and they’re currently trying to sell their motorhome to go back to the UK.
We decided we’d walk down to the McLeod Pizza barn where the pizzas are fantastic. Thin bases with heaps on them and very good value. I had been suffering from hayfever so was feeling pretty knackered so after that, we headed back to Rafe and crashed.
Under the trees in the sun the next day
The next morning, the sun was out and it was market day. Every Sunday, they have a market at the hall in the main street. Great vibes with local people doing their thing.
The sign
The Markets
At the Markets
Fiona bouight some Peaches from here . Yum
The Markets
Mosaic pots
As the day went on, Bev and Alan left to go down the coast and several new people came in with their vans. It really is a great spot in fine weather. The grass is solid but I’m not sure I’d want to be there after or during a heavy all day rain. Their is some gravel parking with power around the other side for that but being under the trees in the sun was very pleasant.
Later in the day, our water pump started making some funny noises like louder and a bit whiney. I texted Jonas the importer and he suggested we get it looked at as we passed the repairers at Silverdale. On the way home the following day, we stopped of at Vantage RV to get it checked out. Johan turned the galley tap on and looked at me with a “yuk” type face. “We won’t waste any time with this” as he left and went and got another pump and installed it there and then. The submersible pump showed signs of being on its last legs, with water creeping up the wire into the pump motor and Johan reckoned it was not far off seizing. It must have been a duff one from the start. The whole process took less than an hour and we were off back to Milford.
Dusk on our last night
Hats off to Jonas (Dethleffs NZ) and Johan and the team at Vantage RV for very prompt service.
The whines from the pump were bad, imagine the whine from Fiona if she had no water 🙂
While we were getting ready for New Years Eve, I couldn’t help but notice and amazing retro looking Mercedes based motorhome on the other side of the park.
It was built in Germany as a Micro Supreme branded Motorhome.
Brian, Kim and their daughter Maddie and the Mercedes.
Owned by Brian and Kim from Auckland, they bought this two years or so ago and it became Brian’s project do up. The Mercedes D307’s are really popular in Europe as delivery, courier vans and small trucks and enjoy a great reputation as reliable runners and Brian was saying, he has no problem getting parts for it. All he has done mechanically was put in a bigger radiator which is apparently a must do for motorhoming. It also has a real “unimog” look to the front of it which I think reveals its Mercedes truck DNA.
The retro paint job
The Tv station iutside
Inside, well all I can say is what a great job they’ve done. New toilet and shower area and a new galley area. The minute you walk in, you get this amazing feeling of big volume. Brian has done amazing things with a TV/ sound station including a server for movies, a wifi router and a pop out Tv station in the awning area.
InsideThe Galley
A great achievement by them both, a nice van and although at 1988 it is not really that old, the improvements that they made are amazing and it was nice to see them enjoying Sullivan’s Bay in the sun with friends and family.
Our friends Rob And Helen have stayed here regularly and really recommended it as a great place to stay so we booked in a few weeks before Christmas for two nights.
Awnings out while the sun was shining
A wonderful place and this would have to be one of Auckland City Parks better camping spots. On the western side of Mahurangi Harbour almost opposite Scotts Landing, there is a beautiful beach and the foreshore is divided into several areas. There is a general camping ground, for those that need water, toilets and rubbish collection. There is a self contained camping area (where we stayed) and there is parking for day trippers.
Fiona on the beach
The info centre at Sullivan’s
Rob and Helens AutoTrail and Rafe with Fiona off to the beach
Fiona walking on the beach,. Looking towards Scotts landing
The tidy up before the rain came down
In a past lifetime when I was Launch Captain and on the Classic Yacht Association committee, we used to come up in Rorqual for the Anniversary Regatta and organise and help arrange the launch racing from this bay. We often anchored in here too. I remember a dreary day in Sullivan’s with the rain pouring down watching DVDs in Rorquals front cabin with my mate Alan while waited for other boats to arrive from Auckland. Being here in a Motorhome and seeing how well set up it is from a motoring perspective leaves me with a much greater appreciation of how good it is, despite the worsening weather.
The New Year’s Eve forecast wasn’t good and during the day, the wind steadily increased. There were a couple hardy souls anchored out there today but they sensibly moved on given the 20 odd knots blowing in here now.
Our site on New Years eve
By 5pm, we’d moved around the back of Rob and Helens van for the start of our New Years Eve celebrations. We were joined by John and Heather who we met in winter at Miranda when they were enjoying their first night in their 7m plus Trail lite which they had just bought. It was nice to see them again.
We barbecued tea and sat outside out of the wind before the clean up started about 8ish and before it rained. A great night in a nice park with good company.
Later: The forecast has got worse so rather than risk being blown off the ridge road by predicted 50knot winds, we’ve booked to stay another night and hunker down.
I couldn’t think of a better place to be.😎
After a few nights up by Tutukaka, we decided to splash out for a day in Whangarei.
We parked in the town centre Motorhome parking and checked in at one if the restaurants overlooking the marina for lunch. It cost a wee bit more than a bread roll but it was very pleasant for an hour or two.
After getting back to Rafe, we thought we’d check into a Motorcamp for the night.
Our friends Gary and Chris had talked about a neat park along the northern side of Whangarei harbour which was on a peninsula almost surrounded by water so we though we’d give it a go.
Rafe with the water up to the edge.Rafe peering over the retaining wall
The owner was very helpful and after a short guided tour of the park, we popped Rafe into our hole for the night. I was amazed when Fiona tried the TV to see that we had a reception given we were half under trees. The park was busy and very full.
I went for a walk with the camera to try and illustrate where we were. The park was built up with a wooden retaining wall all around to protect it from the sea.
The end of the peninsula looking towards Marsden Point
A great spot with a fabulous host. It was a wee bit on the pricey side at $59, but given it was peak summertime and everywhere else was full, top marks to the owner for being a good entrepreneur and such a nice guy to go with it.
Having spent the last few days with our friends Rob and Helen and their 11yr old daughter Chloe, Rob was keen to show us a modification he has made to his fridge to make it more efficient. Now Rob is a clever guy and is very familiar with things electrical so to see it working as well as it does is fantastic.
Rob with his fan
Robs fridge is an under the bench style Dometic 3 way fridge. They imported their AutoTrail themselves from the Uk a few years ago and of course it came with a “Northern Hemisphere” fridge. The difference between those and the “tropical” fridge is that the NZ fridges apparently are setup to be able to deal with hotter climates.
The work around for Uk fridges in NZ is to fit a 12v fan in the cavity behind the fridge with a thermostat to expel the air from behind the fridge, outside.
The thermostat
The 12v fans use next to no power and are really reliable.
Rob says it has made a massive difference to its performance and both he and Helen are really pleased with the way it performs.
There is a link to an Aussie web site which details the technical which Rob found that makes it relatively easy. Here’s the technical link
On the way back from Matapouri, we almost stumbled on these falls in a well setup park on the Ngunguru road.
Very nice new toilets too if you’re looking for good loos.
Whangarei falls from the top
We spent an hour or so wandering around what’s called the inner loop walk which takes you down an easy track to a huge cavern like area with the huge waterfalls falling into a big lake about 100 odd feet below.
There is a picnic table there and a nice area to take it all in.
Well worth a look and good exercise too 😎
After a good night at Whangauru bay, we went to Tutukaka for morning tea and a look around the marina. The last time we were here was 12 or so years ago when we purchased Rorqual.
Fiona on Rorquals old pierTutukaka monumentLooking back from the Marina
It was nice to see the activity around the piers, people getting ready to go away on their boats and doing last minute jobs on them. Fiona sneaked off to the shops for a look around and then we were off to Matapouri bay.
It was chocker with people and a struggle finding a little room for an 8m Motorhome.
Mayhem at Matapouri
One of the things to used to annoy Fiona during my newspaper career as a photographer over 30 something years, was my dislike for crowds and having to get in them. I worked often in crowds, either at events, concerts or just big council events. It always meant difficulty parking and sometimes carrying or running some distance with heavy camera gear.
So by the time I got home, concerts or gatherings of any sort were always off the radar… So imagine me in a huge Motorhome and all these people with narrow streets and people wanting to get home, all hot and at the end of the day.
Woolleys bay carpark
Us in Wooleys bay carpark
Wooleys bay
Woolleys bay carpark from the top of the dunes
Helen and Fiona at Matapouri
Matapouri beach
We decided to move on to Woolleys bay, the next bay north hoping there would be less aggravation parking and some space. And it was lovely. We’d just arrived in the carpark behind the sand dunes and drove right into a flat spot next to another Motorhome who had been there the previous night. A really nice chap with his wife and two girls who was a supplier to Dethleffs and knew Jonas the importer.
Fiona and I sat in our new Christmas chairs and enjoyed lunch in the sun before changing and spending a few hours on the beach. Not a cloud in the sky and a bit of surf, just nice.
Later in the day, we thought we’d better check in with Rob and Helen who had got a premo spot in Matapouri bay and were encouraging us to come back.
It was mayhem but with both Rob and Helen acting as ace parking wardens, somehow we managed to get a spot right next to them. I have to say though, a bit stressful and although it’s a great beach, I really think that the beachfront carpark isn’t setup or well suited for large Motorhomes as everywhere you park is potentially exposed to a bad or careless car parker. Most of the cars had gone by 7pm and it started to settle down and by then, really nice.
Us once the cars had gone. Rob and Helens AutoTrail on the left
All those people and the extra risk to Rafe, give me a quiet little Bay any day😎
Well, what a day. We had a great night with Fiona’s brother John and better half, Marnie where I whistled out the plug in Bbq and John made a great salad, we ate and drank until late. It was lots of fun. Our visit to J & M’s was well overdue and I’m sure we well and truly made up for it 😀
Rafe at John and MarnieThe long haired driveway
John cooked up an amazing breakfast of bacon and eggs that morning which prepared us well for the day. The drive needed a good haircut but we managed to get down with Fiona walking ahead and pulling the long branches out of the way and we were off via Pack n Save in Silverdale to meet Rob and Helen at Whangaumu near Tutukaka.
As we headed up the hill to windy ridge on the first passing lanes, towards the end of the passing lanes we were overtaken in a hurry by two cars, a Toyota smallish car and a new X6 Bmw who pushed into the passing lane in front of me, earning himself a good loud toot of my horn for being a dickhead.
As we went on at the next passing lanes around the corner, the Beemer pulled out to overtake and immediately the Toyota pulled out in front to stall the bmw from going forward. There was obviously some history with these two. I kept back leaving a gap in the left for the bmw to move back into. On it went with the Toyota stopping the flow forward of the right lane really upsetting the beemer driver. The passing lanes eventually run out at the top of windy ridge and the Toyota moves left with the beemer trying to push in with no passing lane left. I’m still holding a big gap for the beemer to drop back into. Eventually the Beemer gives up, drops back into the gap in front and then crosses over to a wide left margin and came up the inside of the Toyota and tries to push in front from the left, deliberately ramming him and as he tries to get in front the beemer goes sideways with the Toyota driving into the drivers door of the beemer pushing it sideways. Wow.. All in glorious technicolor on our widescreen windscreen. We couldn’t believe what was happening!
The Toyota moves off to the side of the road and out of the Beemer pops out a hopping mad irate trendy chap shouting sweet nothings to a mid thirtyish bloke.
Both at fault but the beemer driver needs to keep his testosterone in his undies, that’s for sure. I pull over a little further up the road and run down with a card, Telling the beemer driver who is still ranting and raving what a dickhead he is, that I saw it all and gave the Toyota driver a card and told him to give me a call. Wow.. We both decided we needed to get to somewhere and have a cup of tea to settle things down.
We stopped at Waipu for lunch and a cuppa and a break and give the heart a chance to slow down!
Rob and Helens outlook on the beach
5’sies with Rob, Helen, Dennis and Liz
Rob, Helen and Chloe having tea. Rafe further down
Having fun
The beach
After a quick visit to the Whangarei dump station to get water and dump, we pressed on to Whangaumu bay near Tutukaka where we met Rob and Helen and their daughter Chloe.
A stifling hot day with heaps of people on the beach. A fantastic spot right on the edge if the beach. Well done Rob and Helen for finding it! We met our neighbours Liz and Dennis in their Toyota Bus. Nice people too.
Rafe at Dusk
The images tell the story. I thought later I wish I’d taken the camera down to the fighting drivers to get a real news piccy but as Fiona says, I might have attracted more attention than I could deal with 😳
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.
Bugger It, we are off - www.buggeritweareoff.com 
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