Category Archives: Shows

Covi Motorhome Show 2025

March 17, 2025 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com 1 Comment

The best way to describe this year’s Covi Motorhome Show? Quiet but interesting.

Click on any Image to Enlarge

It was an interesting show with some exciting new things to see. The trend towards smaller motorhomes continues, but the big rigs were still out in force, many with new tricks up their sleeves.

A couple of notable new entrants caught my eye:

The Frankia K Peak, a 6 metre motorhome on a Mercedes base
The Sunlight Adventure also 6 metres, built on a Fiat base

Click on the Gallery below for the Frankia K Peak

Frankia K Peak

Click on the Gallery below for the Sunlight Adventure

Dethleffs Sunlight Adventure

Fiona was working, so I arrived midday Thursday, while she planned to join me Friday after work in the car. It was great catching up with some old friends from Waikato NZMCA, who were handling parking duties at Ellerslie Racecourse.

This year, there was also a Zion Motorhomes parking area on a nice flat asphalt section, so I slipped in there easily. Later in the afternoon, a 4:30 ish Happy Hour kicked off behind one of the motorhomes—always a fun way to wind down!

Show Day

On Friday morning, I hopped on the free show bus to the showgrounds and started cruising the stands. A few highlights:

The new Swift Basecamp just under 6 metres but still a 4-berth with all the usual add-ons, including a TV aerial. Small but perfectly formed!
Stopping by the NZMCA stand for the annual team photo, a must-do tradition!

Click on the Gallery below for the Swift Basecamp

Swift Basecamp

A lot of the usual accessory vendors weren’t there this year, which was a shame. I always enjoy checking out all the handy bits and bobs.

Fantastic Parking Effort

With all the changes happening at Ellerslie Racecourse, the parking team did an incredible job fitting hundreds of motorhomes and caravans into some tricky spots between trees and in tight spaces, all while keeping it neat and organized.

Click on the Gallery below for Parking Images

Looking across to the Dethleffs Parking area.

Fiona arrived Friday night, so we took advantage of having the car and treated ourselves to a Japanese dinner—yum!

A Fun Weekend

Catching up with motorhome friends is always a highlight, and despite the quieter show, it was still a great weekend.

I’ll let the pictures tell the rest of the story…

Click on the Gallery below

The Food Stalls did well.

RV Super Centre

The UCC stand

Our happy hour in the Dethleffs carpark

Our parking in front of the grandstand.

Classic Boating, Shows

The 1st Wooden Boat Festival

March 2, 2024 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com 1 Comment

Over 100 beautiful Wooden boats were assembled at the Jellicoe Harbour by The Viaduct for the first Auckland Wooden Boat Festival in Auckland.

Click on any Image to Enlarge

Put together by experienced boating event organisers , Tony Stephenson and his wife Michelle and their team.

Looking at the numbers rolling in the door, you’d have to say it was a roaring success and may there be many more to come.

Rorqual owner Drew setting up fenders to settle in Rorqual the Whale chaser

I was there as a bit of a hanger on really helping my son Drew take our old boat Rorqual to the show.

I was really pleased to catch up with some of my old friends from both the Classic Yacht Association and other Classic Boat owners.

There was some inside exhibits as well of smaller craft and some being rebuilt.

One of the notable boats at the show was an ex-Auckland Tug called Te Hauraki. For many years it was owned by a long time well known entrepreneur, leader of the Auckland classic boat scene and marine character, John Street. As Tony said in the speeches, he would be absolutely chuffed to have seen this happening in Auckland. Sadly, John passed away recently but his old boat was here for the occasion.

Click on the Gallery below to see enlarged images of the show.

Rehia

Meola

Menai with Rorqual the whalechaser in the distance behind

Sterling

John Dory

Kate

Ariki

Anatole with his boat Korara

Peter with his Bridgedecker Lady Margaret

Rawhiti

Petrel with Akarana behind

Akarana

Viking

Windhaven

Prize

Classic Bridgedecker Menai

Te Hauraki with Meola behind

Picton Whalechaser Primadonna

I’ll leave you with the images which sum it up nicely. A fantastic few days in the sun. The boats all scrubbed up nicely and just looked great. Well done to everyone who took part.

Shows, Waikato

The 2023 NZMCA Motorhome Show

September 25, 2023 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com

You never know how these are going to go given the economy as it is. Is there going be much new things to see? is it going to be well attended? but it was all that and more. For me it was also a great chance to catch up with quite a few friends I haven’t seen for a while.I arrived early on the Thursday morning and the first friend I caught up actually parked me 🙂 Great to see Alan and Keitha again 🙂Friday morning it was showtime. My first stand to see was the Zion Motorhomes stand where I caught up with Tony who was looking after the Morelo “Home” Motorhome on the stand.

Tony has been eagerly awaiting the delivery of his new Morelo Empire liner which will be the first of its kind in New Zealand. Delays due to Covid, delivery schedules and shipping delays have meant he has been waiting for nearly 2.5 years! It is due really soon. It is 10 metres long with a 400HP Mercedes Engine. As Tony says, Its a beast! Really exciting for both Tony and his wife Fiona and I wish them well.

After that, I got some images of the new Dethleffs Grand Alpa with its Dual rear axles and rear lounge. Nice Motorhome. 8.6 metres long with a GVM of 540kg’s. Great to see the Zion crew all looking good.

Click on the Gallery below to see an Enlarged images of the Grand Alpa

The Grand Alpa

Moving on from here I popped into the Nationwide RV stand to look at one of the new Autotrails. The F74 which runs on a WOF and has a rear bed with an extra drop-down bed. Nice motorhome and at 7.3metres is easy to manage for those wanting something a bit smaller but still comfortable with all the mod cons.

Click on the Gallery below to see enlarged images of the F74

Just next door was the new ACM Alltrax caravan which is brand new. They describe it as the Caravan version of the ACM Platinum which is a stunning Motorhome and so is this Caravan. Check out the images.

Click on the Gallery below to see enlarged images of the Alltrax

One of the most notable new things at the show would have to be the very retro looking German, Eriba 530 Caravan on the RV Mega stand. At 5.9metres overall and at 1400kg, it looks well built and comes with all the usual bits and bobs.

Click on the Gallery below to see enlarged images of the Eriba

From here I popped into see the good folk at the NZMCA stand and did my usual team pic see below.

The crew with the Rio. NZMCA’s founders Motorhome.

Click on the Gallery below for enlarged images.

The Queue

RV super centre

One of the Kia Campers

Gin and Bare it tastinngs 🙂

Sensium used to be called Armada GPS and they sold me my GPS tracker that I have in Rafe that produces all the maps you see on these blogs. A great product and nice to catch up with them too.

Sensium’s Peter McLean showing how small the units are.

Once I got outside, it was interesting to see some of the Aussie caravans here with their raised chassis. They are pretty solid looking beasts and certainly look the part.

Another great show and nice to see so many old friends there.

Rafe’s tracker map to Mystery Creek – Armada GPS

Close to home, Shows

Covi Motorhome Show 2023

March 20, 2023 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com

They never disappoint despite the fact that this was smaller than previous years. It was cancelled last year due to Covid too, so many were really looking forward to this one.

I arrived on the Wednesday afternoon to arrange the Dethleffs Owners group parking next in the Alexander Park carpark pretty much behind the scoreboard which was a primo spot.

Click on any Image to ENLARGE.

There was a race meeting on the Friday night. Fiona came over after work in the car and we went out for tea at the Lone Star under one of the new Apartment buildings next to the grandstand. The front of the restaurant all opened up to the track so you could watch the racing which was amazing.

When I was about 20 odd, one of my roles as a junior Herald Photographer was to do the night trots. It was a mission as the horses are largely black and the background is black too so a bit of chemical trickery was required to make it happen with the low light on film 🙂 think 1970’s.

With all the storms we’ve had recently, Alexander Park raceway suffered some pretty awful damage to their track and had to relay the track. The pile of shells was our windbreak from the southerly wind if one was to eventuate 🙂

On with the show …. One of the highlights of the show for me was to see the new Kiwi Caravan made by ACM Motorhomes. It’s called the Romotow and is modelled on the principle of a Swiss army knife.

The Robotow is a polished looking beast. I’ll let the pictures below tell the story. The list price is $429k.

Click on the Gallery below for an Enlarged Slideshow of the Romotow!

ACM is owned by a very clever qualified boatbuilder, Chris Cunard and they repaired my floor in Rafe a few years ago when it started to misbehave. I now have one of the few motorhomes in the world where the vinyl now matches across all the hatches in the floor! Very tidy job and you can see more on ACM here.

The other thing I was pleased to see was the Morelo Palace with a small Toyota half out of the rear garage. They’re an impressive motorhome and have everything that opens and shuts.

Click on the Gallery below to see enlarged images of the Palace.

The trend to smaller Motorhomes and Caravans still seems to be the way things are going.

Click on the Gallery below for an Enlarged Slideshow.

The new Dethleffs Just Go on a Ford chassis.

Dethleffs Just Go

Thredbo Caravan

Trailites

Interesting slide on Ute Motorhomes.

Central RV Caravans

Autotrail Tracker

There was an interesting little teardrop there too at 28k too.

It was nice to see the fine crew on the NZMCA stand again with #1 Motorhome.

The show was quite a bit smaller than previous years but just as interesting and with all the main players there.

A big thanks to David Culpan for helping us with the Dethleffs parking.

Rafe’s tracker map to our parking at Alexander Park. – Armada GPS

Martinborough, Shows

The Famous Martinborough Fair

November 15, 2021 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com

We trekked back to Martinborough on the Saturday morning to a busy Martinborough rugby ground. There were Caravans and Motorhomes for Africa. It was the day of the Fair so people had come from far and wide.

Click on an Image to see Hi Res

The park was an amazing place and having gone to virtually having it to ourselves a weekend before with the Cruise Martinborough event to it being as busy as it was was great.

Friends Gary and Dianne, and Ian and Lynda went to Ngawi while we were in Greytown and they arrived back the day before. We met John and Yvonne from Ruakaka in their Dethleffs Nomad Caravan and they were here again too. It was going to be a fun weekend.

We all walked into town and had a good cruise around the Market. Where there were Hot Rods and Classic cars a week before, there were stalls in every corner. It was amazing.

Click on the Gallery below to see a slide show

next door in the Park

This guy was fantastic

The food carts were popular

One of the things I really enjoy doing at these events is simply buying a lime thickshake and a bun and sitting in a street side cafe and watch the world go by. Its great fun.

After a couple of hours of checking out every nook and cranny, we headed back to the park for something wet and cold. The wind finally dropped off a bit, but was bitterly cold. It allowed us to move out into the field where there was some raucous laughter amongst some dancing and singing along.

A great day!

Rafe’s Track North from the park via the Dump Station

NZMCA Rallies, Shows

The Covi Rally at Ellerslie Racecourse

March 28, 2021 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com

Having helped park a couple of these Rallies, they are a BIG job for the volunteers who put these together and with this one, Neal and his parking team kept the bar high with their direction and parking skills.

Click on an Image to Enlarge

This year like last year, the parking costs were covered by Covi organisers along with a free bus service which ran in a cycle every half an hour or so… it worked beautifully. There was also a storage area at the Show where you could securely store any goodies purchased and pick them up on the way back on the bus… a great idea.

Plenty of white Motorhomes

I’m not sure how many people were at the Rally but a general estimate I would say it was at least 500 vehicles on the first day all beautifully parked by Neal and his team from the Waikato group with Counties pitching in too as a joint parking effort.. well done guys.

The best part for me at these events was catching up with friends I haven’t seen for a while who have come for the show.

A great effort and well done to all those Volunteers.

Rafe’s Tracker map to the show Motorhome parking – Armada GPS

NZMCA Rallies, Rallies, Shows

The 2021 Covi Motorhome Show

March 24, 2021 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com

I always look forward to these mainly for the new gadgets which this year, was the Drones which you can take away and use them for fishing.

Click on any Image to enlarge it

The Star of the show for me though was ACM’s Freedom Platinum Elite. The one in the show is customised for wheelchair access but it is HUGE inside. ACM is owned by a Boatbuilder Chris and the Elite just reeks of a quality build everywhere you look.

Click on the Galley below for a look at the Platinum Elite

Looking forward in the Kitchen lounge in the ACM Platinum

Looking back in the ACM Platinum

The Bathroom in the PACM Platinum

The outside of the ACM Platinum

The ACM Platinum

The Vivaldi made by Tabbert was the first one of these I’ve seen new having seen one in Tokoroa at the Scottish Games event. Beautifully appointed and well made and really popular in Europe.

Its really nice to see them arriving here.

Click on the Gallery below for the beautiful Vivaldi

Vivaldi Exterior

Looking down the hall to the Bedroom in the Vivaldi

Vivaldi Bedroom

Kitchen Dining area in the Vivaldi

Dining in the Vivaldi

Recently I helped some friends buy a Burstner Lyseo and it was my first opportunity to see one up close if you like.

They have an amazing 850kg payload! Some of its competitors in its class, only have half that, and with the Police just getting ready with their in road weigh stations, I’m sure it’ll be a big seller.

Click on the Gallery below to see the Lyseo

The Burstner Lyseo

Lyseo Galley

Looking forward in the Lyseo

Lyseo Bedroom

The Lyseo Lounge area

The Burstner stand

It was great to see some of the travel destinations like Awakeri Rail there and also the Top 10 Holiday park team.

A happy man from the Top 10 organisation.

I was there on Friday and it was busy from 10am on and a couple of the dealers I spoke to seemed pretty happy with the way things were going.

Click on the Gallery below for Show Images

No 1 NZMCA

The happy team at the NZMCA stand

RV Super Centre

RV Super centres smaller vans

Niessman and Bichoff

The Autotrail Commanche

Commanche Bedroom

AutoTrail Commance shower

Outside the Autotrail Commanche

Trailite Country

Dethleffs Caravans

Inside a Dethleffs Exclusive Caravan

The Dethleffs Exclusive caravan

Another year another great show.

Plenty of white Motorhomes at Ellerslie Racecourse

BOP 2020, Coromandel 2020, Shows

Big Motors, Big Sounds, Retro Caravans, Motorhomes at the Beach Hop!

December 1, 2020 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com 1 Comment

One of those BIG events of the year which I reckon we should all do at least once. The 2020 Beach Hop was postponed from earlier in the year but it was just as popular as it always is. Its a fun event and the fine people at Whangamata did well accommodating everyone as the place was literally jumping with people 🙂

One of our neighbours towed his Rolls Royce behind his Motorhome

There were 1700 registered (for the show) vehicles plus they think about that again of unregistered owners of vehicles who turned up just to enjoy the fun.

I parked on the Whangamata School footy field along with nearly 300 other Motorhomers and a whole lot of Retro Caravans. At $75 for three nights each van, it makes a great donation to the school of about $14k which replaces a lot of cake stalls 🙂

The Retro Caravans – Click on the Gallery below for a Slideshow

One of the Caravans

Ross and Karine and their Starlette

Caravan in the Retro area next door

I managed to get to see some old friends who I haven’t seen for a long time. They’re both ex newspaper Photographers who have retired here now and love it.

I met John who used to work at the Christchurch Press and Star, and his wife Cheryl at their favorite coffee shop in the centre of town. Very hard to hear anything with the big V8’s running past but it was really nice to see them. I also caught up with Paul who I used to work at the Herald with. We met at the Whangamata Club which is a neat place and just down the road from the school.. Paul is a Caravanner now so great to see him too.

Just Cruising – Click on the Gallery below to enlarge

Every spot taken!

A bit different

Impala seat

An old Holden

Without a doubt the Grand Parade was one of the big events of the weekend and it went forever width the sheer numbers of cars. Quite a few woman made the most of the occasion and were dressed up in their bebop skirts and looked amazing.

Grand Parade and later – Click on the Gallery below for a slideshow

The Rolls Royce in the parade

Enjoying a dance

Check out those Turbos

Mum and Daughter with Daughters Hot Rod behind 🙂

Even a vintage Tow truck

Nice way to get around

DD of Boom Boom Deluxe

Amongst the cars popped out a Morris 1000 with a half done paint job which got a few smiles. Most of us some where in our histories have had one of those or knew someone with one.

After enjoying a good lunch in a town café with an elevated deck for a view of the street, I wandered back and listened to one of the many bands playing.

There was one called Boom Boom Deluxe appropriately singing Rockabilly music and doing it really well. The female lead singer / double bass player, Hettie La Bomb, could really belt out the sound and looked the part too.

One of the things I enjoyed this time was watching people reactions to the cars and the event.

Specialist French vintage Models, Dollykitten and Marion

A lot of fun and after several years of trying to get here but other things getting it the way, I’m pleased I came. Neat place, I met some nice people and lots of action.

The big picture – Rafe’s Tracker map to Whangamata – Armada GPS

Rafe’s Tracker map to the school – Armada GPS

Motorome Friends NZ, Rallies, Shows, Waikato

The 75th Anniversary of Liteweight Caravans at Cambridge

November 24, 2020 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com

When I first found out about this, my first thought was to check in with friends Ross and Kay who I knew had just finished doing one of these beauties up to see if they were going to be there.

Ross and I both started as junior photographers at the NZ Herald in our early 20’s and its been a while since we last caught up.

Click on an Image to enlarge.

I had a commercial job in town on the Friday morning, which didn’t finish until midday so we were late out of the starting blocks and didn’t get to Cambridge until about 4pm, but that didn’t matter as many others were still arriving.

Rafe at the Cambridge Top 10 with the Liteweight Caravans

After settling down Rafe and after having a nosey around the park at some of the old Caravans, we checked in with Ross and Kay to see their amazing Caravan ..more on this in another post coming soon!

Ross had found an Indian restaurant only a block away so that was tea sorted! We had a great night catching up on all the news.

Don Jesson’s Caravans. Don’s family started Lightweight Caravans.

The next morning after getting up late 🙂 we had a look around some of the beautiful Caravans that were arriving as the day went on and chatting to some of the people there.

A great turnout of Caravans and some Motorhomes. It was a really well organised event with a slide show and BBQ too on the Saturday night so hats off to all those who organised the event. There were some great Caravans and not all of them Lightweights.

There was one there with a Penny Farthing strapped on towed by a nice old vintage Truck.

The lengths some had gone to with their Caravans to be faithful to their origins was amazing. There were also some really creative ways of restoring these Caravans with the absence of some hard to get parts. The good old Kiwi number 8 wire mentality shone brightly 🙂

Fiona was keen to do the shops in Cambridge and wanted a decent walk so she set off towards Cambridge’s main street which was about 3 k’s away.

The organisers of the event had arranged for a tour of the old liteweight factories which are now a gift and furniture shop and a huge ITM store on the outskirts of Hamilton. I had no idea it was such a big operation but they apparently had two productions lines pumping out up to 10 Caravans a day. Really interesting.

Click on the Gallery below for a Slideshow

Don Jesson showing where everything was when Lightweight were there.

One of only 5 of these left, only 50 were made.

One of the 5 left, the other end.

Looking at Dave McRobbies old collection of Caravans

Very social time!

Nice combination

Relaxing

A neat wee Tear drop

Rafe at the Cambridge Top 10 with the Lightweight Caravans

After this we had a quick look through Caravan and Motorhome World which was just across the road. The owner of this fine establishment is Dave McRobbie who started as an apprentice in the Liteweight factory and later went on to set up this business to service warranty claims and service any after market issues for the Liteweight product lines. That’s Dave’s red Caravan at the top of this post.

He had two Caravans of a model where only 50 were made and they know of only 5 left… A really unusual but lovely looking Caravan. .. see above and below.. same caravan being restored.

Here we saw some amazing early models of the Liteweights which Dave and his team has restored.

On the way back from Hamilton, we liaised with Fiona and met up for lunch in an old converted church in Cambridge for lunch.

A really interesting day and lots of images and really nice to see our old friends again.

Rafe’s Tracker map to Cambridge – Armada GPS

Shows, Waikato

The 2020 NZMCA Motorhome Show

October 14, 2020 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com 1 Comment

It is very rare for me to get Fiona interested in going to one of these so we both arrived early on the Friday afternoon. The show was well into its second day so there were plenty of people there and it looked great.

Click on any Image to enlarge

Coming down the Mystery Creek hill there was a glorious sea of white roofs for miles. The parkers looked like they had done another great job getting everyone in. Lots of happy faces and a good atmosphere.

After settling down Rafe, opening some vents and having a cup of tea, it was off to the show to see what was new.

The show was considerably smaller due to the postponement and Covid but there was still plenty to see.

One of the first things we saw was the new Dethleffs Trend with the rear bathroom. Its amazing the difference it makes to the layout of the whole van as the usual cupboard like setup on the side completely disappears for a more open layout.

The Dethleffs Trend with the rear bathroom.

Click on the Gallery below to see the Trend

The Trend

The Trend with the rear bathroom showing the space

Bathroom – Trend

The bathroom – Trend

The Dethleffs Trend with the rear bathroom.

The next thing we came across was the small Baileys D4-3 Discovery Caravan with the Awning that covers two sides. The space that the caravan doesn’t use on a pitch is covered by an almost wrap around awning.. really unusual and neat to see a different way of getting space.

The Bailey with the BIG surrounding awning.

Click on the Gallery below to see more of the Bailey Caravan

The Bailey with the BIG surrounding awning.

Inside the Bailey

The Bailey lounge area

Quite a lot of room for a small Caravan – Bailey

The Bailey with the Awning

We checked out the NZMCA stand and it was nice to see Ryan and the rest of the team there.

Click on the Gallery below to see larger images or a slideshow

Lots to see

A Pilote A class my first look.

The Pilote Aclass

Pilote A Class

Pilote A class Galley

Old and new VW’s

Bits anyone?

ACM Motorhomes

NZMCA #1

Outside in the eating area.

Matching set

After having a good look around, we headed outside to see the vintage caravans. I love what these guys do to these lovely cars and caravans, and the effort that is made to keep these in such good shape.

I was getting some piccies of one when suddenly in front of me a smiley face popped into the frame and it was the happy owner Alex. The 59 Chev which he used to tow it was a perfect match in colour and it was easily one of the best there.

It was happy hour time so Fiona and I headed back to Rafe to meet our neighbours and enjoy something wet and cold 🙂

The show was definitely smaller than usual but the fact that it on at all was amazing.

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.

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Show Day

Fantastic Parking Effort

A Fun Weekend

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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.