This never disappoints and although this year possibly wasn’t as big as previous years, there would have been at least 400 odd Motorhomes and Caravans.
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The volunteers did an excellent job parking everyone and there was a Bar open for a couple of the nights if you felt the need for some cold lubricant 🙂
From the Stand
There was also a special area for the Dethleff, Frankia, Morelo and Neismann and Bichoff Motorhomes.. more on this later.
Rafe on the left in front of one of the Steeplechase jumpsAll shapes and sizes
The buses called around regularly to ferry people to the show at the showgrounds, the weather was fine, it couldn’t have been better.
Smiles from the Volunteers
Thanks again to the Volunteers who make it all happen.
The numbers were definitely down with the Coronavirus hanging over us all but despite that, several vendors I spoke to did well.
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The Reo
I guess with more room to move, many had time to have a good nosey and spend more time doing what they came for.
NZMCA Stand
I went early on the Saturday morning and my first stop was say hello to the happy crew at the NZMCA stand then from there onto the Zion Motorhomes stand where the new Morelo Palace was on display.
Where to start?
At 9 metres long and 7.5 tons, this is a serious Motorhome. Check out the piccies below.
The Morelo Palace
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Palace Kitchen area
Palace Living area
Palace living space
Palace Helm
Bedroom in the Palace
Palace Shower
Palace Bathroom
Palace Garage
Palace Electricals
Zion also have a new Dethleffs XLI Alpa which has a rear lounge with really clever drop down beds above the drivers area which doesn’t feel like a drop down system.
Dethleffs Alpa Kitchen
Just in the next hall was ACM Motorhomes who have a repair facility and manufacture their own Motorhomes too, but have made some really nice bespoke designs for those with special interests or needs.
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Frankia
Looking through the Niessman Bichoff area
Dethleffs Alpa drop down sleeping area
Dethleffs Alpa Kitchen
Dethleffs Alpa Rear Lounge
Dethleffs Alpa Exterior
RV Super Centre
Oz tents
ACM Motorhomes
ACM rear with wheelchair lift
ACM Motohome for wheelchairs
ACM Motohome for wheelchairs. Looking out the back
ACM Motohome for wheelchairs. Looking forward
Apollo
One of the Motorhomes they had on display was one that I saw being put together for a handicapped customer and its beautiful. Complete with a wheelchair lift at the back which comes up to a rear bathroom. Very nice and nice to see what I saw in bits all finished and looking so good.
ACM Motohome for wheelchairs
Moving on from here I was amazed to see some of the refinements made to the smaller Caravans.
Chameleon
In order .. the Chameleon Crusader, a little bigger was the Manta Ray by New Age, then there was the Rockwood with slide outs and a bunk room which was interesting.
The Manta Ray Kitchen area
The 5m long Bailey Discovery is interesting too.. Perfect for two people and can be towed with a small vehicle.
Bailey living area. Nice big vent.
Jayco have got an interesting small Caravan which is called the Crosstrak Hybrid. Again well suited for two and an easy tow for a smaller SUV, it is just under 5 metres.
The Jayco Crosstrak
An interesting show which I finished by checking out the Lilliputs and watching an auction of a Benimar. I suspect someone got a bit of a bargain at 136k 🙂
Click on the Gallery for bigger images and a slideshow
Chameleon Exterior
Chameleon
Chameleon inisde
Chameleon Inside
Chameleon Inside
Chameleon Exterior
The Rockwood Stand
Inside a Rockwood
Rockwood – Bathroom
Rockwood the bunkroom
Inside the Rockwood.. huge !
Inside the Rockwood.. huge !
Outside of the Rockwood
Kea Motorhomes
The Manta Ray outside
The Manta Ray bedroom
The Manta Ray living area
The Manta Ray Living area
The Manta Ray Outside
The wee Bailey
The Bailey
Neat table
Bailey Kitchen
Time for a feed
Lilliputs
Lilliputs
Lilliputs Magic
Burstner
Ci Stand
The Jayco Crosstrak
The Jayco Crosstrak Inside
The Jayco Crosstrak Inside
The Jayco Crosstrak
Jayco stand
A bed anyone?
Looks good
Owners of the RV Travel and Lifestyle Magazine, Robyn and Bruce on their stand.
Yum
Central RV stand
The Auction
I stayed at Ellerslie Racecourse as part of the Rally there which was free this year and was well served by some free buses to the Showgrounds. A great show!
While we were at the rally, we noticed that the Pop up Globe was open and Hamlet was on.
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The Theatre
Having had hearing aids for most of my adult life since meningitis as a teenager, I have always avoided these types of shows as usually I can’t hear anything and the whole exercise is just a bore but armed with brand new technology hearing aids, I thought I’d give this one a go.
The Theatre
After starting with a glass of wine in the bar area, we wandered into the pre seating area under the trees and into the theatre.
Fiona enjoying a cider with the Artwork
There was a lot that I couldn’t hear as the stage is almost surrounded with the audience on three sides so they talk in all directions. This means the lip reading function is unavailable largely but I could still make out enough of what was going on and it was just fun being there and taking it all in. These are good hearing aids too!
The cast during a moment of silence for Christchurch before the show
For some reason I seemed be able to hear more in the second half but put that down to more mayhem and shouting 🙂 …a Great show!
The King getting close to the audience.
Its an amazing venue and being just “popped up” in different locations, they take it pretty seriously with a nice bar and seated area under some trees. The artwork and the décor was something special too along with the Minstrels wandering around with their costumes playing their instruments.
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Lessons on Hamlet before the show
The happy Minstrels
In the Beer Garden
Murder and Mayhem
People after the show
Good seating and nice people directing you around. Its a great setup. Well worth doing and only 5 minutes walk to our Motorhome afterwards 🙂
And that would be the newly restored 1928 Reo Speedwagon, once owned by the founders of the NZMCA, Andy and Gladys Anderson.
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4 of the volunteers that could come up with #1, L to R, John, Alan, Brian and Fergus
Once used as passenger and freight bus in Te Karaka, it later went on to be a bus for the Gisborne freezing works.
#1 sporting its new Headlights
Andy Anderson bought the old bus in Gisborne and converted it to his Motorhome and then started the NZMCA as #1 !
Looking forward
Fast forward to June 2016, it was collected from the Eastland Museum of Transport and Technology and taken to a workshop at Hallright Plumbing. It spent the next 2 and a half years here being restored by a small army of 34 volunteers.
Looking back over the Galley
It was completely stripped down and rebuilt bolt by bolt and the result is stunning.
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Allan, John, Brian and Fergus in front
Love the mirror
The oven
Dining area
Double Bunks
Comfy seating. Fergus’s nailbox has gone 🙂
The outside loo
The Loo
Seeing it on the NZMCA stand at the 2019 Covi show, it was a joy to behold. The attention to detail from the volunteers is amazing. Ferg Mckenzie along with 3 other volunteers came up to the Covi show to look after and show off their work.
Storage on the back
Well done too to the board for supporting the restoration. A great part of the associations history.
What I took from this years Covi show was the slow move away from ground floor beds in Motorhomes, mostly in the smaller models to drop down or other options. There were lots of new knick knacks too.
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Morelo area
There is a new Dethleffs XLI on its way which wasn’t available for the show but comes with a rear lounge instead of beds. The bedding comes as various versions of either a Luton type or different drop down setups. New also to the Dethleffs range is the Pulse GT.
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The new Pulse GT
Pulse GT
Inside the Pulse GT
Looking back in the Pulse GT
Bedroom on the Pulse GT
Pulse GT
Phil from Carters Tyres. The man you should talk to when you want tyres for your Motorhome!
Neismann and Bichoff
Fold up bike
Autotrails
Inside the back of a Kea van
New bench area in the new Nomad caravans
The new Nomad
NZs Allisee
The Trailite area
Popular place.. the Bar
Leisureline Caravans
Drop in Bach!
Lots of new things in the Accessory area
Jayco corner
Burstner has a new 7 something metre van option with a rear lounge with a door, and a drop down bed with another drop down bed further forward. A nice option too.
One of the things I really liked was the trailer mounted fold out camper priced at just $32000 with all the extras. I forgot to get the name of it, but a lot of kit and good comfortable camping without spending a fortune.
Its like a friend of mine once said in the boating world, those who spend less on their boat than the million dollar boaties, still have just as much fun 🙂
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Neat camper
The Dining area
The fold out bedroom
Inside
There was lots to see in the accessories area too with several options available in the Generator area and there was also a drop on bach on display too.
A Mark 1 Zephyr with matching Lilliput. I had one of these during my misspent youth 🙂
No show is ever complete without the Lillput Caravans and their beautifully done up tow cars (Tugs).
Great CaravansThe lovely Lilliputs
A good day with lots of walking. Fiona looked at her phone at the end of the show on the bus back to Ellerslie and we did just over 9000 steps 🙂 .. plenty of exercise for the day.
Late last year, I received an email from our Taupo Motorhome friends Gary and Dianne asking if we wanted to go to the Phil Collins concert.. yes please says I so Gary bought them online. I’m not sure exactly where he was at the time but I suspect it was somewhere in the UK.
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On the way.. Taupo
All I had to do was arrange for some parking at Napier for our two Motorhomes. Just as that was happening, I received a very timely email from mary at the Taradale club saying they had limited Motorhome parking for $25 a night.. thats us I thought so I immediately booked us for two nights for both of us.
Happy parking
Fast forward 6 months or so and despite moving out of our house in less than two weeks, we’re on our way for a few days to Napier.
Arriving at Taradale, I met Mary who was happy to change Gary and Dianne’s park so they were next to us and not long after we arrived, in rocked Gary and Dianne in the Niesmann.
34 Degrees C! .. not much talking happening here 🙂
The Taradale club was doing a BBQ tea for $20 a head and a $10 cooked breakfast so we clocked oursleves in for those too!
Every nook and Cranny was used.
The parking was great and with the temperatures hovering around the early 30’s it was stinking hot. The club’s bar with its air conditioning was a great spot to hang out and the drinks were reasonably priced too.
It was one of these !
There were probably about 30 odd Motorhomes there with most taking up the option for the meal and the breakfast.
Everyone was happy to chat to each other in the parking area and it was a very friendly spot.
Over the road, The NZMCA had leased a paddock fromn a local farmer and there was parking there too and that would have helped that Clubs turnover too!
Acroos the road at the NZMCA parking
Mary did a gfreat job making sure everyone was where they wanted to be and organising the meals. A neat spot to stay and very close to the concert venue as well.
The Netspeed Speedtest
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Rafe’s Tracking map north showing where the club is.
Along with a few hundred others, I arrived fashionably early and we were all marshalled into a temporary parking area on the grass.
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The parking!
Kickoff at midday came and the lines formed to get in and once settled, there were old friends catching up everywhere you looked.
One of the many happy setups
The parking was superbly managed and given the huge task of parking hundreds of Motorhomes and Caravans along with Buses with Toads, the end result was just a work of art. Well done to all the volunteers who pitched in. An amazing effort.
Out with the awning
I was only there half an hour and spotted Nelson and Maree in Caniwi so popped in for a chat with them and later caught up with them for a drink after also catching up with John and Sarah Pedersen. It was really nice to catch up with them too. John does a blog called licenced to retire.
The next morning was showtime! .. I’d only just stepped in the door when Chris Nuttall tapped me on the shoulder. Chris runs the NZ Motorhome Forum and it was nice to see him. It has been a wee while!
The Swift Caravans are always a treat and this years new models didn’t disappoint. See below
Click on the Gallery below for a slideshow
The Swift Caravan
Inside the Swift Caravan
In the Swift looking forward
The Swift.. Nice!
With the bathroom and shower at the back, an east-west bed and then Galley and Lounge at the other end, with the finish and polish you would expect from Swift.
I was really impressed with the new Dethleffs Caravans for Families. One of them has two bunks with a childrens lounge at one end, the bathroom and shower facilities, a french bed and Galley area and then a big adult lounge at the other end. Its a big Caravan but they also have a smaller one without the kids lounge which is also a little cheaper.
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The childrens bunk and lounge area. Dethleffs
Through the window
The adult area
Outside the Dethleffs caravan
Most of the big manufacturers were there, Trailite, Bailey, Jayco along with many others and it was nice to see Eldiss’s new Motorhomes too.
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And the rush is on
Trailites!
In a Trailite looking back. Dropdown bed above.
Looking forward in the Trailite.
Going from one manufacturers Caravans and Motorhomes to another all in one spot, its really interesting seeing the different design styles and layouts.
I was really interested to talk to Carters Tyres executive Phil Jackson who was at the NZMCA stand, about tyres. Phil was telling me that many Motorhomes and Caravans are actually close to the weight limit of their tyres with some even over. This isn’t something that I ever thought about to be honest as you tend to watch things like GVM and axle weights. His team were going to weigh Motorhome and Caravans the next morning including Rafe.
I also found out that they have a brand called Giti which are well suited for Motorhomes and Caravans and will perform as well as or outperform my current factory fitted european tyres, and they’re less expensive too especially with the NZMCA discount. I’m really looking forward to finding out more as mine have done 58000k’s and need replacing!!
Rafe’s tyre weights were interesting. Weighed without me and without the bikes on the back, my current weight was just about 50 kg’s under on the front (each wheel) and would have been just over on the back with the bikes. The Giti’s have another 100kgs approx of payload each compared to my current tyres… who would have known!
Rafe’s overall GVM is just under 4300kg and on a heavy day is 4100kg with water, wine, groceries and packed with two of us ready to go. After having a great chat with Phil, and Ryan from NZMCA and a few others, I headed out the other end for a bite of something. There was a huge covered area with picnic tables with food carts down both sides offering all the usual treats. Some music was provided too.
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Phil from Carters
The Rockwood stand
Autogtrails
Eldiss Motorhome
LOutside the Eldiss
Checking out the beds
At the eating space.
Plenty of choice
From here I’ll let the pictures tell the story but a fabulous show and I heard that it is now going to be an annual event. I can’s say enough about the volunteer parking people who did an amazing job with what seemed to be a zillion Motorhomes and Caravans.
The Covi Show NZMCA Rally at Ellerslie just keeps on growing and this year, it looked great.
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Huge!
Fiona was working on the Thursday so after a stop at Countdown in Takapuna, I tootled on my own to the Rally arriving around midday. As I entered the gate, there was a nice cheery exchange with Pete and then into the rally and once I was parked, I was right next to friends Nelson and Maree.
Another one comes in
I had just turned the engine off when in the doorway popped one of the volunteers and a friend from Ardmore Jim. Nice to see him too. There was a real buzz about the place. Fantastic.
The ladies in the Registration tent doing a great job. L to R, Carol, Robyn, Debbie, Noeline and Shona.
Everywhere I went, it was seeing friendly faces and at the Registration tent, I got some gentle ribbing from Jill about leaving Fiona behind again.. all good fun 🙂
Busy
The Rally was well set out and it all went like clockwork but when you see it, its impressive. All those Motorhomes, Buses and Caravans.
After a happy time with Nelson next door, I had a stream of visitors to Rafe which was neat.
At lunchtime on the Friday, there were already over 300 vehicles of different sorts at the Rally.
Well done to the volunteers who put it together and nice to hear that it was a fun time for all. I gather that there were more than 500 Motorhomes over the weekend!
Its always an exciting time to see what another year brings in new Motorhomes, Caravans and gadgets and this year the show filled an extra 2 pavilions. One of the biggest stands at the show was Zion Motorhomes stand with the new Morelo Motorhomes, Frankias, the Neismann and Bishoff and the Dethleff Motorhomes. This year it won the Stand of the show award.
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Morelo with its left hand habitation door
When we were in Europe last year we saw a few Morelos in Germany. They’re very nice but generally massive. Its interesting to see that Zion Motorhomes models have been specifically made for NZ roads being 5800kg which mean they can be driven on a car license and also have the habitation door on the left hand side.
Click on the Gallery below for a slideshow
The Morelo Bedroom
Morelo Shower
Morelo bathroom
Space age helm station in the Morelo
Morelo social area
The Galley – Morelo
Dethleffs Xli
Dethleffs Exclusiv caravan
Exclusiv
Bathroom – Exclusiv
Shower – Exclusiv
Massive galley area – Exclusiv
Exclusive – Someone really keen to check it out underneath!
Dethleffs stand
Also on this stand was Brett from Central RV with one of the newest Dethleff Exclusiv Caravans.
These Caravans are stunning and the Galley area is huge. Nicely laid out with plenty of space and storage, Brett tells me they’re a great seller.
Cathargo Galley.. check out the Coffee machine
Cathargo was another Motorhome that I had to check out. We saw lots of these in Europe too but this was my first decent look inside one. Nicely set up. They had a nice feature in the Kitchen where a concealed Coffee machine shelf dropped down over the bench. Nicely done.
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The bedroom in the Cathargo
Cathargo Galley.. check out the Coffee machine
Cathargo Social area
Cathargo
As none of us are getting any younger, it was nice to see Avida have a wheelchair lift integrated on one side of a motorhome. This is great and will certainly help those who mobility issues who want to enjoy the Motorhoming lifestyle.
Avida
It was also nice to see my friends Frankie, Harry and Janice from Vantage RV with their new Alden satellite dishes. The stand looked great and for the few minutes I spent there, they seemed run off their feet.
Alden Satellite dishes
There were also lots of nice things to see in the accessories area with new ways of preparing food, new Fridges, TV’s etc.
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The Avida with the wheelchair lift
Mmmm this is comfy
The Dometic stand
Chips anyone?
Hide away
A great show. It was was huge and it was nice to see lots of new things happening.
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.
The volunteers did an excellent job parking everyone and there was a Bar open for a couple of the nights if you felt the need for some cold lubricant 🙂
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