Now into their third Motorhome, they’ve really  gone for the best and I think it’s safe to say, they’re pretty chuffed with it too.
Happy With their XLI, Dianne and Gary
Their new Dethleffs XLI is just the business. At 8.7 metres and 5 tons, there is plenty of room and a payload for Africa.
The Garage across the back is enormous and the brochures show a scooter standing upright in it, I think you would probably fit two in!
The shower and toilet  area is divided from both the main bedroom and dining area by two sets of doors, effectively setting it upas an ensuite and it’s very nicely done.
In the BedroomGary and Dianne in the living areaThe shower
A really nice machine , and I’m pleased that they’re back on the road enjoying their Motorhome.
Before we left Raglan, we had to check out the famous Raglan beach, then onto Hamilton to get diesel and the to check out a neat wee cafe that Dianne and Gary knew just out of Cambridge called the Red Cherry.
Gary, Dianne and Madam at Red Cherry
We decided on an early lunch and then after more goodbyes, set off for Marton. Gary mentioned going down the western side of Lake Taupo, turning off at Tokoroa. Great idea as there was no traffic to queue behind so Madam decided to have a drive. Now that Rafe is run in and everything has settled down, she found it a doddle.
Down the western side of Taupo. This pic specially for Alan 😀
After stopping briefly at Turangi for a cuppa, went went all the way through to  Marton. We arrived about 5pm just before dusk and it was nice to see Gary and Chris again.
With Gary and ChrisAt the Marton MCA park
The NZMCA park at Marton is a fantastic facility set up with toilets, showers, water and a library. I think I also saw a kitchen there too. To those set this up, well done, a great place to stay.
The next morning, we were off again to Wellington, stopping briefly for diesel at Levin and  cuppa shortly after.  Arriving at Evans Bay Marina around 1pm, we had plenty of time to get ready for the show at 5pm.
Arriving in Wellington
Evans Bay Marina is near the airport and is a well know free camping spot with Potable water, a dump station, toilets and a great view.
The viewEvans Bay Marina. It’s great watching the planes land.
Evans Bay is about 15 minutes drive from town, it is $7.50 each in a bus, so we got a cab at $25. Also much more convenient.
The show was fantastic, clever people doing clever things. Every Kiwi should see it. This was our third time going and I’d do it again.
Wearable arts before the performance
We’re on the ferry to probably Nelson via Blenheim. More tomorrow
My apologies for the strange postings, I’ve been trying out an offline blog program and its been a failure!
We were up early to be joined by Dianne and Gary to watch the All Blacks play Namibia.. What a great first half and great that Namibia scored a try. The second half. Well !
Breakfast time
A walk up to Raglan town across the foot bridge was next on the agenda so we crossed the footbridge from the campground to the town and checked in a one of the cafes for breakfast. A tour around the crafty shops and although I’m not a great shopper, I was on my best behaviour😜
The wharfThe perfect houseRepairing a fishing boat
Raglan has an amazing wharf area with a great fish shop. There is also what Madam thinks is the best pottery and jewellery shop around. We stopped for a cup of tea and watched some fishermen repairing their nets.
There is an old silo there which has been turned into flats.
The fish shopRepairing netsFiona and Dianne enjoying the view
We set a course for home and Gary and I had a crack at getting the NZMCA kml tikes into his Gps.
After an anxious hour or so after the Nav software wouldn’t play the game on Gary’s Mac, I remembered where the files went and we managed to set the path and install the files manually… We hadn’t buggered it up after all.😀
We celebrated with some great fish and chips in the new XLI with a glass or two of something cold😎
Back to the vans
Today we’re off to Marton to meet Gary and Chris for the trip to Wellington.
It’s great to be on the road.. As I suspected might happen… Forgetting something important…, we got as far as the city and had to return to  Devonport to send out my September invoices ..😗… That set us back half an hour for doing a job on the way for a Wellington customer,…on a farm at Glen Murray. ..it didn’t really matter at the end of the day..we’re on the road and away .. Yay.
Madam reading up on the wind farmThe wind farm at Te Uku
We arrived 40 minutes later and got some nice images .. Rafes first visit to a farm and getting the designer dirt treatment😀
The Gps then had a moment where it took us the back windy way from there to Raglan where we caught up with our friends from Taupo, Dianne and Gary in their new Dethleffs XLI. Great to see them again.
Raglan Main stRaglan Hotel
Dianne had arranged for us to stay at the Raglan Motorcamp which is on a peninsula virtually surrounded by water with a footbridge into town so we’re looking forward to checking that out later… More on this tomorrow.
As we’re renting the house out, we’re running down the pantry stocks in the house so provisioning the van for the Sth Island trip tomorrow was pretty straight forward… more a case of finding places to put stuff.
Madam in the Supermarket provisioning for the trip.
I spent a couple of hours yesterday pulling everything out of the cupboards and resetting where stuff goes in which cupboards… It’s amazing the space that was created for yep! …. more stuff
Under floor storage. There are three ares like this .. Very handy
We use big plastic storage bins for keeping things tidy in the garage and most of that was rejigged as well so it’s all looking good.. Â I’ve got that feeling we’re going to forget something important..
Wardrobe drawers.. A cheap way for extra storage
On a recent visit to the Plastic Box company, I discovered a neat way of making better use of our wardrobes. They have a hanging draw set that is designed to make a wardrobe into some shelving… To do both wardrobes was about $140 all up and it looks like it should work quite well..
Yippee .. Off tomorrow to meet some Motorhome friends at Raglan for a couple days, then Marton to meet some other Motorhome friends and then we travel in convoy to the South Island via WOW in Wellington.
I’ll try to post daily now we’re on the move. Keep your eyes peeled😃
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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