Category Archives: Taranaki 2024

Taranaki 2024

Feeling at home at Ngongotaha

We left Turangi early and headed up the side of the lake as Fiona was really looking forward to “doing the shops” in Taupo.  We’ve met several people over the last few weeks have given us different views of the changes at Taupo and none of them are all that flash so we were a bit unsure of what we might find.

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Along the waterfront at Rotorua

Driving along the Taupo waterfront and hour or so later, there were thousands of people enjoying the sun and the lakefront and it looked fantastic. I got to the end of the waterfront to the town and suddenly out of the blue was right-hand bend into the back of the town.

Late afternoon at Ngongotaha NZMCA park

How to get to the day Motorhome parking on the other side of town easily. Too hard I thought with all the people, so we decided we’d skip Taupo and head straight for Rotorua.

Busy busy

An hour or so later, we were at Ngongotaha plugging ourselves in and getting ready for our first bike ride into Rotorua down the bike trail. We’ve done this before too but it’s always different and new things to see and do. Fiona’s favourite French Cafe was closed due to the silly season, so we had a lovely Cafe lunch just by the waterfront before biking up to a well know baby shop to look for some clothes for my year-old grandson.

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Along the waterfront
Ohinemutu
The Trail into town
Eat St
Pleasant day
Late afternoon at Ngongotaha

We had two nights there and after another night at the Ngongotaha park and some more riding around the waterfront, we packed up and headed back to Auckland.The park is looking good and is always busy which is good to see. It’s so handy to town too.

Rafe’s tracker map to Ngongotaha – Armada GPS
Taranaki 2024

The other way North through National Park

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One of the nice things about going a different way is seeing new things or seeing them differently.

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Makatote Viaduct
Rafe next to the Viaduct

After leaving Ohakune, we headed up towards National Park, stopping in at the new Kiwi Camp there by the old Historic Railway Station. The cafe was shut so after half an hour of walking around, we headed up the road until we came to the Makatote Viaduct. What an impressive structure and given when it was built, it wouldn’t have been easy.

National Park Railway Station
Fiona at the Historic Railway Station

Another half an hour and off we went again, this time we decided to head up and see the old Chateau. What a shame it has become a casualty of its upkeep. We stayed here with friends Gary and Dianne a few years ago in the campground there and had High Tea in the Lounge with all the service… most impressive. We still have the memories. 🙂

The Chateau with some rain coming through

The building is still impressive though. I hope someone can find a way to make it pay its way.

Turangi NZMCA park

We left there and headed for Turangi and stopped in at the mall for a Coffee and Lunch opposite in a Cafe then we checked in at The NZMCA park there.

Rain coming through in waves.

The park is looking fantastic. The forecast was for heavy rain and thunderstorms which we were all waiting for but didn’t happen.  A great night there anyway.

Rafe’s tracker map to Turangi – Armada GPS
Taranaki 2024

Small world stuff at Ohakune

With all the trips we’ve done over the last 10 years or so up State Highway 1, I thought it would make a nice change to head across to Ohakune and check out the other side.

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The Ohakune Club

We arrived in the middle of the day and with the door to the Ohakune club shut, we walked into the town for a look around. We checked into a Bar there for a sly Gin and Tonic while watching people come and go, and bought some of Ohakune’s famous Eclairs to take back to Rafe…. and they didn’t disappoint 🙂

Downtown Ohakune

Later, we checked into the club and bought a drink at the bar.  While we were having tea, we met some nice people at the next table who it turned out, grew up in Devonport! They also owned a house in Devonport too, in Roslyn Tce.. “What number?”, asks Fiona. The reply was .. jeepers that’s our old house that we sold four years or so ago.

The back lawn Ohakune Club

It turns out that Rob and Jane bought it as a bit of a wreck as it hadn’t had anyone living in it for a few years. I had scrim on the walls, no light fittings and no taps on the plumbing! It was also smaller at the back and downstairs.

Amazing… it then turned out that we both knew someone from Taupo where they now live who parked in our driveway once… crazy 🙂

We spent another very pleasant half hour or so more with them before heading back through the rain to Rafe.

Rafe’s tracker map to Ohakune – Armada GPS
Taranaki 2024

Those lovely white cliffs at Mangaweka

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We’ve popped in here a few times over the years with friends Dianne and Gary. I even had visions of buying a building here, but it wasn’t to be but fun dreaming and talking about it 🙂

Argyle Hotel in Hunterville

After leaving Wanganui, we headed across the back of Marton and stopped in Hunterville for lunch. Hunterville is another one of those towns you tend to whizz through on your way somewhere.  All the cafes here seemed to be going gang busters which was nice to see.

Parked at Mangaweka.. those cliffs!

After an hour or so here, we cruised up the road a bit to Mangaweka. Since we were last here, they’ve built a new bridge for vehicles which has taken a chunk of the campground, but I think from memory, its actually easier to get into now with a new access road.

The new Road bridge.

We parked Rafe and plugged in and then walked over the bridge to Awastone to pay for the night and have a cup of coffee.

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The Village in Hunteville
Close to nature
enjoying the water
Parked at Mangaweka.. those cliffs !
The old bridge, now pedestrian only
People camped on the grass by the river.

Awastone is the full featured, big brother campground, owned by the same people across the bridge.

Awastone over the road

After that we cruised back to Rafe to check out all the people playing in the river. The place was pretty busy with people opting to park right down by the river with their Caravans and Motorhomes. It’s a lovely spot

We met the people next to us too … nice people. One lot of their way home from Auckland to Nelson and some others who used be locals come back to their old stamping ground.

Hot and wet!

We only had time for one night here this time, but it was lovely to be here and see those amazing cliffs again. The chap who used to live here was telling me that every time a plane flies over the cliffs, bits fall out of them so that wasn’t good news. It seems they quite soft.

Rafe’s tracker map to Mangaweka – Armada GPS
Taranaki 2024

Catching up with Good Friends in Wanganui

Our old neighbours from Devonport, Terry and Lisa moved to Wanganui quite a few years ago and lived directly across the road from us for many years. Terry was involved in the bag business for many years, and I photographed his bags for his catalogues, both on film and digital for many years.

My endearing memory of Terry was him on our doorstep in his dressing gown early on the morning of 9/11 getting us up and getting in front of the TV where we remained glued to the set for hours! It was a memorable day.

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Wanganui River

We last caught up with them a few years ago when we popped into Wanganui and had a meal with them at Carolines, a neat Restaurant that used to have an attached camping area which is sadly now closed.

Us parked next to Terry and Lisa’s new house.

Stepping back to the travel…. After leaving Tawhiti, we headed on to Terry and Lisa’s new House in Wanganui and a very fortuitous empty section next door 🙂

Fantastic to see them again and catch up with all our news. They’re a great couple and the meal was fantastic. Their house is really nice and perfect for them with minimal maintenance.

In the morning, Terry took us to show us his Warehouse for his Luggage business.

Lovely old buildings

After we left Terry and Lisa, we went on into Wanganui central to have a quick look at the river before we left via Marton to head for a favourite spot at Mangaweka on our trek home.

The tram rumbling by on the waterfront

Thanks again for having us for tea and it was lovely to see you in your new house.

Rafe’s tracker map to Tawhiti Museum and onto Wanganui – Armada GPS
Taranaki 2024

Tawhiti Museum

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This is an amazing place setup by Nigel Ogle in an old disused Dairy Factory on the outskirts of Hawera.

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One of the smaller Diorama’s in the Cafe

Nigel has put this together from scratch including making all the characters and models and the attention to detail is absolutely stunning.

It is split into several sections and the last time we were here, we only had time to do one section (several hours). This time we were going to try one of the ones we missed last time, being the Traders and Whalers.

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In the mower section
The shop

After parking and checking in, we set off to the Traders and Whalers section where we guided through some fairly dimly lit tunnels with some amazing life-sized dioramas with hugely detailed people with flax, rifles, boats and everything to do with early NZ.

Parking area

We were then led to a big underground cave like area with a moat and a 20 odd person boat. With some others, we got into it and were taken through an amazing area of sound, light and more life-sized dioramas of early New Zealand showing early Maoris trading flax and Muskets with settlers. So well done. I believe it was a collaborative effort with Weta Workshop, so I wasn’t able to photograph any of it. Just amazing and a must see.

Trading

After that we went through to see some smaller displays of early whaling and trading then onto the Cafe for a really nice coffee. They have an amazing selection of traditional cakes, and we chose a couple of beauties.

In the Tractor area

Across the road is very easy Motorhome parking on a big patch of grass next to the car parking.

As I said a must see if you’re in the area.

Rafe’s tracker map to Tawhiti Museum and onto Wanganui – Armada GPS
Taranaki 2024

Charming Stratford

One of the great discoveries here was the wonderful A&P Showgrounds parking for Motorhomes. Great level parking an easy walk from the town and the local Countdown supermarket. This is usually a town I drive straight through, usually in too much of a hurry to get somewhere.

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Mt Egmont behind

We arrived here on New Years Day after a great night at Ninia Park, so nothing was open except for the supermarket.

Looking back from the grandstand

After settling down, plugging in and opening vents, I got the bikes down and we went for a bit of a nosey trough the town. We found King Edward Park in the centre of Stratford with the Patea River running through it.

Patea River

There are several bridges and nice tracks through. After an hour or so of finding our way through here we headed back to Rafe via the supermarket for Tea.

Fiona on the bridge in King Edward Park

On the way out to Hawera, I looked at stopping in at The Stratford Pioneer Village on the southern side of the town. I had been here before and done a blog on it which you can see here.

Downtown Stratford

It’s a lovely wee town and very easy parking at the Showgrounds.

Rafe’s tracker map to Stratford A&P Grounds – Armada GPS
Taranaki 2024

New Years Eve Music at Ninia

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One of my all-time favourite park over properties in the North Island is Kevin and Lynda’s Ninia. I came here about 18 months ago for the first time and spent a few days here and it was fantastic.

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The evening’s entertainment in full swing

Kev and Lynda are Country Music specialists, and both have great voices so it was a given that some stage, they would appear, and the music would happen.

Lynda on the right
A happy looking Kevin on his bike.

There are 8 or so powered sites along with a big, newly extended happy shed and all the parking areas are well protected from the wind by huge sheltering hedges. The NZMCA dump station is just around the corner as is water so it’s all here.

The Powered sites with the happy hour shed in the distance.

Fiona and I dropped in pretty much unannounced after a brief phone conversation with Kevin to say there was a hole that we could park in, so we were on our way.

We were met by Mike the friendly caretaker who I met when I was here last time who has his own amazing electric bike with massive grass tyres.. perfect for the job and Mike squeezed us into a nice, protected corner close to the happy hour shed and a hole through the hedge to the stage. Perfect!

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Mike on his amazing Bike.
Us in our wee corner. Behind us was a walkway/tunnel through the hedge to the Happer hour shed on the other side.
The extra Caravan area
On the way to the concert
A hole in the hedge
People enjoying the afternoon music.
Lynda on the right
Nice to see the sun in the morning

New Years Eve was going to be fun, and we were looking forward to it. Kevin and Lynda’s team had set up a Marquee to protect against inclement weather that was forecast but as it turned out, they were just the odd shower and people still got out and danced the night away.

There were various singers and musicians who appeared from Motorhomes and Caravans and had turns on the stage so it an interesting mix of talent with both Kevin and Lynda also getting involved.

Having fun with the audience behind.

A great night, fantastic fun and we all woke up to a lovely sunny morning to dry out the grounds.

A truly fantastic place to stay and there are always good sounds coming out from that stage on most weekends.

Rafe’s tracker map to Ninia for the New Years Eve concert – Armada GPS
Taranaki 2024

Dethleffs in the Driveway

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As we left Mokau, we were invited along with Steve and Rosemary to stay at Greg and Shona’s place in New Plymouth. They are also part of the Dethleffs Owners team and Graeme and Shirley were going to be there too.

Us on the left in front, Steve and Rosemary’s Esprit GT behind and to the right, Greg and Shona’s Advantage.

I was a wee bit nervous after repairing part of my Chassis at the back which gets scraped occasionally on high forecourts and driveways as there was a huge camber at the end of the driveway, but no damage was done 🙂

It was lovely to catch up with Greg and Shona and it was very kind of them to put us all up in their driveway with power too!  We had a fantastic dinner together and a lovely night in the driveway.

In the morning we all set off in different directions. Fiona and I set off to New Plymouth city to see the famous Len Lye Gallery and have some lunch and Fiona was keen to see some shops 🙂

The Len Lye centre with the White Swan behind.

Our next destination was all about New Years eve 🙂

The reflection of the White Swan hotel in the Len Lye centre

Thanks again guys for having us in your driveway and thanks for a great night. It was great to see Graeme and Shirley again too.

Rafe’s tracker map to Waitara – Armada GPS
Taranaki 2024

Lovely spot at Mokau

The ride though to Mokau from Otorohanga was pretty good but the forecast was for plenty of rain, so I wondered about the Tainui Wetere Domain campsite which is all grass.  I needn’t have worried as underneath the grass was all sand and only puddles around were pretty much on the road in.

A Great atmosphere

I’ve driven past this Campground run by the local community by the rugby grounds and after reading its rave reviews, I was keen like Steve to stay here. It’s a fabulous place right next to a lagoon with very sheltered swimming for the children.

Settling in at Mokau
The two Dethleffs.

After parking up, I slotted straight into a powered site and Steve popped in beside us. I was surprised we’d be able to get a powered site as it was really busy, but most were happy to be without.

Steve and I went for a walk down to the beach for a look around. It’s an amazing spot.

The wee estuary beyond the sandhills
A bit choppy further out
The two Dethleffs at Waitara

Another great night of catching up together and in the morning, we all set off towards Waitara for a quick stop at a supermarket and where Steve knew of a spot to have lunch by a fantastic raging sea… it made some nice images.

The water at Waitara

After a cup of tea and a look about, we set off to New Plymouth.

Rafe’s tracker map to Mokau – Armada GPS