It was miserable in Tauranga and due to get worse so I headed over the hills to the Opal Hot Springs Holiday Park just outside Matamata.
As I pulled up, I met Vanessa and Carrilline at the front desk, both very friendly and ready to show me where everything was..
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Happy faces, Vanessa and Carrilline
Carrilline and her husband, Brian own the business and after 3 years here, they are making some big changes. I showed her a picture on the NZMCA app of the camp and it looks completely different with all the parks now being all weather.
The steam rising from the pools
The pools are being painted later this year. The place is looking really good.
The all weather parking
I parked Rafe at one end of the new all weather parks and headed off for a walk around the park while the sun was out. The pool complex is massive with an almost Olympic sized heated pool and several others.
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Nice Units
Showwers, Loos, Kitchen etc
Kitchen
BBQ area
The pool area
Happy faces, Vanessa and Carrilline
Early morning
Nice with the trees
There are 70 powered sites, 10 non powered and a dozen or so Motels and Cabins.
More Parking
Its in a lovely position just outside Matamata heading towards the Kaimais. A great place to blob out with some heat.
The Kaimais
The Netspeed Speedtest
Download: 4.51 Mbps
Upload: 2.85 Mbps
Ping: 125 ms
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
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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.
On the way to the National Equestrian centre where we were to stay for the night, there is a bridge and dam that is crossed which crosses the Aratiatia Control Gates.
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Waiting for the start with the gates behind
Every now and then, they open the gates to let the water head down the Waikato river. It is spectacular and there are always good crowds there to see it happen.
Before
The rush of water is amazing and the area below the bridge transforms from empty to full with millions of litres of water in minutes.
Nearly full
There is good parking there for Motorhomes and Caravans and while we were there, there was a visit from the Huka Falls Jetboat.
The Huka Falls jet above the gates
We quietly queued up and waited for the sirens and then the rush of water.
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lots of parking
People on the bridge waiting on the bridge
Empty
Nearly full
An amazing spectacle and you can check with the Taupo visitors centre for opening times.
After the action, we moved on up to the Equestrian Centre for the night.. another favorite place.
Toilets, Showers and rubbish right opposite
The prices have changed and are now $5 per person plus $5 for power. This includes access to a toilet and shower. A good place to stop for a night.
We started planning Queens Birthday quite a few weeks ago so we could book into the anticipated busy Miranda Holiday Park and get parks, for both Rafe and our friends in their Tracker.
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Fun in the pool
Rob, Helen and Chloe were joining us for the weekend and we were really looking forward to catching up with them again.
Lonely yellow chair
The weekend forecast was not great but we figured that our old favorite spot would be pretty safe.
At last the sun came out briefly
We arrived around midday on Saturday to find that Rob, Helen and Chloe had already arrived and after getting Rafe level and some vents open and the power on, Fiona and I were off to the hot pool.
Chloe’s tent in between us
The rain hadn’t started yet but was forecast to arrive anytime. Later in the day, it was all on and overnight into Sunday, it just didn’t stop. It didn’t prevent us though from ducking in and out for a swim on both days.
Later on Saturday, Rob and Helen popped over for a cold one and some cheese and biccies. I was amazed that despite the forecast, Chloe was still keen to stay the night on an air bed in a small tent between the two vans!
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Wet!
Under water
Tent sites
Tent sites near us
The BBQ area
Gumboots for Happy Hour!
Sunday… It was all on, some Thunder, and LOTS of rain. The drainage ditch behind us was chocker and threatening to come into the park from the road. There was water everywhere.
swimming in the rain
Later in the day, the rain eased up and Rob and I went for a walk to have a look around. Many of the parks with Caravans and smaller vans were half under water. Most of the tent sites near us were submerged but despite all this, everyone seemed happy. The pool was busy everytime I went anywhere near it too!
The drain behind us was about to verflow
If you’re going to get stuck in a downpour, I couldn’t think of a better place to be really:-)
One of the great surprises from a wee jaunt around the Waikato has been the discovery of the Ngaruawahia Golf Club.
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A late player at dusk
I phoned Lyn from 50 odd k’s away to make sure that they had space and were open and was bowled over by Lynn’s happy voice on the other end of the phone. It couldn’t have been easier.
30 minutes or so later, I was being shown a level patch of solid grass nicely protected by a few trees with 3 powered boxes (4 sockets on each) and a picnic table nicely positioned away from the general parking area. It was heavenly!..
At $15 a night per van with power, with the bar handy in the newish clubhouse with toilets and showers available during the day, its fantastic parking.
Nice new building
After settling Rafe down and plugging in, one of my first stops was upstairs to the bar where Lynn was helping out.
Lynn at the bar
I met a couple of really friendly locals there who had just finished 18 holes and were enjoying a couple of beers. They lived and worked in Hamilton which seems to be where a lot of the membership and bars patrons came from but what a nice crowd.
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The riverfront housing next to the Golf course with the walkway.
Looking towards the town
Fantastic Parking with plenty of power points
Showing the main carpark from the motorhome parking
Ngaruawahia’s main street
Lynn showed me where the walking / bike trail is to the Ngaruawahia township along the river which I later walked some of the way along. There is a huge brand new housing subdivision right next door with some amazing houses. I stopped halfway as it started raining and headed back to Rafe but what a lovely spot.
The historic old pub on the corner
A nice place to park with some friendly faces in a nice town.
The Netspeed Speedtest for this site
Download: 13.57 Mbps
Upload: 11.40 Mbps
Ping: 48 ms
After a couple of nice days at Richmond, we decided we would cross the strait early and head back to Auckland. We headed to our favourite Blenheim Motorcamp, Spring Creek for a night before catching the ferry on a perfect day to cross to Wellington.
Lots of Motorhomes on the deck
It was nice to see the owners Christine and Andy and the campground was looking good. I gave Rafe a good wash to tidy up a bit while Fiona got some washing done as well.
Primo spot next to the creek.
The next morning, we were off early and with perfect weather, the crossing was fantastic. We arrived in the middle of the day so we thought Plimmerton NZMCA park would be good for the night and then we would head to Taupo to stay with friends Gary and Dianne. They had arranged for some other friends Ian and Lynda with their Dethleffs XLI to join us for four nights as well. We were really looking forward to seeing them all again.
A panorama of the Plimmerton when we arrived.
After an early departure from Plimmerton, we left and made good time getting to Waiouru at lunchtime after stopping at the Woolshed café in Sanson for a cuppa and some fuel. $1.19 a litre at the Sanson Caltex Truck stop for diesel.. amazing.
We had paid up to $1.45 a litre in the South Island.
Mt Ruapehu at Waiouru
We cruised in to Taupo about 3.30pm and as it was nearly 30C – hot!, we were with Gary and Dianne in their pool to cool off. It was nice to see them both again.
Rafe parked at Gary and Diannes
Ian and Lynda were arriving the following day.
Ian and Lynda’s Dethleff XLI
The next day, Gary took one look at Rafe and while I washed Rafe, he made it clear that he thought, Rafe needed a bit more TLC.
Ian and Gary with all the polishing toys!
Within a few minutes, he was out with his cut and polish kit and got straight into all of Rafe’s blue bits. The bonnet and the doors and the the decals down the side.
Look at that reflection in the bonnet!
A light cut, a polish and buffing and it looked like a different vehicle.
Ian and Gary with Rafe.. look at the Tyres!
When Ian arrived the next day, they were both at it but what a huge difference! Even the wheels got some silicone treatment!
We went down to Repco to get some Turtle Wax so I could wax it when I got back to Auckland (Which I’ve now done).
Thanks guys, you made such a difference and Rafe now looks a picture!
Shiny 🙂
After 4 great days with the crew in Taupo, we headed back to Alex and Sara’s in Ardmore in Auckland (Son and Daughter in law) and the Grandkids Ayden and Liam. It was nice to see them again and with that, the South Island trip came to a close.
Christmas was on the doorstep and we were looking forward to catching up with friends and family. Many we hadn’t seen since we left for Europe over 6 months ago.
This is the tale of our mini adventure to the Outer Hebrides in our 6m coach built motorhome. I hope you find the story of the people we met and the places we've seen interesting and useful if you're planning your own trip.
