I’ve wanted to check in on Mangakino for a while but being on a slightly off the beaten track road, it wasn’t until we needed to get through to Te Awamutu on the way to Pirongia, that we found a reason to go this way.
Love the flower pots
Its a neat little town. The buildings are all amazing little workers cottages, built for the dam workers by the Ministry of works. Nowadays, its a big bach area with many of the cottages taking on a new look as people customise them for their own needs.
The Bus cafe
Bus cafe
Parking
Overnighting area
Fiona surfing the web on the Lake front (Van wifi)
Rafe at Lake Muraetai Bus café behind
We popped in for a cup of tea and went to check out the free parking area by the lake. You can also get power for $5. The weather was building up for nationwide thunderstorms when we arrived so it was pretty cloudy but if you were going that way, it looks like a good place to stop. There is a Café run from an old bus with loos as well.
The lake
The town centre looks pretty trendy being all in one newish building further up the road so it’s all there. A nice spot to visit if you’re in the area.
While we were at Kuratau, we went for a trot through the park at the back of where the rally was and followed the river down to the Taupo lakefront. There are well set tracks and it is an interesting walk through bush and parks.
Amazing Cliffs
Enjoy the images, remember to click on them for hi res
Gary, Fiona and Dianne walking through the park
Fiona, Dianne and Gary on our way back to the Kuratau Rally
Interesting clouds on the lakefront
A real contrast of landscape. Huge cliffs up from the water and really colourful trees and river reeds. There are some houses lucky enough to have a jetty at the bottom of the lawn against the river too.
Kids playing on the lakefront
At the lake front, there is an interesting walk down to a memorial on the lakefront. Some children were happily playing in the water, the sun was shining with no wind. Another nice part of the world.
The old post office building and the Paeroa racecourse ticket office.
On the way back from Waihi, we stopped in at the Paeroa Maritime Museum.
With my past involvement with Classic Launches, I was keen to see what was there. The main building is the ex Paeroa Post Office and is chocker with relics from the area. Apparently Captain Cook sailed up the Waihou and checked it out for Spars.
The old Paeroa jail house
Old outboards
The camping area, normally there are no cars here.
Paeroa didn’t see roads until the mid 1940’s and the main transportation method was ships up the streams to where the Maritime Museum is today.
Visitors going up the river
They also provide overnight Motorhome parking with power for $15 and there are toilets and plenty to see and do.
You can also go for a ride in one of their two vessels up the Waihou river.
We came through here years ago and simply stopped for a drink but my old boating mate Alan, used to come here years ago for election night parties with his buddies.
Fiona enjoying the pool
It was on the market not so long ago and I believe it now has new owners and they’re really getting stuck in
The path to the pools, camping area to the right
The camping ground at the Okoroire Hotel has all been cleaned up and while it is not particularly flat, (bring your ramps) for its money it is good value. $10 a night each gives you power, loos and you’re right next to the track down to the newly restored hot pools by the Waihou river. There are three pools on the riverbank above the river. The pools are $5 each to use. An amazing setting.
Outside the Okoroire Hotel
The Hotel
Inside the hotel
The path down to the pools
Fiona in the pool
The river from the pools
Fiona in the hot “hot”pool
The hotel itself is just up the road a bit and was first built in the 1880’s and was setup as a stopping point for the stagecoaches from Auckland, heading south. You can also stay at the hotel and there is also a 9 hole golf course. What more could you want?
We arrived here directly from crowds of people at the balloon event so it was nice just to blob out with some peace and quiet but Fiona’s keen to stay another night so it must be good.
As you arrive into Hamilton off the expressway from the north, you will see at one of the roundabouts, a car on top of a pole.
The entrance to the Cafe and Museum
This is the Jukebox Cafe and Classic Car Museum. NZMCA members can stay the night here for free and there is tons of room at the back of a huge carpark.
Inside the Museum
The Jukebox cafe is all decked out with an American 60’s Rock n roll type decor along with the staff wearing the retro clobber. While we didn’t eat here it all looks pretty good.
Click on the images for Hi res / Slideshow
The Auburn
The back of the Auburn
A car I had as a teenager, a Mark 1 Zephyr
Corvette
The front of the Auburn
An Alvis
Fiona’s favourite, the Messerschmitt
The Classic Car Museum is a must do and is someone’s private collection. It includes a caravan, a Cord, and an amazing looking Auburn which I’d never heard of.
Dodge trucks
There’s a Messerschmitt along with trucks and many others. You’ll easily get lost in here for an hour or two.
The parking outside the museumUs and Dianne and Gary’s XLI
We went through here with Gary and Dianne before they headed back to Taupo and were sitting in the carpark getting ready for a cuppa while waiting for Fiona. She was really taken with the Messerschmitt.
We arrived in Hamilton about 10:30 and followed the GPS instructions to the Hamilton West school where the Waikato NZMCA rally was setup.
Gael and her team had done a fantastic job of parking more than 50 Motorhomes and caravans onto the school field in the traditional lines with the 3 metre gaps.
Catching up with Helen and Rob
We met our friends Rob and Helen with daughter Chloe within minutes of arriving. They had come down the night before and had already been up at the crack of dawn to check out the Balloons just over the road at the lake. It was time for a cup of tea.
There was a Dethleffs Sunlight van right behind us in the line which was at Vantage RV when we had our water pump replaced a few days ago so it was nice to see Alan too.
At Dawn, off to the Lake.
Friends from Taupo, Gary and Dianne arrived not long after and parked beside us in their new Dethleffs XLI. It was nice to see them again too. Within minutes of their arrival, we introduced them to Rob, Helen and Chloe but then made the worrying discovery that the Dometic fridge in the XLI wasn’t running on gas properly so their food was at risk. Potential Motorhomers nightmare!
The last time they were away, the 240v element had failed so they had taken the XLI in to have it repaired. The 240v and 12v worked but the gas that was then working fine, now didn’t work! Don’t you hate it when that happens ! Calls to the original repairer did not help and after shifting the food into our fridge in Rafe to keep it cold while we spent a couple of hours sorting it at least protected their food. After an hour or two, while Gary was on the phone to another technician, he noticed a lose unplugged wire from the gas solenoid that looked like it was important. We took the cover off Rafes fridge to see where it went. After popping off another plastic cover and plugging in this wire, the fridge was away again. Crises averted! Well spotted Gary!
By then it was afternoon tea time and so it would have been rude not have a small celebration for the fridge working again and the fact that the weekend wasn’t going to be disaster after all!
At around 6 pm and after a fridge debrief, a few glasses of wine, cups of coffee and tea and cheese and bikkies, we left to head to the Balloon festival.
An NZMCA volunteers doing the sausage sizzle at the school
Lots of people
The food stalls
The queue for the food
The fireworks
The Hamilton council had done a wonderful job with the bus system and had laid on free buses for all to get to this fantastic event. We were told that we had to use the green route buses which made it really easy. The bus picked us up from just outside the school and delivered us to the Waikato University campus, some 20 minutes or so later to see thousands of people eagerly waiting for the balloons. It was a great atmosphere and people everywhere having a good time. There was quite a well setup sideshow area too. Huge queues for the food stalls but that didn’t seem to worry anyone.
At about 7:30, the balloons started to get inflated but then the rain came down. This put a bit if a halt to the other balloons inflating but as they say, the show must go on and the music continued. A huge fireworks show followed. Despite the brief rain, everyone seemed to have a good time and it was a great show.
We arrived back at the school campground by 10pm after getting onto the second bus out. Again, an amazingly efficient bus system and to clear that volume of people so quickly with no dramas was extremely well done.
Inflating the BalloonsAt the lake in the morning
In the morning, we walked over to the beautiful Hamilton Lake park to watch the balloonists inflate their balloons. Again, the weather wasn’t playing the game and there was too much wind for the balloons to fly but it was a great spectacle all the same.
Over the lake
A great day and well done Hamilton council and buses for doing such a great job and hosting a great event, despite the weather.
Yesterday morning, I pulled into Ray’s Rest mainly just to have a cup of tea, something to eat and tidy up Rafe. This included putting my towel and togs on my bike rack clothes line.
Some action at Ray’s Rest
As it does, lunch time came around fairly quickly so I closed the roof hatches, shut the windows and I was heading into Kaiaua for fish and chips for lunch. I’d just arrived back when my neighbour came over to tell me that I had left in such a hurry that I’d left my towel and togs on the bike rack line. The towel was still there but the togs had vanished!
I ate the fish and chips while they were hot, Gurnard and a couple of scallops. Yum! Then set off in Rafe to look for my togs. Just down the road about 100 metres from Ray’s Rest towards Kaiaua were my togs on the side of the road in a shrub! Memo to self: I must make sure I clear the clothesline before taking off 😳
So, feeling like a bit of a chump, I went over and thanked my neighbour giving him the good news that it was bone dry 😄 It’s just as well my togs are bright orange!
Back at Ray’s Rest, not a puff of the forecast wind, hardly any clouds to be seen, I decided to stay the night.
In the morning on the beach
The sunset was amazing… As was the morning again today. It’s easy to see why so many Motorhomers stay here.
looking out of the window last night at Ray’s RestDusk at Ray’s Rest
Remember to click on the images to see them in all there glory!
I’ve been wanting to check out Port Waikato with Rafe for a while now after reading such good reviews of the Motorcamp there with the Jandals covered fence in the usual camping apps.
Jandal covered fence
The weather forecast wasn’t good. The forecast was for up to 40 knots from the south east with showers easing overnight so I thought Port Waikato would be good being on the west coast.
I booked in on the way and there was plenty of room being almost mid week.
“Ers and Mine” matching Motorhome and Bach within the camp next to Rafe.Permanent Caravans within the camp
I arrived and checked in with a delightful French chap who seemed to be in charge. He couldn’t have been more helpful, showing me how to get to the beach, where the cafe was.
The camp ground is well setup. Big parking spots with plenty of room for awnings. Nicely kept toilets, laundry, tv lounge and a nice BBQ area.
Within 5 minutes of arriving, I met my neighbours who were parked quite a distance away and as the time ticked away, we had the customary happy hour or so at 5pm in Rafe.
The Waikato river at dusk
Ers and Mine
The wharf
Sunset beach looking up towards Manukau
The Waikato River
On the way towards Port Waikato, the Tuakau bridge.
After tea, I went for a walk around to the sand dunes and a general nosey around. The baches and buildings are amazing for being quite eclectic. All different colours too. There was even a pink one! I always said that I make all the important decisions, she decides what’s important! I guess his colour choice wasn’t considered important 😊
The pink bach
I had a quick look around the beach with the camera before joining my neighbours at the Cafe for a quick coffee.
The Sand dunes
A neat spot to stay and it’s only 90 minutes from Auckland. I bet it’s busy in the height of summer.
Tom and Erin were my neighbours at Port Waikato holiday park and are based in Fielding. They bought their very Retro looking 1988 Mitsibishi L300 from some recently arrived South Africans who brought it with them when they arrived in NZ but then decided to buy a new Dethleffs.
The van with all its colourful awnings.
For a small van, I was expecting not enough room to swing a cat but was hugely surprised by the amount of storage and little spaces being used really creatively. There is even a drinks cabinet!
More seating and easy to get at driving position.
Luton sleeping area
Neat little spot fit microwave and jug
Drinks cabinet !
Retro awnings
They’ve had this van now for more than 11 years and have been everywhere several times with no issues.
One of the first things they did was make it NZ CSC compliant by adding grey water tanks and fine tuning a few other things. They also changed the TV setup to digital from UHF, changed the lighting to LED along with some upgrades to squabs etc.
Spacious seating area
They plan to continue their regular weekend trips to their favourite Foxton Beach weekend spot along with more cruising around NZ.
A well kept, neat looking van with lots of charm.
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.
Its a neat little town. The buildings are all amazing little workers cottages, built for the dam workers by the Ministry of works. Nowadays, its a big bach area with many of the cottages taking on a new look as people customise them for their own needs. 
Bugger It, we are off - www.buggeritweareoff.com 
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