Category Archives: Waikato

Waikato

2023 Dethleffs Owners Knees up!

39 Dethleffs Motorhomes of all shapes and sizes arrived in Miranda ready to catch up with old friends and see other Motorhomes. There were quite a few first timers at this event but also the old hands that could remember others names to catch up with people they met earlier.

Click on any Image to Enlarge

The Coupes Arriving

The first day was about settling the vans down and wandering around to see where everyone was and having a swim in the hot pool.

Later in the day, there was happy hour for everyone to get together and there was an impromptu shared meal between a dozen or so friends in the evening.

There was a really funny moment after the meal when we were all sitting around having a few drinks and a few laughs.  There was a group of about 20 odd teenagers on the table next to us and there were about 8 of us by then.  A lady in the group stood up to make a speech and as soon as she started, one of our group started singing happy birthday and others joined in. She was saying no no, then gave up but our group stopped singing.  Everyone was laughing. Then we found out it was an engagement so there were lots of congratulations from us too! Great time. 😂😂

The pot luckers on Friday Night

Because Fiona was working late on the Friday, she arrived in the car around 8:30.

The cyclists setting off for Kaiaua and the Cafe 

The next morning was the bike ride to Kaiaua or to a cafe up the road. There were about 19 bike riders on bikes! A great turnout. Most were riding the 13k’s or so to the Kaiaua for lunch.

On the trail to Kaiaua 

Fiona and I followed them and got pictures of them at stops with the car.

On the trail to Kaiaua 

When we arrived at the pub, well before the cyclists, Quin the Manager had just arrived and was about to open so perfect timing.

At the Kaiaua Pub for lunch 

At the Kaiaua Pub for lunch 

We all went out to the back beer garden with the bikes and ordered coffees and lunch. Fiona and I had an amazing pizza.

The bikes at the pub 

About an hour or so there, we started the trek back.

To see an Enlarged slideshow, click on the Gallery below

Bruce and Judys Globe 4 (Rafe’s twin)
Catching up in the driveway
Liz and Nolina
Catching up on Friday
Friday night happy hour
Friday night
Friday night Happy Hour
On the trail to Kaiaua
On the trail to Kaiaua
Rays Rest
On the trail to Kaiaua
On the trail to Kaiaua
At Rays Rest
The Team piccy
Saturday night
Steve and Troy still behaving 🙂
Saturday night eating fest 🙂

Back to the hot pool and then later at 4, we had the team photo. Where we normally do the piccy was really boggy, so we had to move out to the motorhome parking.

The Team piccy 

Happy Hour came next, and the place was chocker with people.

Pot Luck heaven 

Sat Night with the shared meal. 

The Buffet 🙂 

Then came the shared meal and the meals were restaurant quality… just amazing and everyone got a great feed with some going back for seconds. Fantastic.

On the last day (Sunday Morning) we caught up again for a farewell coffee together.

Bruce and Judys Globe 4, Above, (Rafe’s twin) 9 years old and over 100000ks and never missed a beat… a testament to the old 3 litre Ivecos! Rafes got 102000ks, exactly the same Motor, Motorhome and colour! 

Dethleffs everywhere you look 

A great event with lots of fun and thanks to everyone for coming.

Here’s a reminder of our last get together.

Close to home, Great Beaches, Waikato

Bliss on the coast, a new Favourite!

Matariki weekend started with big traffic queues, so we thought we’d wait until Sunday and catch the traffic going the other way. Keeping it close and keeping the fuel costs down, we thought we’d head towards the Kaiaua NZMCA park with the superb hospitality provided by both the Pub and the Fish and Chip shop.

We last popped in here for our first time a few months ago.

Click on any Image to Enlarge

Interesting weather

We arrived at Kaiaua NZMCA park around the middle of the day on what was a grey day. There were already several 5th wheelers, Caravans and a few Motorhomes there but there was plenty of room.

As I got out of the Motorhome to register in the shed, I met Mia and Hans who were right next door to us in there new Benimar from Taupo. They were veteran Motor homers who have travelled extensively through Europe in a Motorhome. They spent a year travelling and some of their adventures sounded amazing.

Not long after this came Steve and Caroline in their 8m Delaware from Whitianga. Nice to meet them too.

The Marina

After checking out the river next to the park, we headed to the Pub next door for a pizza lunch. It was superb and very good value.

As we walked into the pub, we walked past a whole lot of vintage Morris’s out in the carpark. A lot of car and bike clubs come here for lunch in weekends and do a loop back up the coast.  Lovely seeing the old cars.

The Morris club dropped in too!

We went for a walk around Kaiaua after that ending up at the pink shop up the road a bit.

The Pink Shop
Kaiaua Beach looking down towards Rays Rest

 

Later in the day, we headed over to the Pub where we met both Steve and Caroline. Hans and Mia were sitting at another table and came over and joined us and we heard about their amazing trip through Europe including Turkey. Fascinating!

Click on the Gallery below for an Enlarged Slideshow

New arrivals
Fiona coming back from the pub
Next to the park
The Marina
The Pub
Ducks in the river around the park.

Hans and Mia joined us next door for a fabulous meal at the famous Fish and Chip shop right next to the pub.

The Fish and Chip shop
The NZMCA park from the bridge

It’s a great little village Kaiaua and the park is fantastic. Being this close to Auckland, it’s an easy escape for a few days which is exactly what we were looking for. It was a real bonus meeting some interesting people as well.

Rafe’s tracker map to Kaiaua – Armada GPS
Waikato

The Great bike ride on the Te Awa trail

It was Saturday morning, and it was time for a bike ride!

At our Dethleffs Rally at the Happy Hour the evening before, we had sorted out somewhere to go so it was all on! The bikes were organised and led by Tony and Neal, 14 of us headed down through Cambridge towards the river and the start of the Trail.

Click on any Image to Enlarge

Our park at the Raceway

Some were heading all the way to Hamilton Gardens, some going to Tamahere to a Coffee Shop and others to the Velodrome.

The Bike group as we left

The Te Awa trail is all pretty new still but what an amazing setup. Because I went as far as Tamahere (40k round trip), I didn’t get to see all the flashest boardwalks over the river .. next time!

Amazing engineering

We left Cambridge at 10am and it took about 2.5 hours to do the round trip including a good stop for lunch 🙂 Very easy though on an electric bike.

I’d stupidly left my bike keys behind so couldn’t get my bike off the rack on the back of Rafe. The Kryptonite lock and cable is a force to be reckoned with, so it wasn’t even worth thinking about the grinder.

John very kindly lent me Kirsty’s bike as she wasn’t riding. The bike is fantastic but has an older electric system with a Turbo function which is a bit scary if you’re not used to it 🙂

The short version: I was about halfway along the trail when I came around a corner, but the turbo kept running quite a bit…   ending with a full lock up of the brakes sideways into these massive retaining poles onto my shoulder.

Looking down to the river

Chris was just behind me and immediately stopped and said something like “that might hurt” 🙂   Initially it didn’t really.   Back on the horse and we were off again 🙂

A stop half way

We were about halfway so by the time we got to the cafe; with my recently acquired sore ribs, I was looking forward to a rest.

On the way back

Although 14 started with us, several split off into different groups to go on to Hamilton Gardens or to the Velodrome.

Our crew on the way back

After about 20 minutes or so, we headed back to the Raceway…  a lot of fun and a nice ride with good company. Thanks again to John and Kirsty for the use of their bike. A great day and a fantastic place to ride.

Steve biking back
Looking down to the river

You can stay at The Cambridge Raceway if you’re a member of the NZMCA for just $10 a night so an easy base for the trail and you can go as far as you like in either direction.

See here for more information.   And for the Cambridge Raceway parking.

Rafe’s Tracker map to Cambridge Raceway – Armada GPS
Rallies, Waikato

Dethleffs 2023 Cambridge Get together

2 Comments

These events are always fun to organise and fun to be at too. Organising this was made a lot easier by some useful tips from Brian who runs the Frankia group after they had a Rally here at Cambridge. Vicky who runs the event management at Cambridge was very helpful too along with Amy who works with her. Thanks heaps to those people for making it easy.

Click on any Image to Enlarge

Our park.

We all started arriving at the Racecourse around Midday and during the afternoon. As we were down in numbers from the Miranda do where we had 47 vans, we had 22 but I don’t think that we really had room for many more without splitting into two groups.  Apparently, there was more parking just along by the stables. It worked and was very easy. We had some big gaps between us which was great.

I was really pleased to see quite a few new people with new Motorhomes and first timers at an event like this. Nice to see you guys too.

We now have 322 members in this group. These rally’s give you a great opportunity to mix with other Dethleff Owners and pick to their brains, tips and tricks with storage, electrical stuff, all sorts.  So come and join us at the next one.

The Team .. click on this to enlarge.

As more people came in, there was lots of cruising around catching up with old friends and people checking on other Motorhomes. I even saw a few pairs of legs sticking out from under vehicles looking at things 🙂

An Interesting wrapped Dethleffs Esprit

Fiona was not feeling well so she decided to sit this one out and I made the stupid mistake of leaving all my bike keys behind so I couldn’t get my bike off the rack when the time came.

Kirsty and John very kindly lent me Kirsty’s bike as she wasn’t riding .. Nice bike and it was fun but there was an operator error oops 🙂 .. more on this later.

Lined up in the back row

That night, I had tea with my old friends, Walter and Nolina from Taupo who were parked right next door. The last time we caught up was at the Miranda do and it’s always nice to see them. They’re a lot of fun.

Happy hour
Happy Hour
Happy hour
Nolina at the Happy Hour

Then it was time to go the Clubhouse Bar to watch the Warriors game. I’m not sure why I think this, but I often think I’m going to see them lose but they played brilliantly and won. Fantastic. It was a really good game, and I might have to watch them more often like I used to.

Click on the Gallery below for an Enlarged Slideshow

Great Tshirt.. probably quite true too 🙂

The next morning, I was surprised how many people were up early.

The cyclists amongst us were organising ourselves and getting ready to go. After a team photo, we were off!

The Bike group as we left

We were heading to the Velodrome and Tamahere. More on the Te Awa trail soon.

Arriving back at the Racecourse, it was almost time for that “Elbow Exercise” again. We started in earnest all sitting around our favourite tree until the heavens opened up with a brief downpour which surprised everyone!

There was quick retreat to the room which was available to us for wet weather at the bottom of the grandstand. Very civilised with a bit of an outlook to the track.

Dusk

Then it was time for Tea where simply had to lock up and head next door to the restaurant. Nice food, good service although they were struggling with one of their tills which wasn’t playing nicely but it was a great evening. Everyone seemed happy and most retreated back to entertain friends in or outside their vans.

Thanks everyone again for coming.

After the meal from the Restaurant

It all went really well. Our next major get together will be in Miranda sometime in August. It’s a popular place and easy to get to and a nice park.

Rafe’s Tracker map to Cambridge Raceway – Armada GPS
Close to home, Waikato

A break away from the chaos at Kaiaua

The new NZMCA park has been open for a few months now but what a spot.

Click on any Image to Enlarge

The Park

After several weeks of dreadful weather and with Rafe just sitting on the pad, it was time to bust out while the weather was good.

The pub in the background

We set off about lunchtime and headed down the Motorway and headed out towards Miranda with hardly any traffic on the roads at all. Arriving an hour or so later with the sun streaming down, we parked up at the Kaiaua Park. It’s a beauty! With the Bayview Hotel right next door with a track through to the pub and the famous Kaiaua fisheries next to them, there is definitely no excuse for being hungry or thirsty 🙂

The Bayview Hotel next door

After a visit to the pub and finding them busy, we decided on Fish and Chips, and they were huge! I kept a piece of fish for the next day 🙂

Kaiaua Fish and Chips!

After lunch at the Hotel, which was fantastic, we headed off to Rays Rest for an hour or two. 

Click on the Gallery below for a look at Rays Rest

We have not been there since it was redeveloped by a storm a few years ago but it still looks pretty good to me.

Seafood Galore!

We decided not to stay though and headed back to Kaiaua and settled for a G&T at the Hotel.

The Marina

A fantastic park with room for Africa and having the Pub and Fish and Chip shop handy is a Real bonus!

Rafe’s Tracker map to Kaiaua NZMCA Park – Armada GPS
Close to home, Great Beaches, Waikato

Rays Rest

A favourite free parking spot for many.. on the coast north of Miranda.

Click on any Image to Enlarge

Lovely spot

This was probably one of our first parking spots when we first bought our Motorhome 8 or so years ago. Its handy to Auckland, its free and its easy.

Easy parking

If you want shops, museums and pubs, you don’t go to Rays Rest. This where peace and quiet happens with the odd sound of a vehicle whizzing past at 80 odd K.

Flying Kites .. perfect spot
Rafe on the edge

It’s a lovely spot to sit on a deck chair on the edge of the sand outside your Motorhome and watch the clouds go by.

People enjoying the sun

Its been a while since we were here and it was redeveloped by a big storm since our last visit but it still looks much the same. Just as good as it was.

Looking across to Thames

Well recommended if you live in Auckland, are finding diesel expensive and can’t decide where to go for a night or two.

Rafe’s Tracker map to Ray’s Rest- Armada GPS
Waikato

The Bike ride to Miranda Cafe

2 Comments

One of the amazing little hidden treasures in Miranda is this amazing Cafe and Gallery.

Annie with some of the Art

It is run and owned by Annie Wilson and her family.   Annie has been here about 7 years with the Cafe with the Gallery coming together over that time. There is also a fantastic easy parking for Motorhomes right in front.

Bikes outside

The easy way of getting here is like we did, from Miranda Holiday park on our bikes.

It is an easy 30 minute ride but there is a small hill so an ebike makes life a bit easier.

The Team
On the trail to Kaiaua

We left early on a Saturday morning from Miranda Holiday Park while we were at a Dethleffs get together and rode an easy trail along the foreshore until we got back to a bridge. Going right, you’re heading to Rays Rest and Kaiaua or if you go left and head to the corner and up the hill, you’ll come across the cafe.

Fiona with the some of the selection.. Photo by Mary

We had a nice morning tea and something to eat and then walked next door to check out the Gallery.

A sculpture outside the Gallery
Mary and Fiona in the Gallery
A pitchfork sculpture

The art is amazing and is from many well known artists as well as some locals.

That stained glass window

The outside Toilet was designed by Annie and a friend and is something else with its beautiful stained glass window and also has a wooden toilet seat!

Fiona and Mary ready for the road

After a couple of hours here, we biked back to Miranda and were back in the Hot Pools.. a great morning.

Tony and Mary back at their Motorhome
Hot pools, Waikato

Dethleffs Owners Group 2nd Soiree 2022

And it was a goodie too.. Many arrived early on Friday afternoon and were well settled by the time Fiona and I arrived about 12:30!

The day before we found out about the Kaiaua Pub courtesy van. I knew we had about 12 interested so it was all last minute but after two trips of the van, they all managed to get to the table and it all went well.

It was still raining off and on so I was in the pool soon after arriving, my favourite part of Miranda 🙂

Electrical help

As the day went on, it was a great meet and greet. For many of the 46 Motorhomes that arrived, this was their first get together and for me, the biggest turnout of vans ever.

It was funny though as the numbers from the bookings were 46, if you walked around and looked, it didn’t seem too crowded.

As the day wore on. More and more people were making themselves known and introducing themselves to everyone and looking around the Motorhomes.

Click on the Gallery below for an enlarged slide show – Friday

Friday Happy hour
Friday Happy hour
Friday Happy Hour
John at Friday Happy hour
Noelina at Friday Happy hour

4pm came around and the BBQ area suddenly filled up with laughter and Wine bottles..

Day two was Bike ride day towards Kaiaua. Tony Coupe who put his hand up early encouraging riders to bring their bikes  and had a plan to ride to a neat little Café and Gallery called Stray Dog Café.  It was just up the hill off to the left on the way to Kaiaua. Fantastic place with an amazing Gallery  Thanks Tony.. more on this in another post coming soon.

On the trail to Kaiaua

We arrived back at Miranda a couple of hours later. A great ride and it was time for a coffee and another swim in the pool.

Neil during his talk. Pic by Mary Coupe

At 3pm, we had Neil showing quite a few interested people the basics on Amp hours and how to calculate your battery needs. Very useful and many went away very happy. Great work.. thanks Neil.

Click on the Gallery below for an enlarged Slideshow – Saturday

On the trail to Kaiaua
At the bridge where we split directions.
Neil during his talk. Pic by Mary Coupe
Getting ready for the bike ride
Bike preparation
Lets go biking!
Esprit corner
Saturday drinks
Neil and Michelle
John and Tony
Peter and Sue who we bumped into in Invercargill earlier this year.

At 4pm was time for a Team Photo but to make sure everyone was there, we started happy hour and then did the images. Photographer Grant who has the same camera as me, was keen to get me in the photo so we did a quick swap for a fun pic. Thanks Grant.

I was talking to one of the camp senior staff, Gay the next day and she was telling me they were watching us in the CCTV while we were getting organised and starting happy hour then suddenly we all vanished in a nano second.. “where did they go”! That must have been photo time 🙂

Click on this to enlarge for a better look.

John Ogilvie had very kindly brought his amazing projector along for the rugby and with Michelle’s screen, were were all ready for the big game starting later.

Everyone in
Tea time.
The leftovers of the shared meal.. I was too busy eating to get a before shot 🙂

At 6, the food started appearing on the Barbecue area and we all got stuck in. The food was unbelievable. Normally at a shared meal you end up with a lot of snacky stuff but this was top drawer dishes. Well done everyone. Stunning Stuff.

The tidying up and dishes were done in the well equipped kitchen and we were set for the Rugby.

A great atmosphere and we had a few other campers join us on the fringes to watch as well. I found out after talking to Gay in the office that they had quite a few people who wanted to watch in the TV room but there is no drinking or food in there so they were suggesting joining us so that was good. There even some people on the other side of the screen in the BBQ area watching it backwards from the opposite side of the screen 🙂

Click on the Gallery below to Enlarge

Magic Drone pics from Paul
Looking west
Looking west
Looking East
By Paul McLuckie

Well done and thanks John (the projectionist) and thanks again Michelle for the use of your screen. Although the result wasn’t what we wanted, it was still a fun night.


All in all, a great weekend finished off with a farewell coffee/tea catchup before everyone went off in different directions.

Talking to Gay (Miranda Holiday Park) afterwards, she said it went well for them, no one got up their noses (not from our group anyway) and for them it was easy.

Thanks too to Paul McLuckie who put his drone up to get the amazing drone images.

Click on this image to enlarge.

Thanks everyone for coming, we had a lot of fun and it was nice to see everyone again. Some we haven’t seen for years.

Rafe’s Tracker map to Miranda – Armada GPS
Great Beaches, Waikato

The Picturesque and Amazing Raglan.

After enjoying a great All Blacks win  in the Raglan Holiday Park, we headed into town over the walk bridge to check out the shops. First stop was a Café for a coffee and then we walked about 1k across to the wharf and Silo area.

Click on an Image to Enlarge

Raglan personified
The Historic Raglan
Neat shops

We last visited this area years ago with friends Dianne and Gary from Taupo so check that post out for more photos of this area.

Click on the Gallery below for an Enlarged Slideshow

The Beach by the camp
The Bridge to town
Raglan Jetty
Lunchtime
Neat Shops
The Historic Raglan
The main street
The view out of the main street
The Raglan Wharf
Raglan personified
Sundown

Since then, one of the Silos has been converted into what looks to be some very nice rentable Apartments.

The Silos

Its a busy area with a fantastic Fish and Chip shop on the outer end of the wharf along with some pottery and Leather shops. Fiona bought herself a new Leather Hand Bag where we enjoyed a really nice chat with the shopkeeper. I complimented her on her lovely London accent before she told me she was from Perth ! Oops .. but she did have a nice English Accent so no harm done 🙂

The Raglan Wharf
Cafe opposite Raglan Wharf

After a coffee in a new (to us) Café opposite the wharf, we headed back to the town and Rafe.

Sundown

An amazing little town and not far from Auckland with the current Diesel prices as they are.

Rafe’s Tracker map to Raglan – Armada GPS
Waikato

Peace and Quiet at Raglan

The weather was good, there was a beach only a few yards away and the town was only 10 minutes walk.

Click on any Image to Enlarge

Rafe at Raglan

We were looking to get out of the traffic but not too far away.. Raglan won the day. It has been a while since we were last here but it has an atmosphere all of its own. Very like Waiheke Island with some of the similar arty but down to earth shops.

Kids enjoying Badminton
Our neighbours from Hamilton and Tauranga enjoying the sun.

When my son Drew found out we were heading to Raglan, he said we had to go to Orca so I booked in online and its a magic spot. We went for lunch and the food was fantastic and it was very reasonable with a great view too.

The view out of the main street
The Historic Raglan Pub

After lunch we headed back to Rafe at the Raglan Holiday Park and then later onto the beach.

Click on the Gallery below for an Enlarged Slideshow

Sundown
The Hamilton family on the beach
The view out of the main street
In the centre of town
The Historic Raglan Pub

There was a family from Hamilton with their youngest doing hand stands and flips on the sand while they enjoyed a glass of wine and watched the sun go down. Just magic.

Amazing Sunset

We were looking forward to the next day, Watching the rugby and then checking out the town.

Rafe’s Tracker map to Raglan – Armada GPS