Hot pools, Quirky things, Waikato

Birthdays and Babysitting

While we were at little Waihi, I received a text from old friends Gary and Dianne to say they were having a Birthday BBQ (Gary’s) at his place on the 4th so we slightly revised our plans to include a trip to Taupo which we were both really looking forward to.

Our spot with the trees.

Our Grandkids Ayden and Liam also needed baby sitting for a couple of nights while we were there so we arranged that their dad Alex, could bring them to Taupo, the day after the BBQ and we would move Rafe from the NZMCA park to De Brett’s. The boys were going to sleep outside Rafe in a tent while Alex slept in the drop down bed in Rafe.. It all worked perfectly!

Assembling the tent. Alex, Ayden, Liam on ground and Granny Fiona.
Tent assembly

After the tent had been setup, and the boys had been to the De Brett’s waterslides and pools, they came around and visited Gary and Dianne on the Taupo waterfront.

It was good for everyone to see each other and as it was a stinking hot day, the boys enjoyed a swim in their pool. Thanks Dianne and Gary for having us all… it’s always nice to see you guys.

Later in the day we all headed out for a takeaway and headed for the park.

Cabins at De Bretts

De Brett’s is a fantastic campground.. always easy and there is a café on site and of course the hot pools which are discounted if you stay there.

Ayden sitting on the edge of the playground

The next morning we tidied up and headed up towards Coromandel where Alex was picking the boys up a couple of days later.

Rafe’s tracker map to De Brett’s – Armada GPS
Bay of Plenty

Berry’s for everyone !

As we drove into Whakatane from Awakere to get some provisions from Countdown, Fiona spotted Julian’s Berry Farm and Café on the way. A perfect stop off for us on the way back for lunch.

Click on any Image to enlarge

Outside eating
The Berries

Its a huge farm on many acres doing all the berries under the sun. At the moment they’re just about out of Strawberries but there was plenty of everything else 🙂

Under the Pergola

The café is great and they’ve got the Berry Ice creams too.

Parking was easy with a big parking area for Motorhomes and Caravans so easy there too.

Easy parking

It was stinking hot so we chose to sit outside under the shady pergola and the food was perfect.

Popular Mini Golf
Fun and Games

We had these amazing strawberry sundaes. They were $9 something each but just the best, we even came back the next day to do it all again.. 🙂

The ice cream sundae

A must do if you’re in the area.. on the way to Whakatane on the Tauranga side on the main road in, about 3 k’s before the Hub in Whakatane on the left.

Rafe’s Tracker map to the Berry Farm and Cafe. – Armada GPS
Bay of Plenty, Hot pools

Awakeri Hot Pools

One of our new favourite places and it is very reasonably priced, even at this time of the year.

Click on any Image to enlarge

Neat atmosphere

We have been here before on the edge of winter which was probably a better time for Hot pools as it was stinking hot.. over 30C!. Having the big established trees around were a blessing with the heat and they didn’t seem to stop the nice cooling breezes wafting through.

We were in and were given a HUGE park right in the middle, handy to everything.

Click on the Gallery below for a slide show

Neat atmosphere
Great Trees
Playground
Big Pools .. both Hot
The Cabins

Two huge pools with sun shades easy parking its a great spot and very close to the big smoke at Whakatane.

BBQ area

There were plenty of Motorhomes and Caravans there and some nice looking cabins too. Nice facilities and friendly people too.

Rafe’s Tracker Map to Awakeri – Armada GPS
Bay of Plenty, Great Beaches

Step out to the Water

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Its the silly season and we were looking for somewhere to go.. many places jack up their prices in the hot spots, think $70-80 a night for two and good on them but we would rather go somewhere off the track than pay that and often its just as nice.

Click on any Image to Enlarge

Hot, Wet and just good fun!

We settled on Bledisloe Holiday Park at Little Waihi right on the water.. Just a magic spot and the prices were very reasonable .. 5 nights for just under $200 with power, beachfront parking, fantastic showers(free) and loos of course.

Plenty of Jandals

The camp was busy and slightly chaotic being New Year holiday period but what a spot!.

Fishing at the entrance to the Estuary

On our first day we took Rafe down the road to check out Papamoa. We were parked up on the hill in a Freedom camping spot looking over the beach next to the campground. Fiona was getting ready to go for a swim. I noticed some people all standing on the sand checking something out and there it was.. about a 3 metre shark swimming through the 2 nd breaker along the beach.

The view from Maketu Café towards the Mount.

There was a woman with her 2 yr old toddler just in the water running to grab him.. she also went down the beach further to alert other swimmers and I’ve never seen them get out of the water so fast. Needless to say, Fiona never made it into the water.

Click on the Gallery below for a Slide Show

Peace and Quiet
The Seafood Basket.
Baches in Little Waihi
Kids playing in Estuary

After the excitement there, we headed to Maketu where the famous pies come from but the shop was shut. We headed for the Café on the water which does an amazing Seafood Basket for lunch looking along the beach towards the Mount.

The Beach in front of us

After a great lunch we headed back to the camp and settled in for the next few days. We met some great people and I have to say, I really enjoyed the change for us of sitting in one spot for a few days and swimming, reading and just taking it all in.

Fiona reading her Ipad

A wonderful park in a superb spot. You can walk over the estuary at low tide to Pukehina Peninsular for somewhere else to explore.

Happy New Year !!

Rafe’s Tracker map to Little Waihi – Armada GPS

 

Bay of Plenty, South Island 2017

Happy New Year

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Where ever you are, I hope you’re having a great time (now that we’re allowed to) !

We’re in Little Waihi enjoying the water and doing very little 😃.

That’s Pukehina in the distance.

Happy New Year all and enjoy the time away.

Close to home

Merry Christmas

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Another year flashes by and we’re into Christmas again… fun times and sunshine.

We’re heading down towards Gisborne where we haven’t been for a while, so we’ll see where we end up!

Thanks to everyone for supporting the blog this year.

More Motorhoming while we can’t travel overseas.

Rafe looking Christmasy

Merry Christmas everyone and Fiona and I hope you have a great New Year… be careful on the roads and if you see us out there, please come and say hello.

Taranaki 2019

Origin at Otorohanga

We were staying in the reasonably newish Otorohanga NZMCA park which is only 800 metres to the Town centre.

Click on an image for Hi Res (iphone images)

Otorohanga’s main street

One of the first shops we popped into was an Art Deco shop which had all sorts of stuff in it including quite a bit section on Steam Punk as well. Lots of Cloche hats and neat things.

Fiona with the poles outside the I site

A walk across the road and down through the Ed Hillary lane was a huge display of Kiwiana including a neatly displayed board of Kiwi slang and its American or English equivalent. Also there were old ads for wringer washing machines and reminders of the half pint of Milk at School. I was a milk monitor at the school I was at in Central Wellington so remember it well. Nice cold milk in winter for morning tea, Yum!

The Railway Station built in 1923 after the original burnt down

As you come out of the arcade at the other end is the railway station. We parked the bikes and went in for a couple of Latees. There we met Roger who owns the Origin coffee company that imports Coffee from their own farm in Malawi and brews it in the Railway Station. The coffee is fantastic. One of the best I’ve had for a while.

Fiona ordering coffees

Roger started Origin in 1999 and has gone from strength to strength since then. When you’re in the Station, don’t expect a big selection of food apart from Toasted Sammies and Cakes. The good news is, you’re welcome to bring you’re own food. Roger is keen to concentrate on the coffee 🙂

Click on the Gallery below for a Slideshow

The original Railway station built in the late 1880’s
The cafe with the roasting gear.
The Roasting equipment
Great parking

After half an hour or so of chatting to Roger and enjoying the Coffee, as we were leaving, the Auckland to Wellington Train pulled in… this is a trip I want to do as well.. looks great !

The Railway station with the North Island train in.

We biked back to Rafe at the park to think about when we can do that Train trip 🙂

Taranaki 2019

The Coastal Walkway

It was going to be a scorcher so we got the bikes sorted and headed from the Bell Block park down towards the Waterfront to join up to the Walkway.

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Fiona screaming down the hill to the walkway.

From the Bell Block park to the Wind Wand is about 20k’s round trip so its a good ride and you know you’ve used some muscles when you return 🙂

Coming up to the Te Rewa Rewa bridge

The Te Rewarewa ridge

The trip is mostly downhill to the Te Rewa Rewa bridge but its a fantastic pathway. Some of its boardwalk but most of it is a wide concrete path which eventually goes through the side of the Fitzroy Holiday Park. We stopped at the Kiosk for a cuppa and something to eat and then rode on to the Wind Wand. Great fun.

Click on the Gallery below for a Slideshow

The view from the bridge
Fiona on the bridge
Looking back at the bridge
Coming into Fitzroy camp
The Kiosk at Fitzroy
Looking towards the port
A train going under the path by the Wind Wand

There we left the waterfront to have a quick look at some shops and then headed back along one of the shopping streets and back down to rejoin the Waterfront.

Fitzroy beach

Just fantastic. A great outlook and apart from the uphill bit at the end going up through the houses was pretty easy. .. Well worth doing!!

Heading home

A couple of glasses of wine later with some neighbours in the park and that was us for the day 🙂

Taranaki 2019

Wow what a Park.

Another one from a few3 years ago.. Bell Block NZM<CA park had not long been opened.. great fun biking into New Plymouth.

As we drove Rafe down from Awakino, I was quietly hoping that we would be able to squeeze in to the new NZMCA park in Bell Block, just outside New Plymouth.

A panorama from the top

I needn’t have worried as when we arrived there were only about 4 vehicles there and as the day went on, more popped in.

One of the best Dump stations I’ve seen
Merle and Alan
Some four legged neighbours

Its a HUGE park and really nicely set out with the 3 metre spacers in the ground so no room for arguments. There is one of the best Double sided Dump Stations there with Fresh water dotted all around the outside perimeter of the park. With nicely smoothed out Gravel all over the park, there is no worries if the heavens open up. It just couldn’t get any better.

The view from the top

We rode into the City via the Coastal Walkway and it is a 20k round trip and was easy on our Huff’n’Puff bikes!!

Checking out the seat

Mt Egmont at Dusk

Another nice spot and the seat on the top of the bank is a nice touch too 🙂

The Netspeed Speedtest
Download: 16.55mbs
Upload: 23.48mbs
Ping: 49ms

Rafe’s map to the NZMCA park

Taranaki 2019

Amazing Museum

While we’re still effectively in lockdown  .. here’s a neat place we went to just out of Hawera a few years ago.. amazing place..

After leaving New Plymouth, we stopped in Stratford Countdown for some Milk and a few essentials and after breakfast and a look around, cruised on to the famous Tawhiti Museum.

Click on an Image for Hi Res

The Handsome Cab man

Started by a local very clever Artist, Nigel Ogle with his wife Teresa, they built this up using local friends and aquaintances to make their lifesized models faces and they look amazing. I love the expressions too.  In 1975, they bought the old Cheese factory where Nigel worked as a boy and this was the start of the Museum.

Looks like some I know 🙂

It is split into three Museums being the local history, the Traders and Whalers and the Bush railway.

The Accountant

Fiona and I elected to check out the Local History which took several hours. This could easily take the whole day if you elected to do all three.

Click on the Gallery below for a Slideshow

The Motorhome Parking
Being helped down
Sharpening
At the shop
The Accountant
The Butcher
A sing song
Oops priceless expressions
Outside
In the tractor and farm museum area
Old Military trucks
Our park
That amazing Mountain

The parking opposite is fantastic with plenty of room for Motorhome parking with separate parking for the cars on the sides.

Great Parking

There is also a well stocked Cafe on site with great Coffee too. A neat spot.

Lovely spot

We’ve decided already we will have to revisit and check out the other bits we missed but an awesome display that really is a must see.

Muller park

We went from here to the Muller NZMCA park in Hawera where we recognised several other Motorhomers who were parked next to us at the Museum! Isn’t it funny how great minds think alike 🙂

Rafe’s Track to Tawhiti Museum and onto Muller Park. The Museum is the Green Dot on the right!

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.