The big day for Cruise Martinborough is when all the cars start in Puruatanga park, where we were staying and then all roar into the town square and completely surround the main square.
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It is truly a magnificant sight. The park in the middle under the trees, gets covered in portable deck chairs from the car owners to shelter from the sun. The coffee and Ice Cream carts are doing a roaring trade. The Cafe’s are flat out and its just a neat scene of people everywhere wandering through the magnificent old Fords, Chevrolets and many others.
Grants Plymouth and CaravanBBQ in a hurry!
The time and money that has gone into these cars is unbelievable and it is not until you get a close up look at some of them that you can appreciate the craftsmenship involved.
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People enjoying the sights
Metal Beauty
Time for a photo
The pie carts were busy
Cruising in the park
American muscle everywhere you look
We spent an hour or so having a good look around before settling for a good old fashioned lime thickshake from a milkshake bar in the square.
End of the day
An amazing scene with several retailers saying that they wished it happened more often 🙂 So do I !
We had arrived in Rafe along with Ian and Lynda with their XLI, and Gary and Dianne with their Niesmann and Bichoff Arto at the NZMCA parking area at the Rugby Ground at Martinborough.
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The Xli, Rafe blocking the wind and the Niesmann and Bichoff on the right
The official Motorhome and caravan parking was at Puruatanga Park. In previous years this has been called Cruise Central but this year it was simply a registration area.
Us parked up the back
We arrived mid afternoon on the first day and were directed to park around the end of a fence which was just perfect.
Early one morning.. it was probably after 9am 🙂 you could hear the dulcit tones of many Ford and Chev V8’s arriving for registration before they headed off to the Drag strip at Masterton for a day of action!
More and more cars kept coming to the point that I thought I should shift Rafe out of the way but there was plenty of room.
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A V8 Hillman with a Home made Tear Drop
Many of the Woman dressed up really nicely in Polka Dot dresses and Parasols but the chaps seemed happy in their cut off jeans and T shirts which seemed a bit of a let down 🙂 .. whatever spins your wheels I suppose !
Some amazing vehicles and it was nice being able to walk amongst them and talk to the people involved with them.
An hour so so later, they were leaving for Masterton for the Drag Strip. A real spectacle and good to see so many cars so nicely looked after.
I discovered that an old friend who I used to work with many years ago was not so well, so I thought I’d try and cheer him up by popping in to see him in New Plymouth.
This post is really about the wild piccies!
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Tyres on the tarmac
I checked into Belt Rd campground in New Plymouth, where I met Nadine who was holding the fort. She very kindly checked me in to a waterfront site with a view which I was a bit apprehensive about due to a wind and rain warning for that night. Very nice of her to offer me that site though 🙂
Nice spot but a bit exposed with the forecast
I trundled off to the first of two sites she gave me to look at … the first I checked out on foot to make sure it was solid as it was grass at the top of the cliff looking out over the port. Very nice spot but I was concerned about the grass and the water with Rafe’s 4.4 tons odd. I tried parking on it and went to move back again and I basically wheel spun to get back to the tar seal road behind.. scary stuff.
Where I nearly got stuckPerched on the hill
So a compromise was called on where I backed in a park further down the campground and kept my front wheels on the road. I could still reach the power box so all was well.
Looking out for that wild weather.I’m not sure washing his new Merc in Salt water is a good idea.
Needless to say, I was a bit stressed after that and went to see my friend for the afternoon and it was really nice to see him.
After an hour or so, he had some other visitors so I came back to Rafe and settled down to watch the weather. Fantastic views but it was blowing dogs off chains!
We’ve been to this park in the height of summer and its a fantastic place but it really surprised me that they had no gravel parking at all for those odd winter months where it just rains.
Nice cabins
When I returned after hearing from my friend who is a long term local was telling me that it never rains there.. Yeah right thought I!
I went for a walk to get some piccies and to have a look around. A spectacular spot though with great views everywhere you look and not that far from the centre of New Plymouth shopping centre.
That night I woke up about three times to some huge puffs of wind buffeting Rafe around and I immediately thought of a motorhome and caravanner up on the edge of the cliff where I was supposed to go… it blew and it rained and it rocked and rolled.. amazing.
Port behind
In the morning I got up early to get back to Auckland as it was in a full lockdown!! I did have plans to check in on an old mate in Eltham, next time!
I didn’t have time to get into town this time to check out the Kiwiana which this town is famous for but we’ll be through here again soon I’m sure.
Great space and check out the river
We first stopped in here a couple of years ago when the NZMCA park was only new. Its a pearler being right next to the Waipa river and with the trees being bare of leaves, there is a great view right across the river to farmland beyond. The perfect outlook while you enjoy that later afternoon glass of Rose 🙂
I pulled in later in the afternoon and there was plenty of room. I was going to try the local campground but they had a policy of a minimum charge for two, even in the middle of winter so I decided to do without the power and settle for a nice spot by the river.
A walkway too.The view from my window
With some high winds and plenty of rain expected, it was nice to be in behind the trees by he bank of the river too.
Nice park, nice outlook with water and rubbish collection and its interesting to see there is a choice between gravel and grass here too! Well done to those who look after it.
One of the things we should have done when we first got our Motorhome 7 odd years ago was to put some protection on the bonnet against stone chips. I remember Fiona mentioning it at the time but I was too eager to use the new toy!
Years later after progressively touching up the stone chips on the bonnet leaving pimples of touch up paint, it was time to either repaint the bonnet or tidy things up.
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Masking out the design
Having just had the bumper done up after it dropped all its paint, I needed to have the decals that Dethleffs originally put on replaced on the newly painted bumper.
Jeremy applies the white base.
My son Drew was involved in Drift Car racing and met Jeremy years ago who is a sign writer extraordinaire who is also a dab hand at wrapping cars and anything else. Drew introduced us by phone so off I went to Jeremy’s workshop get the new decals.
Jay doing the other side with the white base.
Jeremy is an old school sign writer who can still do signs with a brush.. sounds to me like a photographer who still knows how to process a roll of film 🙂 I liked the sound of that.. nothing like experience!
He immediately looked at the images I had of the original decals and said “I can do much better than that” ! Jeremys right hand man Jay was there on one side while Jeremy was on the other.
On goes the blueApplying the blue over the white.Jeremy trimming the blue shape
Jeremy’s version of the Decals were quite a lot bigger but followed the contours of the bumper much more closely and also met up with the pattern on the sides of the van much better so it all looked a lot more streamlined than the original Dethleffs effort. I was over the moon.
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Jeremy applies the white base.
Jay trimming the base
Half in half out!
Jeremy’s custom sticker for his car
On goes the blue
Applying the blue.
Jeremy sanding the “pimples” on the bonnet.
Applying the protective bonnet cover.
Jay squeezing the water out
Squeezing out the water.
Trimming off the bonnet cover.
Wow all finished
Next came the bonnet which I was only going to get Jeremy to tackle if it wasn’t a huge job. Jeremy took one look at it and after a comment like “easy peasy”, we were off.
Jeremy sanding the “pimples” on the bonnet.
Jeremy got some very fine wet and dry sandpaper and with some water, gently hand sanded all the little pimples of touch up paint that I had applied down so the bonnet was smooth. There was also a Globe 4 decal on the bonnet which had to go too.
Applying the protective bonnet cover.
The bonnet then looked like a bluey grey colour which looked awful. I think Jeremy could tell I was a bit nervous so he cut off a tiny bit of bonnet protector and after wetting it, stuck it in the middle of all the horrible grey and immediately, it took on the lovely deep blue I was used to! It was a WOW moment.. I was amazed and it was a high gloss too.
Squeezing out the water.
Jay appeared with a sheet of the protector big enough for our bonnet and between them, they wet it and the bonnet and on it went. The next 30 minutes or so were spent squeezing out the water but it looked absolutely amazing. The best part was that out of the 40 or so original stone chips on the bonnet, the sanded paint filled up the holes left like a filler so you could really only see a handful of them afterwards.. A HUGE improvement.. Its like a new bonnet.
Jay tidying up at the end
Watching the process was awesome too.. with the new technology products now it really was something to see.
Wow all finished
If you’re looking to do a stone chip tidy up or do something with your Motorhome or Caravan, you can find Jeremy and Jay at Big Brown Industries in the Wairau Valley. www.bigbrown.co.nz
Our son Alex had a trip arranged to meet some people in the South Island for a few days so Fiona and I were on deck to look after the Grandies, Ayden and Liam.
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Parking in the street.. with auto wooden levelling blocks:-)
We parked Rafe over the road in a car park space in Papakura and I’d taken a couple of blocks of wood to level up Rafe with the camber which worked perfectly.
The boys were at School during the days so when Saturday morning came, we all went around to watch Ayden play rugby for his team at Ardmore. They were playing the top team in the competition so I think they would have been pleasantly surprised if they would win. The boys played really well, Ayden scored one of the two tries and they had a great game. The end result was 19-12 and after hearing the opposing coach saying afterwards say that Ayden’s team had improved vastly since the last time they played together, and it was a great game for both teams was really nice to hear.
Ayden in his half back roleOn the charge
After the game, we went back to the house and then set off for the treat trip to Miranda Holiday Park in Rafe. Fiona and I used to go there quite often but haven’t been for several years so there were quite a few changes.
Checking in was a breeze and we were given one of our favourite parking spots against what used to be the hedge beside the driveway except its all gone ! .. Shock horror but I have to say it does look good the way it has been done and it lets a lot of light and sun into the place.
It had been raining for most of the day off and on so there was quite a bit of water around.
We hadn’t been there long when the boys went off for a bit of an explore and very quickly found that the office had ice creams and lollies 🙂
The Miranda Office
It was time for a swim where we discovered the other new feature, which is the addition of a smaller toddlers pool next to the main pool.
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The Mini Golf
The Pool
Party central
New Cottages look very settled now
New Ablution block out the back
The last time we were here was with our friends Bruce and Judy with Rafe’s twin and Dianne and Gary from Taupo. This was when we discovered the Dog friendly campsites out the back. They’re obviously a hit as there are quite a few more there now.. what a great idea. A bigger pitch with room around your motorhome for the dogs to roam while still being fenced in from the rest of the Campground.. fantastic.
The Dog Parks
Its always a great spot to stay and always clean and tidy.
Later we took the boys up to the Kaiaua Fish and Chip shop for tea followed by another swim in the pool. It was then time to watch the first All Blacks Aussie game in the TV room before we all crashed for the day.
It was wet
In the morning, we managed to sneak in a quick swim before we checked out and hit the road home. A great few days. The boys really enjoyed it and so did we!
We arrived in Auckland about an hour earlier than planned around 10:30pm and immediately grabbed a cab and headed for the Hotel Ibis at the airport. Our son Alex was going to pick us up in our car around 7:30 in the morning but with the body clocks being as they were, we were awake and ready to go by 5:30am wondering what to do with ourselves 🙂
It was great to see Alex, Sarah and the boys at their home in Ardmore after a long time away. Unfortunately, we had to press on and pick up Rafe from Dianne and Gary’s shed in Taupo otherwise we had no where to sleep !
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We left Ardmore around 9:30 and headed south stopping at Cambridge for lunch and then getting to Taupo about 1pm. Rafe’s COF had expired and it was booked in for 2pm which it flew through.
I hate the waiting and standing around with WOF’s or COF’s as you never know what is going to spring out of the woodwork but today was a good day 🙂
Lovely spot
We headed up to the National Equestrian Centre which is off the road north to Rotorua, just after the turnoff from Taupo. Its a magic spot and is $10 including power, showers and toilets.
Caravan Alley
With the jet lag the way it was, neither of us felt too good about driving north until we’d had a go at our body clocks and getting some sleep so we elected to stay here, despite the weather for the next 3 days and it just came down cats and dogs.
Toilets, Showers and rubbish right opposite
Although my front wheels were close to the gravel. There was quite a bit of churned up mud just in front so I was keeping an eye on that. The land around Taupo is a little top soil over pumice so it is really well draining and although there was a huge puddle behind and partly under us, when the rain stopped and we had to get out, I simply backed back from the mud and drove sideways around it and there was no slipping at all ! The water that was behind us had drained away really quickly.
You can see some of the neighbouring thermal activity here.
Its a great spot to park and the caretaker is really helpful and a really nice bloke.
After leaving there, we thought a night at the NZMCA park at Ngongotaha might be the ticket and then after that Auckland.
At Alex and Sarah’s in Auckland
On the fourth day, we headed back to Auckland and stayed with Alex, Sarah and the boys in Ardmore.
Liam and Granny Fiona on the sideline.
The next day grandson Ayden was playing rugby at his rugby club around the corner so we all went around and watched that.
Ayden off for the Tryline. On the left, Grandad Paul, Granny Fiona and Grand Gran Mary all providing plenty of encouragement !
A great family occasion. Sarah’s parents Paul and Mary were there too. Ayden scored about 5 tries which was great so a lot of family excitement.
Ayden off again with the ball
Its lovely to be back in Rafe and we don’t realise how spoilt we are until we drive something a bit older. Its nice to be back.
After dropping of Ralph to Hireahymer in Milton Keynes, we caught a bus down to Heathrow directly and another local bus around to the Ibis at Heathrow for our last night. All very easy.
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In the morning we caught a cab to the Terminal and we were off.
The Singapore Skyline
In an effort to break up the long flights, we decided to stop off in Singapore for two days. We haven’t been here without just transiting for a long time so I was blown away by the changes.
Singapore was hot.. 32 C plus and it was only early in the day so the air conditioning was wonderful.
The Architecture was something else
The architecture is stunning. Trees in little pockets of glass 10 or more stories up and better. The most impressive of course is the Marina Sands Hotel area with the rooftop garden and pool.
One of the old famous Hotels
We got a ferry from Clarke Quay and cruised down the river to where they dropped us off at the Marina Sands shopping centre.
Marina Sands
We spent a couple of hours cruising around the shops and having a good look around. There is part of the shopping complex where there is a internal river with bridges over it for access to the shops. Locals will take you for a Gondola ride down this Pool/River as you can see from the photo.
One of the old famous Hotels
One the way to Marina Sands
Marina Sands
More amazing architecture
From the top. The Singapore Flyer
From the top of the Marina Sands looking out at all the ships at anchor.
The Gondola River in marina Sands
Inside the Marina Sands Shopping centre
The pool and the gardens with part of the container terminal in the background.
We eventually made our way up to the Observation Deck on the 51st floor and had a drink at the cafe at the top. You’d only have one drink as it was expensive! .. A glass of wine was S$24!!
A panorama from the Observation platform.
We spent a good hour or so up there and then made our way down to the train station and back to the hotel.
The Marina Sands Hotel
The train system is fantastic. Unlike most places in Europe where the train pulls in to the platform, there is no platform. The train pulls in to the walkway area which is closed of to the track until the train comes in. The doors in the station line up and open with the doors on the train. Clever as there is no requirement for the platform.
The old and the new
As our hotel was on the edge of Chinatown, we spent the next day having a good look around there. The atmosphere was great and the people were fantastic.
Fiona at Marina Sands. The shopping centre on the left.
I came away feeling that we could have done with a couple more days there to have a better look around.
There was free parking provided in a carpark right next to the Chunnel entrance so we took advantage of that for our last night in France. We woke up early to see if we could get an earlier crossing in the Chunnel as our booking was for 10:55am. Gary and Dianne were ready early so we were off.
Free parking in Calais
When we checked in, we found that we could get on an 9:50 crossing so we were in.
The Chunnel train port
After checking underneath and see if any stowaways were hanging on as requested by the British border man, we headed off to Starbucks in the duty free pavilion until our time for boarding.
Driving onto the TrainDriving up to our spot Gary and Dianne in front
It was all really easy. After spending 20 minutes or so in the carriage inside Ralph, we were in Folkstone, UK and drove straight out onto the the motorway towards the Dartmouth Crossing.
A bit of traffic on the M25 around London slowed us down but by 2.30pm, we were in Milton Keynes picking up our suitcases from Ralphs home at Hireahymer.com.
The camp
After this, we followed the Gary’s GPS settings to the Old Dairy Farm campground which is right by a canal. Just beautiful. A really small camp with about 15 powered sites on an old Farm.
Looking over towards Harry
We headed off in Ralph up to a pub about 3 k’s called the Three Locks Hotel which is as it says, right by 4 locks and by the canal.
A beautiful setting. We shouted Dianne and Gary a meal out on our last night as a way of saying thank you for being in their hair for the previous month or so and being great tour guides, especially of their old home country of the Czech Republic. We wouldn’t have had the confidence to do it without you guys. Thanks heaps to you both.
The Dairy Farm house
A sneaky pic of Dianne and Gary
Strange sign
Friendly Neighbours
We had a great night there. I think we were all pretty tired as starting out in France early and driving to where we were was all a bit hectic.
Water coming through the lock gatesTwo narrow boats in the lock
It was a relatively early night but what a lovely spot to finish off the trip.
Through the hedge is the Canal
In the morning we were taking Ralph home and catching a coach to Heathrow Ibis for a night and then our flight home to NZ.
Making our way slowly back to Calais across Northern France, we stopped in a small village called Boiry Notre Dame. The area around here is loaded with War cemetaries and references to both wars where the Germans absolutely hammered the place and often for no reason apart from to destroy the culture.
Fiona puts a poppy down at an unknown Soldiers grave on the way to Arras
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Hymer caravans coming in to the camp.
The camp we were staying at was on the edge of the village with a Maize growing area which went for miles on the other side. From there we could also see about 40 odd giant Wind Turbines grinding away and they were earning their keep as it was blowing. They had really bright LED lights at the centre and at night these change red and they all blinked at the same time. Quite a sight!
Our park out of town
In the morning, we caught a cab into Arras which was about 17 odd k’s (30 euros in the cab) and headed for the main square where there was a huge market on. Arras has three big squares all linked together and there are stalls everywhere you looked.
Lovely Crepe lunch
We sat down and enjoyed a Crepe lunch which the area is famous for in the main square. The square is dominated by an amazing old building which is the town hall, which has been rebuilt after the Germans dealt to it during the war.
The Town Hall
The main square is called Place de Heros which gives you an idea of where the locals stand with the history.
Fiona, Gary and Dianne getting into the shopping
After checking out more shoe and dress shops, we worked our way towards an old Cathedral around the back of the old square.
The cathedral in 1918
The front of the Cathedral now
Bullet and shrapnel holes in the Cathedral
The main square with the Town Hall
Detail of the roof of the Town Hall
In the main square with the Town Hall on the left
Market Fun
There are photographs and the story behind the cathedral is posted to the railings of the Cathedral which the Germans destroyed during the war. The Cathedral like many others has been rebuilt and looks fantastic.
At The Markets
We were going to check out the Wellington Tunnels but the people who run would only let us go in at a time that was too late for us so unfortunately we couldn’t do it. The Wellington Caves are a series of Tunnels dug by Kiwi Soldiers during the war under the town to surprise the Germans. Now part of the towns history and named after the soldiers who dug it out who came from Wellington, NZ.
Great atmosphere
We caught a cab back to the camp and sat outside for a while before tea.
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.
It is truly a magnificant sight. The park in the middle under the trees, gets covered in portable deck chairs from the car owners to shelter from the sun. The coffee and Ice Cream carts are doing a roaring trade. 
The Cafe’s are flat out and its just a neat scene of people everywhere wandering through the magnificent old Fords, Chevrolets and many others.
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