Hot pools, Rotorua

Rugby, Hot Pools and a nice place to stay.

The sky was a bit murky and we had a day left before having to head home so it was Rotorua for the night, and the search was on for a hot pool.

The Bledisloe Cup game was on that afternoon so we had a choice of finding a pub or staying somewhere with the rugby and Fiona likes to be near some shops 🙂 The Top 10 was the answer plus it had some hot pools.. a big bonus.

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The entrance to Rotorua Top 10

As we drove in, I met Caroline who couldn’t have been more helpful. We were very fortunate to get a park right next to the pools and close to the showers and loos and not far from the rugby 🙂

Plenty of room

They have two thermal pools and a swimming pool. The two thermal pools run at 38C and 40C, plenty hot enough for us…

Proper thermal water.!

It was interesting looking at the comments on the app which said the pools weren’t hot enough and the parks were squeezed in. All the parks I saw allowed for an easy 3m gap. Most had a table set between each park.(much more than 3m!) .. and the pools were great.

The Thermal pools

After a quick splash in the pools, were set off into the Rotorua shopping area, about 10 minutes walk. We had a packed program 🙂 Lunch, a quick look around the shops and then the Rugby at 4!

Downtown Rotovegas

After the rugby we met some people who had hired 5 Dethleffs Trend Motorhomes and were on route to the Hawkes Bay, just staying one night. They were having a ball.

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Rotorua Central.. check out those Tulips
Where had lunch, Eat Street
Nice parks with plenty of space
Proper thermal water.!
The big pool
The Thermal pools

We had another swim when we got back and met some people also from Auckland with a small caravan not unlike our Wee Rafe that we started with. They were looking for a Motorhome so it was interesting talking to them.

The Dethleffs Trends off to the Hawkes Bay

The sky was strange.. one minute it was and quite threatening and then clear and then back to overcast again…

Rafe near the big pillow

A nice spot in Rotorua and once of the better campgrounds I’ve stayed in.  It is also within walking distance from pretty much everywhere and with the facilities, its a winner. I’ve got it marked down as a GPS favorite for our next visit.

Rafe’s Tracker map to the Top 10 in Rotorua – Armada GPS
Coromandel 2020

The Trakka Motorhome

I haven’t ever seen one of these so when one rocked up and parked right next to me, the Sherlock Holmes in me came out and I had to go and check it out.

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Julian and Dianne come all the way from Christchurch and bought it new in 2005.  It is 7metres long on a Fiat chassis complete with air suspension and they love it.

Comfy Lounge area and sleeping

It was made in West Auckland and apparently they were quite popular. They doing a big long tour around the north.

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TV and Entertainment
The luton is used for storage.
Lovely older switches
Galley

I was pleased to see a slightly older Fiat motorhome looking in such good condition and although you can see where technology has changed with switches and things it all still works to their satisfaction.

Galley

 

Coromandel 2020

A Kauri treat

Long Bay Holiday Park with the Kauri’s behind

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On my second day at Long Bay Holiday Park in Coromandel, I discovered the track to get up to the Kauri grove up behind the bay.

One big tree

There is a boot washing station to prevent Kauri Dieback getting into the forest but its an easy walk in. Its mostly uphill going in and I found myself stopping a few times just to catch my breath (must be getting old or unfit) but it is well worth the effort.

The walk up

There is one massive tree that I could see, and a whole lot of smaller but really tall trees and a couple of areas where you can sit and take it all in. Its a magic spot just like the rest of the bay.

The Grove at the top with the seating area

I sat up there for about half an hour before walking back down to the Holiday Park in the bay.

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Wash your boots time
The walk up
One big tree
A bit of a peak out
That’s a big tree
A baby Kauri with the big one behind
Entrance to the Bay
Long Bay

I’ve never been one for long walks or studying trees but this is well worth seeing.

That’s a big tree
Coromandel 2020, Great Beaches

What a fantastic place to stay

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There are few places in the world that you can stay at in a Motorhome that would beat Long Bay Holiday park.

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The Beach

In the off season, this is a camp saver park too. Leanne is the very friendly camp manager and also runs the well stocked shop. Everything is very easy and laid back.

Just lovely

I was lucky to have 2 out of my three nights here with just brilliant sunshine and made the most of it by walking around to the next beach called Tucks Bay.  Its an easy 10 minute walk around a coastal track which is well worth doing. There is also a gigantic Kauri tree and Kauri glade which is worth a look too.

Tucks Bay
Coming back from Tucks Bay

But its just a neat spot. You can also hire boats or kayaks and go for a paddle around. There are 65 powered sites and three onsite caravans as well.

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Lots of parking
The Bay
The Autotrail corner
Kayaking
The walk back from Tucks Bay
Coming back from Tucks Bay
Interesting cabins
Dropping off the Kayaks
Auckland is over there somewhere

I went for a walk and met some of the neighbours. It is within walking distance rom Coromandel town (about 3 k’s) but probably a better bike ride.

A must do if you in the area. I’ll be back soon 🙂

Coromandel 2020

Open Plan Motorhoming

While I was in the NZMCA park in Coromandel, I bumped into Ben and Agnes who were getting ready to go for bike ride.

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They were in their new 4year old Coastal Motorhome. This 8.2 m beast is on a Mercedes Sprinter base and is their 2nd Coastal and they love it.

One of the things I noticed about it apart from the fantastic finish is the huge feeling of space around the living area and galley.

Nice feeling of space.

This comes about by having the Toilet and Shower area across the back where it is most often found opposite the galley, closing the living area in. The Queen size centre island bed has no partitioning between the bedroom to the galley, also adding to that spacious feel. ..Interesting.

Looking forward.

The only downside I can see with this is there is no way of closing the bedroom area off from the living space but then you might not want to 🙂

Nice galley area

There favorite destination is anywhere in the South Island where they’ve been 4 times in the last couple of years.. a lovely Motorhome.

The bedroom. Toilet and Shower behind
Coromandel 2020

Coromandel NZMCA park

It has been a few years since I was last in Coromandel town and that is partly due to meeting an oncoming logging truck on a blind bend a few years ago. He was going for it and how we didn’t connect or me disappearing into the tide, I still to this day do not know! Scary… Thankfully it looks as though they have done quite a bit of upgrading work to the coast road and it looks heaps better.

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Great view from the top.

It’s a great run up the coast and getting up to stop at the top lookout just before Manaia is always a treat for the eyes.

The Coromandel NZMCA park was famous for being wet and everybody crowding onto a small sealed area. Well.. no more. The whole area is gravel and it looks fantastic.

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The fridge has been upgraded too.
And a gate
Dry as a bone
The smokehouse

One of the nice things about this park is its location right in the middle of town. With the Coromandel Smokehouse right in front and a couple of pubs and the shops within easy walking distance.. what a spot!

Look at all that Gravel
Coromandel 2020, Great Beaches

Motorhoming by the river

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Nicely positioned on the edge of the Tapu river coming out of the hills in Coromandel is Tapu Creek Motorhome Park. Unless you knew about it, you would never find it !

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It is in an absolute idyllic position right next to the river.

With quite few powered sites and hot showers and good facilities, it is also quite interesting with its slightly alternative decorations. . Really nicely done too.

At $15 with power in the off peak, it is very good value and the scenery can’t be beaten.

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Outside Kitchen
As close as you can get!

As you come into Tapu travelling north from Thames, it is about 5 k’s along the sealed Tapu Creek road into the hills.

BBQ hut

If you want somewhere nice a quiet and very good value, this is hard to beat.

Waikato

The NZMCA Show Park and Stay

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Seeing 600 plus Motorhomes and Caravans as your first view coming into the top of Mystery Creek is always a nice experience. And the first person I see at the bottom helping with the parking was Noel who I met at Tokoroa a year ago.

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What you see as you drive in.

When I was at last years Tokoroa Timber Town Romp last year and its coming up again this year at the end of this month, I helped with the parking. With Noel and a few others, we parked more than 400 vehicles and although it was a long day, it was a lot of fun.

The goings on in the parking area 🙂
Rafe in the park

Once I’d parked Rafe, who should come rocking past on his electric bike but Neal who was organising the parking both then and now.  He was saying that the team had parked nearly 800 vehicles in Hamilton so far.  Given  the  effect of people getting over lockdowns and everything else, that’s a great turnout and a job well done for the parking team.  This was just after lunch on Friday with two days to go!

Great show. Click on the image to enlarge.

They did a great job and everywhere you looked, just about completely surrounding the main Pavilion were Motorhomes and Caravans. A great sight. Nicely done Team Waikato !

Rafes Tracker map to Mystery Creek – Armada GPS
Shows, Waikato

The 2020 NZMCA Motorhome Show

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It is very rare for me to get Fiona interested in going to one of these so we both arrived early on the Friday afternoon. The show was well into its second day so there were plenty of people there and it looked great.

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What you see as you drive in.

Coming down the Mystery Creek hill there was a glorious sea of white roofs for miles. The parkers looked like they had done another great job getting everyone in. Lots of happy faces and a good atmosphere.

After settling down Rafe, opening some vents and having a cup of tea, it was off to the show to see what was new.

As we walked in..

The show was considerably smaller due to the postponement and Covid but there was still plenty to see.

One of the first things we saw was the new Dethleffs Trend with the rear bathroom. Its amazing the difference it makes to the layout of the whole van as the usual cupboard like setup on the side completely disappears for a more open layout.

The Dethleffs Trend with the rear bathroom.

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The Trend
The Trend with the rear bathroom showing the space
Bathroom – Trend
The bathroom – Trend
The Dethleffs Trend with the rear bathroom.

The next thing we came across was the small Baileys D4-3 Discovery Caravan with the Awning that covers two sides. The space that the caravan doesn’t use on a pitch is covered by an almost wrap around awning.. really unusual and neat to see a different way of getting space.

The Bailey with the BIG surrounding awning.

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The Bailey with the BIG surrounding awning.
Inside the Bailey
The Bailey lounge area
Quite a lot of room for a small Caravan – Bailey
The Bailey with the Awning

We checked out the NZMCA stand and it was nice to see Ryan and the rest of the team there.

Ryan and the NZMCA team.

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Lots to see
A Pilote A class my first look.
The Pilote Aclass
Pilote A Class
Pilote A class Galley
Old and new VW’s
Bits anyone?
ACM Motorhomes
NZMCA #1
Outside in the eating area.
Matching set

After having a good look around, we headed outside to see the vintage caravans. I love what these guys do to these lovely cars and caravans, and the effort that is made to keep these in such good shape.

Alex with his Caravan

I was getting some piccies of one when suddenly in front of me a smiley face popped into the frame and it was the happy owner Alex. The 59 Chev which he used to tow it was a perfect match in colour and it was easily one of the best there.

Alex’s 59 Chev Impala
The back of the Impala

It was happy hour time so Fiona and I headed back to Rafe to meet our neighbours and enjoy something wet and cold 🙂

The show was definitely smaller than usual but the fact that it on at all was amazing.

Rafes Tracker map to Mystery Creek – Armada GPS
Coromandel 2020, Great Beaches

On the beach at Tapu

On the way up the coast to Coromandel is a little village called Tapu. It is roughly 20k’s up the coast from Thames and has two motor camps and a free parking area on the beach.

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The Parking area

I pulled in to the free parking area on the way up the coast and joined with three other overnighters nicely backed into the trees looking out at the amazing beach.

Nice beach

Several of the other Motorhomers had Kayaks and were out fishing off the beach from their Kayaks when I popped in.

A great spot and the price can’t be beaten .. Free!

Just Cruising

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.