As always, a well run and executed Rally by the good folk in the Counties team. Just under 400 vehicles were parked by Saturday afternoon and there were still more coming in.
The big picture
This year the Polo was being played in the centre of the track where the rally is usually set up so the parking was set off to the southern side of the stands beside the track. Very handy to the Pop Up Globe which Fiona and I went and saw on the Saturday afternoon.
Big girls under the trees.
Also handy for a walk to Ellerslie shopping centre for those who wanted takeways.
Sea of white (and blue)
Covi put on their magic buses for easy show access and they seemed to go every few minutes throughout the day.
Either side of the track. The latecomers went into the centre.Off to the show. The Ellerslie event centre in the background.
A great event put on by the experienced Counties NZMCA team.. well done guys.
And that would be the newly restored 1928 Reo Speedwagon, once owned by the founders of the NZMCA, Andy and Gladys Anderson.
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4 of the volunteers that could come up with #1, L to R, John, Alan, Brian and Fergus
Once used as passenger and freight bus in Te Karaka, it later went on to be a bus for the Gisborne freezing works.
#1 sporting its new Headlights
Andy Anderson bought the old bus in Gisborne and converted it to his Motorhome and then started the NZMCA as #1 !
Looking forward
Fast forward to June 2016, it was collected from the Eastland Museum of Transport and Technology and taken to a workshop at Hallright Plumbing. It spent the next 2 and a half years here being restored by a small army of 34 volunteers.
Looking back over the Galley
It was completely stripped down and rebuilt bolt by bolt and the result is stunning.
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Allan, John, Brian and Fergus in front
Love the mirror
The oven
Dining area
Double Bunks
Comfy seating. Fergus’s nailbox has gone 🙂
The outside loo
The Loo
Seeing it on the NZMCA stand at the 2019 Covi show, it was a joy to behold. The attention to detail from the volunteers is amazing. Ferg Mckenzie along with 3 other volunteers came up to the Covi show to look after and show off their work.
Storage on the back
Well done too to the board for supporting the restoration. A great part of the associations history.
What I took from this years Covi show was the slow move away from ground floor beds in Motorhomes, mostly in the smaller models to drop down or other options. There were lots of new knick knacks too.
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Morelo area
There is a new Dethleffs XLI on its way which wasn’t available for the show but comes with a rear lounge instead of beds. The bedding comes as various versions of either a Luton type or different drop down setups. New also to the Dethleffs range is the Pulse GT.
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The new Pulse GT
Pulse GT
Inside the Pulse GT
Looking back in the Pulse GT
Bedroom on the Pulse GT
Pulse GT
Phil from Carters Tyres. The man you should talk to when you want tyres for your Motorhome!
Neismann and Bichoff
Fold up bike
Autotrails
Inside the back of a Kea van
New bench area in the new Nomad caravans
The new Nomad
NZs Allisee
The Trailite area
Popular place.. the Bar
Leisureline Caravans
Drop in Bach!
Lots of new things in the Accessory area
Jayco corner
Burstner has a new 7 something metre van option with a rear lounge with a door, and a drop down bed with another drop down bed further forward. A nice option too.
One of the things I really liked was the trailer mounted fold out camper priced at just $32000 with all the extras. I forgot to get the name of it, but a lot of kit and good comfortable camping without spending a fortune.
Its like a friend of mine once said in the boating world, those who spend less on their boat than the million dollar boaties, still have just as much fun 🙂
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Neat camper
The Dining area
The fold out bedroom
Inside
There was lots to see in the accessories area too with several options available in the Generator area and there was also a drop on bach on display too.
A Mark 1 Zephyr with matching Lilliput. I had one of these during my misspent youth 🙂
No show is ever complete without the Lillput Caravans and their beautifully done up tow cars (Tugs).
Great CaravansThe lovely Lilliputs
A good day with lots of walking. Fiona looked at her phone at the end of the show on the bus back to Ellerslie and we did just over 9000 steps 🙂 .. plenty of exercise for the day.
While we were in Narrow Neck, across the car park was a Blue Truck with an amazing Dragon artwork along one side.
Love the stairsLooking back to the Galley
I wandered over when the owners turned up to meet Garrith and his partner Summer.
The Bunks
Takapuna based Garrith has had the 1996 Ford Trader for 6 months, and in that time has set it up so he can live in it. It looks comfortable but with only 6 months, I get the feeling it will be quite different in another 12 months time.
The living area looking forward
There is an amazing amount of room in it and they’re really enjoying being on the road and check out Garrith’s Mural on the side.
Our first night out of the house was spent at a friends Garage Forecourt in Devonport. Mark very kindly said we could stay the weekend but the first two nights away from the house were fantastic and with the remnants of a cylcone bearing down on us, it was nice to half tucked under his forecourt verandah.
We met our regular Friday night friends Alan, Grant and Robyn, just around the corner at a Bar and enjoyed some good nerve settling banter with them before joining them for a great Italian meal up by the Victoria Theatre in Devonport. Fantastic night.
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Waking up early on Saturday, Rafe’s grey tank said it was full (which it wasn’t) so a quick trip was made to the dump station at Albany and we did a complete dump and top up of fresh water so we were right for a few days. Fiona followed me in the car up to the lockup with some last minute leftovers from the Packers like vacuum cleaners and cleaning stuff to squeeze in the door 🙂 .. It is packed to the rafters literally !!
Good easy parking
With the weather improving, we headed to Woddall Park in Narrow Neck, a well known freedom camping spot. Its interesting as one of the recent less than intelligent moments from our Council was a decision to ban Motorhomes staying at this park without any discussion. The locals however were outraged and promptly got them to reinstate the parking as the presence of Motorhomers meant the hoon element had completely dissapeared.
Fan bloody tastic ! .. A classic case of Council plonkers making arbitrary decisions and not listening.
My intermediate and High School years were spent not living very far from this beach so I know it pretty well.
Fiona lived on the beachfront reserve for a few years as it was Army housing as her dad was CO of Fort Cautley, so she was really familiar with it too.
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Yachts being setup
Great Beach
And theyre off
A lovely spot. The day we were there, there was a big day for small yacht racing out on the beach.
Its neat to watch the Dads all pitching in helping their kids rig their yachts and set them off racing.
Dad’s waitiung
Lovely to see them having a cuppa at the club house and waiting on the beach and helping them in too afterwards.
Narrow Neck with Browns Island behind
The pictures tell the story really but a fabulous spot for a night and great walks from here to Cheltenham and most of the way to Takapuna too.
Rangitoto Island
There is also a bus stop to the ferry or to Takapuna right next to the park.
The Netspeed Speedtest
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Ping: 37 ms
What an arduous process.. The house sold finally in October with a settlement of Friday 22nd Feb.
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The packers in.
It was listed twice. The first time with Drew, my son after it had been rented out for two years while we did the European and South Island trips, and we listed it virtually as soon as we’d moved back in. It was a bit scruffy having been rented out and we fixed the big things but in the end it wasn’t enough and the feedback was awful.
So we took some advice from some stagers and designers and painted all the main rooms Real Estate White. We painted doors that had been stripped that hadn’t been painted and Double Hung windows that needed a makeover.
The end result was a massive lift in the look and we relisted with Barfoots in Devonport as the Lake Road traffic and Devonport was too far from Drews other open homes in the bays.
Finally a result!!
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The Packers doing their thing
Lounge suite being loaded
All our stuff in the Garage
Going going gone!
Stuff in the truck
At the storage facility
Loading the storage facility
On the Tuesday after the packers came, we moved Rafe into the driveway ready for us to sleep in.
Prior to that, we had already packed everything into boxes, loads to the local op shop and the tip and the contents of the Pantry and Fridge was loaded into Rafe along with our clothes and the toiletries from the bathroom. Rafe’s cuboards were almost bursting 🙂
Rafe in the driveway
The packers came and by the end of the day, all our furniture was safely locked away in a storage facility in Glenfield.
The big day came around on the Friday. Fiona went out to a girls lunch with friends to get away and I sat and waited for the Setllement calls to happen.
Empty Lounge
Empty Kitchen Living area
The empty Garage
Around lunchtime, one of the purchasers furniture trucks arrived and he sat outside waiting. At 2pm another truck arrived and they all camped on the grass verge outside. About 2:30, the purchaser arrived to see what was happening.
It seemed the buyers bank had been a bit slow getting the funds through to our Solicitor and they had only just got the money at 2pm but just before 3pm, I received that call that I was waiting for and finally drove Rafe out of the driveway for the last time.
Lots of money in the bank, all the debt gone and no house!
LOTS of freedom! No more lawns to mow for a while and no more rates to pay. Yippee.. .. now to find another much smaller house for two people and a Motorhome!
As it was clear early on that the space at the Taradale Club wasn’t going to meet the huge demand for the Phil Collins concert, the local organisers of the NZMCA arranged to lease a paddock opposite the Tarade Club for NZMCA parking.
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Lots of NZMCAr’s
One of the organisers Tony was telling me that at their peak, they had nearly 300 Motohomes and Caravans there and in true NZMCA Rally style, they had everyone parking beautifully.
Organiser Tony
Having the Club over the road with its bar and the air conditioning for the 30 plus degree heat, and the generous meal deals didn’t go unnoticed by the folks over the road either.
Tony also was telling me that their next gig was the Art Deco parking and I’m sure they’ll also be involved in the AGM at Gisborne next month too. .. Busy times !
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A few gaps the next day
Its great when great minds come together for a great mutual outcome. A very plesant couple of days with friendly easy parking.
We’ve been to quite a few Mission Concerts now and they never seem to fail to entertain.
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Earlier in the day
This year, we had Phil Collins along with a couple of local bands which warmed up the crowd.
The day started with breakfast at the Taradale Club which was supposed to include a shuttle ride around to the venue too but when the time cam for the shuttle, the driver went AWOL 🙂 so we walked and it wasn’t far and it was fun.
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Perfect way to start the day.. Breakfast
Taradale Club dining room
Dianne, Gary and Fiona finishing breakfast
Looking good
Rain coming down
On Stage .. cell pic
Breakfast was great and at $10 each was very good value. By the time we had finished breakfast, it was pretty much lunchtime so at 2pm, after a bit of a snack, we headed off around the corner to the Mission Estate.
Fiona, Dianne and Gary all rugged up.
The weather was supposed to shower in the morning and improve as the day went on but the weather was late.. so the showering happened during the early bands. By the time Phil came on, everyone was damp, it was cold but it had pretty much stopped drizzling so as the night went on, we dried out and it was quite pleasant.
Phil had had some back surgery and had a duff leg so was aided by a walking stick and sat on a stool at the front of the stage but as a drummer, he is very used to singing sitting down and it sounded as good as it ever does.
His 17 year old son Nicholas is now the drummer and is very very good. One of the early songs they played had a huge quite complicated drum solo in it and he did a great job. He’s also a good piano player as well and you could tell that Dad was very proud of him.
Phil with Nicholas playing the Piano (Cell phone pic)
All in all a great concert which I’m pleased we went to despite the timeing with packing our house with moving just a week or so away. A good trip..
We headed back to Auckland after a nice night at the NZMCA park at Taupo.
Late last year, I received an email from our Taupo Motorhome friends Gary and Dianne asking if we wanted to go to the Phil Collins concert.. yes please says I so Gary bought them online. I’m not sure exactly where he was at the time but I suspect it was somewhere in the UK.
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On the way.. Taupo
All I had to do was arrange for some parking at Napier for our two Motorhomes. Just as that was happening, I received a very timely email from mary at the Taradale club saying they had limited Motorhome parking for $25 a night.. thats us I thought so I immediately booked us for two nights for both of us.
Happy parking
Fast forward 6 months or so and despite moving out of our house in less than two weeks, we’re on our way for a few days to Napier.
Arriving at Taradale, I met Mary who was happy to change Gary and Dianne’s park so they were next to us and not long after we arrived, in rocked Gary and Dianne in the Niesmann.
34 Degrees C! .. not much talking happening here 🙂
The Taradale club was doing a BBQ tea for $20 a head and a $10 cooked breakfast so we clocked oursleves in for those too!
Every nook and Cranny was used.
The parking was great and with the temperatures hovering around the early 30’s it was stinking hot. The club’s bar with its air conditioning was a great spot to hang out and the drinks were reasonably priced too.
It was one of these !
There were probably about 30 odd Motorhomes there with most taking up the option for the meal and the breakfast.
Everyone was happy to chat to each other in the parking area and it was a very friendly spot.
Over the road, The NZMCA had leased a paddock fromn a local farmer and there was parking there too and that would have helped that Clubs turnover too!
Acroos the road at the NZMCA parking
Mary did a gfreat job making sure everyone was where they wanted to be and organising the meals. A neat spot to stay and very close to the concert venue as well.
The Netspeed Speedtest
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Ping: 47ms
Rafe’s Tracking map north showing where the club is.
After a great night of catching up with Helen, Chloe and Jessica along with Dianne and Gary, it was time to get some sleep for the big 30k ride the next day.
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Getting the bikes ready
The next morning, Helen and the the girls set off to check out the Bay of Islands and we got organised and set off towards Horeke.
The top part of the Trail
We simply crossed the road and headed off down the trail. The first part of the trail is downhill..some of it so steep that you are advised to walk it! The first third is pretty much downhill but then it flattens out and its up and down the rest of the way through to Horeke but the trail is pretty easy and nicely set out.
Riding beside the stream
The middle part of the ride go’s through Snows Farm and past a Lily pond and the track is set in some really nice easy bush and along side a river. The scenery and countryside is amazing.
Dianne and Fiona
Eventually the track comes out to a road and then cross’s over to a huge wooden track built up over the Mangroves on the upper reaches of the Hokianga. From there it is only a few K’s to the pub.
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Fiona and Dianne having a natter before we set off.
Look at the view.. still walking
Di’s corner.. having a rest on the way down.
Fiona going through Snow’s Farm
The Lily Ponds
The Lily’s
Snow’s Farm accommodation for the bike trail.
Snows Farm rest stop. Fiona having a drink
Snow’s Farm
Horeke Pub
Looking out on the Hokianga from Horeke Tavern
The Horeke Tavern Jetty
We were well and truly ready for a G&T and a sit down lunch and the lunch didn’t disappoint! The Seafood Chowder was recommended to us by Noeline at the Rail Stay so 4 Seafood Chowders later, everyone was happy.
Peter the Publican came over to say Hi and it was interesting talking to him. He has owned the Horeke Tavern for more than 25 years so has seen some big changes.
Horeke Pub
Peter runs a shuttle for bikes and gave a us a ride back to the Rail Stay. Gary being a bit of sucker for some more punishment, decided to ride back on his electric bike and did it in really good time too, despite it being mostly uphill on the way back.
Back for a cold one with Rafe later.. Dianne, Jessica, Helen and Gary.
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.
Bugger It, we are off - www.buggeritweareoff.com 
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