Along with a few hundred others, I arrived fashionably early and we were all marshalled into a temporary parking area on the grass.
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The parking!
Kickoff at midday came and the lines formed to get in and once settled, there were old friends catching up everywhere you looked.
One of the many happy setups
The parking was superbly managed and given the huge task of parking hundreds of Motorhomes and Caravans along with Buses with Toads, the end result was just a work of art. Well done to all the volunteers who pitched in. An amazing effort.
Out with the awning
I was only there half an hour and spotted Nelson and Maree in Caniwi so popped in for a chat with them and later caught up with them for a drink after also catching up with John and Sarah Pedersen. It was really nice to catch up with them too. John does a blog called licenced to retire.
The next morning was showtime! .. I’d only just stepped in the door when Chris Nuttall tapped me on the shoulder. Chris runs the NZ Motorhome Forum and it was nice to see him. It has been a wee while!
The Swift Caravans are always a treat and this years new models didn’t disappoint. See below
Click on the Gallery below for a slideshow
The Swift Caravan
Inside the Swift Caravan
In the Swift looking forward
The Swift.. Nice!
With the bathroom and shower at the back, an east-west bed and then Galley and Lounge at the other end, with the finish and polish you would expect from Swift.
I was really impressed with the new Dethleffs Caravans for Families. One of them has two bunks with a childrens lounge at one end, the bathroom and shower facilities, a french bed and Galley area and then a big adult lounge at the other end. Its a big Caravan but they also have a smaller one without the kids lounge which is also a little cheaper.
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The childrens bunk and lounge area. Dethleffs
Through the window
The adult area
Outside the Dethleffs caravan
Most of the big manufacturers were there, Trailite, Bailey, Jayco along with many others and it was nice to see Eldiss’s new Motorhomes too.
Click on the Gallery below for a slideshow
And the rush is on
Trailites!
In a Trailite looking back. Dropdown bed above.
Looking forward in the Trailite.
Going from one manufacturers Caravans and Motorhomes to another all in one spot, its really interesting seeing the different design styles and layouts.
I was really interested to talk to Carters Tyres executive Phil Jackson who was at the NZMCA stand, about tyres. Phil was telling me that many Motorhomes and Caravans are actually close to the weight limit of their tyres with some even over. This isn’t something that I ever thought about to be honest as you tend to watch things like GVM and axle weights. His team were going to weigh Motorhome and Caravans the next morning including Rafe.
I also found out that they have a brand called Giti which are well suited for Motorhomes and Caravans and will perform as well as or outperform my current factory fitted european tyres, and they’re less expensive too especially with the NZMCA discount. I’m really looking forward to finding out more as mine have done 58000k’s and need replacing!!
Rafe’s tyre weights were interesting. Weighed without me and without the bikes on the back, my current weight was just about 50 kg’s under on the front (each wheel) and would have been just over on the back with the bikes. The Giti’s have another 100kgs approx of payload each compared to my current tyres… who would have known!
Rafe’s overall GVM is just under 4300kg and on a heavy day is 4100kg with water, wine, groceries and packed with two of us ready to go. After having a great chat with Phil, and Ryan from NZMCA and a few others, I headed out the other end for a bite of something. There was a huge covered area with picnic tables with food carts down both sides offering all the usual treats. Some music was provided too.
Click on the Gallery below for a slideshow
Phil from Carters
The Rockwood stand
Autogtrails
Eldiss Motorhome
LOutside the Eldiss
Checking out the beds
At the eating space.
Plenty of choice
From here I’ll let the pictures tell the story but a fabulous show and I heard that it is now going to be an annual event. I can’s say enough about the volunteer parking people who did an amazing job with what seemed to be a zillion Motorhomes and Caravans.
They had a huge home at Waihi Beach. Over 260 square metres! It has been sold and in its place, their new Home, an 8.2 metre Morelo from Germany.
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These are seriously nice Motorhomes. They’re well appointed and they have everything that opens and shuts.
A real treat.
The Helm station
Underneath is a 3 litre turbo charged Iveco connected to the rear wheels via an 8 speed gearbox.
The Bedroom
I first bumped into them a few weeks ago when I first stopped in at the NZMCA park at Waipu beach and they had been staying here for a few nights being their old home turf.
The Galley
They’re really enjoying it and have lots of ideas for making it “theirs”.
The Living Space
The amazing thing that Robin volunteered later is that this is their first Motorhome.. What a way to go!
This has to be one the best Parking spots that I’ve found and I pretty much found it by accident.
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Great Parking
It was set up for the workers originally for Robert and Ruth McLeods Kiwifruit and Avocado Orchard workers just outside Katikati and is now a NZMCA charges apply site. There are Toilets and Showers with Washing facilities and about 20 powered sites set among some fruit trees. It is $10 a night per person with power. I’d just been at the Waihi Beach opening for a couple of days and needed to give camera batteries and my laptop a bit of a shove on power so this was fantastic. There are quite a few long termers and workers there who take a personal interest in keeping the place spic and span. It is a busy little spot but a fantastic place to stop off if you’re on the way somewhere. There is also a family of Pukekos that seem to be pretty territorial and keep an eye on the place as well 🙂
A lovely spot.
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The iconic shape of the VW Combi and the bright colours were hard to miss.
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Tania with the VW’s
The happy voice of Bowentown Holiday Park, Tania was only to pleased to show me through the amazing Combi cabins. With the bright Green and Orange exterior paintjob they almost glow in the dark!
What can you say !
They’re about 4 years old and were originally made in Auckland and are fully insulated, complete with heating and set up very comfortably.
Click on the Gallery below for a Slideshow
Complete with Retro Chairs
New owners of the Park, Mike and Bec are planning to plant some gardens around them and restore the colours to that of the original VW’s.
For those who want to stay with Motorhome or Caravan friends, this is the next best thing and in the off season, they’re just $85 a night.
A great sight to see and a fun way to spend the weekend away!
We tried and we failed earlier in the year after putting the house on the market without any real tarting up. The house had been rented out for a couple of years and needed tidying up. The advice we had was let the new buyers add their own stamp which is what I thought too but the Devonport market seems to be a wee bit pickier than that.
The feedback was the house needed a bit of TLC and everyone seemed scared to come near it!
Blinds cleaned, room, windows, skirtings, doors all painted.
Over the last month or so, we’ve sanded, fixed up and painted all the doors. We’ve repainted 7 rooms through the house including windows, architraves and skirting boards.
Click on the Gallery below to see a slideshow
How the doors were.. freshly dipped a zillion years ago and simply hung as they were.
6 Doors in the hall all sanded, fixed up, filled and painted.
As the stairs were.. some rotten and cracked
The front stairs repaired and painted
We’ve had the garden made over and the house professionally water blasted.. its looking great. We also had some lots of help from stylist friend Stacey, along with Jenna and Fiona with the staging and it looks heaps better. Lighter and cleaner looking seems to be the name of the game!
Check out the piccies below…Click on the Gallery for a Slideshow
Garden all tidy, everything waterblased, steps painted.
From the back
Painted hallway and loom at those doors
Kitchen the same.
Bedroom was yellow.. all painted.
Painted fireplace, window and door frames
Downstairs media room was a yellow studio.
Living arera not really changed.
New Bathroom
Garage carpeted
The first open homes this weekend and we already have plenty of interest so its looking good. It also has powered Motorhome parking and we have a Motorhomer interested in it 🙂
And what we did before.. Click on the Gallery for a slideshow
And soon one might be on its way to NZ! This will be the first of this make/model of this size in the country..!
This is the last in the series of images of flash Motorhomes from Jonas in Dusseldorf and its of the new Morelo Palace. Thanks to Jonas for making them available.
Click on the Gallery below to see a slideshow of the interior
In the Uk, these are sold from 186 K Euros. The UK ones are fitted out as follows
IVECO 6.5T Chassis
Meier Chassis
Double Floor
43mm Insulation
Alde Heating
3.0Ton Tow.
SLIDE OUT
CAR GARAGE
These images are hot off the press from Jonas Ng who is at the big Motorhome and Caravan show in Dusseldorf in Germany.
Jonas’s comment on this “Impressive” as well :-)..
Click on the Gallery below for a slideshow of the Interior
The new Niesmann and Bischoff is based on the Fiat Ducato and in NZ are 180HP with a 6 speed comformatic gearbox. These start at NZ$280K in NZ.
We met up with our friends Dianne and Gary in the UK when they first laid eyes on their Arto 88F, a slightly different model than this one. They were over the moon and have been since with it being one of the first of its kind in NZ. Check this out for another look at their thing of beauty.
A happy Dianne in the living area while Fiona inspects Gary and Dianne’s unit in the UK 🙂
These images are hot off the press from Jonas Ng who is at the big Motorhome and Caravan show in Dusseldorf in Germany.
Jonas is Managing Director and with his wife Irene, they own Zion Motorhomes in Pokeno who also import Frankia, Neismann Bischoff and Dethleffs Motorhomes.
This new vehicle is based on the Mercedes Benz Atego 1530L… Jonas’s comment “Impressive”!
Click on the Gallery below for a slideshow of the interior
This model starts at 450K Euros and is on either a Mercedes or Eurocargo base chassis depending on the customers needs. Jonas has some other smaller models made exclusively for the NZ market but if you want an Empire, I’m sure he could be persuaded to get you one 🙂
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.
With their new baby, they’re really enjoying the change to a newer, smaller, more nimble vehicle.
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