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They’re about 4 years old and were originally made in Auckland and are fully insulated, complete with heating and set up very comfortably.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 🙂
Many of you will have seen Nelson and Marees Trailite with Caniwi across its forehead along with the NZMCA wings. Nelson is originally from Canada hence the Cankiwi name!
Click on an image to see Hi Res
Nice big lounge area
They’ve had their van for 3 years now. Amazing as it seems like yesterday when they got it!
The van is a 2015 Trailite Karapiro powered by a 3 litre Turbo diesel on a VW base. They’ve done 32000 k’s over the last 3 years and spent a lot of it in the South Island and it still looks brand new!
Galley
Their favorite spots were the Tekapo NZMCA park and Pinders Pond in Roxburgh..both our favorites too.
The Bedroom
It was nice to catch up with them at the Waihi Beach NZMCA park opening.
It was a great occasion and the Central Bay of Plenty crew did a fantastic job getting it all across the line.
Nice tidy parking
Fiona had work on Monday so wasn’t keen on a flog down there from Auckland and back for 2 days so I was on my own. So fighting a worsening cold, I jumped into Rafe and off I went.
Lots of white behind the water feature at the gate!
As I came around the last bend before the camp, all I could see was lots of white from Caravans and Motorhomes.. was there going to be room! There were 68 vehicles in the park and it was chocker.
I arrived just in time for a drink in the tent with many others which was perfect timing. It was nice to see so many old friends there too.
The park is looking good and the CBOP team had all hands on deck making sure that everything was covered.
Click on the Gallery below to see a slide show
Planting those trees
Are you there Ross
Everyone is ready for the Rugby tonight
The extended grandstand for the opening.
Happy Hour
Audrey planting her tree with Ken the Secretary
Ken with Gary the Mayor
Board member Ross planting a tree with Ken the Secretary
Secretary Ken with Peter from the council.
Early on the Saturday, it was all hands on deck for a mass tree planting of all the bunds around the park. It was great to see the party atmosphere that came with it. This was followed by a nice bbq’d sausage lunch which went down a treat.
The 2pm opening came around just inside the entrance to the park and lots dragged their deckchairs out for a ringside seat.
The grand opening by the gate
Guest of honour was Audrey who is number 164 and is now in her 90’s. She was planting a tree along with Gary the Mayor and Ross Hamilton from the board. There was also a tree planted by a senior parks manager from the council, Peter.
Audrey, Gary the Mayor, Peter from the council and Ross from the board.
After the ribbon cutting performed by Audrey and Gary the Mayor, it was back to the tent for the cutting of the cake and some refreshments.
Audrey and Gary the Mayor curting the ribbon.
Earlier in the day, I managed to get a pic of Audrey (164) with one of the NZMCA’s newer members and first timers at a Rally, Bill and Colleen. (81847)
New members Bill and Colleen (81847) with board member Ross and Audrey (164)
A nice afternoon and lots of fun.. and my cold is much better now too 🙂
The Bowentown Holiday Park is in one of the best locations with one of the best Beachs !
With a friendly crew and with the NZMCA off season deal of pay for two nights, and get two thrown in, it was just too tempting! Their normal tariff at $23pp powered I thought was very reasonable anyway, given the facilities provided.
With Tania’s cheery voice on the phone and confirming there was a space for Rafe, I was underway.
The Bowentown Holiday Park is at the end of a long peninsula right on the beach. It is well setup up with a newish Amenities block with TV room, Games room, huge Kitchen and an amazing space age looking Laundry. There is also a spa pool area there too. I was offered a park right up against the hill overlooking the beach and the rest of the park. It was a breeze getting in and settling Rafe and I was off for a look around and down to the beach. A magic spot.
Click on the Gallery below for a slideshow
The Beach!
The view from Rafe
What a view
The walk to Waihi Beach
More great parking
The Kitchen
Spacey Laundry
Play area
Looking up to Wahi Beach
On the Boardwalk
The park has just changed hands after 30 something years, with new owners Mike and Bec settling in and only just 4 weeks in, have already got a plan of attack for new improvements. Two of the cabins are well into a full refurbishment with more to come!
New owners Mike and Bec
The beach here though is the feature of course and being right next to it, it just doesn’t get any better. Even in Winter!
A nice park, nice people and I’ll be back soon.
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I was on my way to Bowentown but couldn’t help but pop in and have a nosey at one of our new Parks. Its also got a Cafe a few doors along so very handy.
The NZMCA park at Waihi Beach
As I drove in one of the first things I saw was Robin and Linda’s brand new Morelo. They’ve sold their house and the new beast is now their new home. It comes from the same stable as the Dethleffs in Pokeno so I was keen to catch up and see how it was all going.
The park.. Robin and Linda’s Morelo and Rafe on the other side.
They’re having fun. They’re really pleased with it. At 8.4 metres long it was the height that’s impressive.. they’re massive!
We had a good natter and my 5 minute chat and quick stop to get some piccies turned into an hour or so! .. Nice people.
The Entrance
The park had about 20 odd Motorhomes and Caravans in it and there was plenty of room for more.
Its in a great location being an easy walk to the beach and to the shops and the Cafe next door will be pleased to see the park open.
Another great place to park and a great addition to the network of parks.
Karangahake Gorge is just amazing. We walked around here a year or two ago but didn’t quite get to the Windows walk for some reason. Well.. its wild.
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The Main suspension bridge over the Ohimemuri river
After parking Rafe in the carpark next to two other Motorhomes, I set off with the box brownie and headed across the suspension bridge crossing the Ohinemuri River.
The Power Station looking back to the carpark
The old Powerhouse used to be at the other end but all that can be seen now is the concrete base.
Looking back over the old PowerStation ruins to the carpark.
The walk is supposed to take an hour and is 2.5 kms. I headed off up the right hand side of the gorge along a pathway which had some mine entrances heading off into the hillside.
How is that track
As the walk went further on, the pathway was cut into the sheer cliff face and protected by barriers. Just stunning with the river below. Knowing that this was a loop walk back across the other side, I couldn’t see anywhere across the other side that looked like it could accommodate a track!
The second bridge up to the tunnels.
As I went further on, I came across another suspension bridge crossing the river and a track leading up some steps into a Tunnel. Just as well I brought my cell phone for some light although a torch would have been better .. note for next time!
The original tracks are still in there for the Gold Diggings train too.
Click on the Gallery below for a Slideshow of the walk
Close to the river
Easy Motorhome parking
Looking up the river
One of the mine entrances
Look at those sheer cliffs. This must be where the tunnel is.
The old gold process buildings
Where they were.
The Tunnel with one of the “windows”
Looking down on the track that I’d walked up.
Coming out of the tunnel
Rafe beside the river
As the Tunnel went on their were little exits (Windows) out across the river and eventually it came out to a well formed track.
The Spanish chaps ahead
I bumped into a couple of chaps from Spain enjoying the walk who were keen to do more walks. A family with small kids went through too so its suitable for all ages.
One of the old carts
Further along there was the ruins of the processing plants that occupied most of the hillside. Its not a big area so its amazing what they fitted in there at that time.
The foundations of one of the big factories
After a chat with my Spanish friends at the end of the track, I headed back across the main swing bridge to the carpark where there was originally a whole township. An amazing spot! .. I’ll definitely have to come back here again.!
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.
A great sight to see and a fun way to spend the weekend away!
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