2024 Dethleffs Get Together at Waipu Cove

October 21, 2024 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com 7 Comments

What a fun weekend. Fiona and I arrived in Waipu Cove just after lunch and found our park almost next to the track over the Sandhills. Very handy but it was too cold for me swim yet 🙂

Click on any image to enlarge

Peter and Judy were right next to us with their 2014 Esprit so it was nice to have probably the oldest Motorhomes out of the 24 that had arrived parked together.

The oldies. .. Peter and Judy’s 2014 Esprit and our 2014 Globe 4.

I spent the early part of the afternoon catching up with people and checking in with people I hadn’t seen for a while.

Happy hour came around and as we were the only ones at right angles to the wind that had a bit of a bite to it, we squeezed in between the old girls, The Globe4 and the Esprit 🙂

The next morning, it was about getting ready for the 8k bike ride to McLeod’s Pizza and Brewery bar in Waipu which was mostly on a trail and was about 20 minutes ride away. We started with the customary team photo of all 29 of us and we were away.

29 heading for the Waipu Brewery 🙂 (and pizzas!)

It was a pretty easy ride and was mostly pretty flat. As we arrived early before the Brewery had opened, we headed off for a coffee across the road. Fiona saw one of the girls in the shop sneak off for some more milk 🙂 Great business for them as there were quite a few of us.

Bikes everywhere. Leaving Waipu for the campground.

Chris and Mary and Ben and Joss bought their vans in and joined in the fun.

Martin and Jill’s new Grand Alpa with Chris and Mary’s Esprit

Although there was quite a bit of wind around, it had dropped a bit, and the sun was shining so it was looking good for the Potluck dinner planned for later that day.

With the wind in the Southeast but a bit less of it, we decided to have the happy hour between the two oldest vans again to shield from the wind. It worked pretty well and then we shuffled off for our team photo.

6 pm came around and it was time for us to move over the Kitchen where there were several tables available which made life easy.

Click on the Gallery below to enlarge.

Up Early 🙂

Bikes everywhere. Leaving Waipu for the campground.

The official team pic 🙂

Saturday’s Happy hour view from the top of the sandhill 🙂

The queue for the food was out of the door and the food was amazing. Everybody made a real effort. A fabulous night and it was fantastic to see everyone tucking in and having fun.

The Camping Ground is one of our favourites with its 10 metre square parks and we were all literally only steps from one of the best beaches in NZ.

A few of us stayed over for another night and after a nice lunch at the Cove Restaurant down the road a bit, we enjoyed a fun happy hour with Mary and Tony outside their new Baby Alpa.

A lot of fun and thanks you everyone for taking part.

Rafe’s tracker map to Waipu Cove – Armada GPS

Close to home, Waikato

Lets get out of the House !

October 11, 2024 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com 3 Comments

We hadn’t long been out of bed on the Saturday morning when Fiona announced,” Let’s get out of town, what about Kaiaua”?

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Kaiaua has become our easy bust out of the house destination being not far to drive with a great NZMCA park next door to a fantastic pub and the Fish and Chip shop from heaven 🙂

So, within a couple of hours, we were arriving in Kaiaua. Almost opposite us were full-timers, Kelly and Claire in their Autotrail Delaware. Small world stuff. It turns out that Kelly built a friend’s boat. Moored in the same place as the old family boat Rorqual.

We tootled over next door to the pub next door and there was an amazing band playing called Small stuffed Animals. they were amazing playing all the old favourites.

We also met Vicki and John who are just getting a Caravan ready to hit the road. Vicki grew up in Kaiaua.

I was told that there was a German Ompah band playing the next day and that explained why some of the staff were dressed in the appropriate costume, like the German beer festival. Lots of fun.

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Manu about to deliver some food to a table.

We pretty much spent the rest of the day there and then got fish and chips for tea at the Fish and Chip shop. While we were there, we stumbled on some Liquorice Ice Cream. We last had this with Sambuca over it years ago in Coromandel and it was unbelievable. Well, we’ve found it, and it is made by Lewis Road Creamery… I feel a visit is imminent with the freezer on 🙂

The next day, Fiona went for a walk, and I went to chat to the neighbours and later we found ourselves back at the pub where the Herman band was laying. Barman Manu was in his German gear making the most of it and it was a fun afternoon.

Later in the day we checked in to the Pub for tea. I had an unbelievable Pork Roast and Fiona had a Fish Pie… both amazing.

A great weekend out of the house:-)

Rafe’s tracker map to Kaiaua – Armada GPS

Waikato

Little Waipa

October 5, 2024 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com 3 Comments

For years several friends of mine have been telling me how nice this place is, and I finally got to stay here. It is right on the Waikato River just north or Arapuni. It is also right on the Waikato River trail for biking and walking.

I arrived here in the morning and there was quite a bit of room. (Mid-week) There are some pretty flash loos here too, but they are clean long drops.

Its lovely just sitting there with the music on watching the Swans and Ducks and generally taking it all in.

A nice spot given it is freedom camping and it just shows how spoilt we are in the Waikato region with the council providing parking like this.

Rafe’s tracker map to Mystery Creek – Armada GPS

NZMCA Rallies, Rallies, Waikato

Showtime – 2024 NZMCA Motorhome Show

October 1, 2024 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com

There is always a feeling of excitement when you are driving down the hill to Mystery Creek for the Park and Stay at these shows. You never quite know what is coming next.

Click on any Image to enlargeI was very lucky to get a spot not far from the gate thanks to the efficient parking from the Counties parking team.

I arrived in the middle of the afternoon on the Thursday, and it seemed like most of those staying was there too. Apparently, they had 900 registered stayers and another 150 odd for power… a great turnout.

People queuing to get in on Friday Morning

On the Friday morning, I went in for my first look and the thing that struck me most was the number of Ozzie Caravan manufacturers here with their raised Caravans. They’re built like Tanks 🙂

Perfect for the rough Ozzie outback. I had a quick look at one of them from a Melbourne company called Urban. Apparently, they’re Tig welded which they emphasised as a selling point.

Click on the Gallery below to enlarge the Urban Caravan

Nicely appointed and they look bullet proof but for a medium sized Caravan, available at $189,000.

So, from there I was off to see the old Cars and Caravans and with their Art Deco decorating they looked stunning. These guys put their heart and souls into these.

Click on the Gallery below to see the vintage Cars and Caravans

I was lucky enough a few years ago to catch up with an old mate from the Herald who I worked with at a Liteweight Caravans get together at Cambridge and it was fabulous. We also met some of the well know members of the family who built them too. See that here.

My next stop was one of the most popular Dethleffs at the Zion stand, the Grand Alpa which is a beast. This comes in at 855cm and is 5.4 Tons and was going as a show special for $341,000. There is also a smaller version of this available which possibly suits NZ roads being 748cm long.

Click on the Gallery below to enlarge the Grand Alpa

This the outside of the XLI as the Grand Alpa was jammed in but they look identical from the outside.

I really enjoyed catching up with some old friends on the Dethleffs stand, some that I caught up with later for a cold one as you do 🙂

I popped over to the NZMCA stand and checked in there. Nice to see the happy faces there too.

I also checked out the new Rockwood’s and they’re massive insides with all the slide outs. Very nice and nice seeing a smart bunk layout for the kids.

Click on the Gallery below to see the Rockwood 5the Wheeler.

In the Gallery below is a general roundup. I saw the new Weber Traveller Barbeques which look great. Apparently, they have a complete set of extra bits and bobs just for these new models.

Click on the Gallery below to enlarge ..

No 1 Reo NZMCA

The Weber Traveller

Trailite Caravan

The Galley area inside Trailite Caravan

Inside the Trailite Caravan

Looking through the Trailite Caravan

The bedroom – Trailite Caravan

It was off to the tented pavilions then. From floating sunglasses to Gin, it was all here.

Click on the Gallery below for the outside exhibits.

Outside in the Park and Stay, it was fun, and I bumped into quite a few people I knew. By the Saturday though, there were some big holes opening in the parking which was interesting. People getting in early and going.

Click on the Gallery below for lots of white Motorhomes

This was the first one I’ve been to where there was a Stay and Eat area too for those parked so that was fun. A great show and lots of friendly faces.

Bay of Islands, Northland

Rainbow Falls and the Packhouse Markets.

August 19, 2024 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com

After the Hustle and Bustle of Paihia with the festival, we decided to head for some peace and quiet at the NZMCA park at Rainbow Falls. A nice location away from it all where we blobbed out. I went for a look at the Waterfall .. it would be rude not to 🙂

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We ummed and ahhed about walking down to the Stone Store but decided after our Paihia walking, we’d have a quiet day instead.

Early the next morning, we set off towards Kerikeri to visit the Markets and the Packhouse Cafe. The markets are on every weekend and we had the most amazing lunch in the cafe. I would have to say would be one of the Bay’s easiest and safest parking areas for Motorhomes around. I call them “Motorhome friendly Parking” places! …. with a great Cafe and Markets as well 🙂

I parked right next to a Grader at the back to the carpark, a lovely spot.

We wandered around enjoying talking to some of the stall holders. A very friendly place 🙂

Click on the Gallery below for an enlarged Slideshow

The NZMCA park at Kerikeri

The Packhouse Cafe and Bakery

The Packhouse Markets

Hats at the Packhouse Markets

The Parking !

I bought a dress for my 2-month-old Granddaughter with advice from Fiona 🙂

We worked our way through the huge building towards the cafe with the bakery attached where they make the most amazing breads and pies. There is also an attached Butcher and Delicatessen that had everything including the amazing local Cheese from the Mahoe Cheese factory.

As the day went on, the wind picked up and the rain came down as forecasted so we decided to head for home. We had a fantastic weekend in the Bay… back next year 🙂

Rafe’s tracker map to Kerikeri – Armada GPS

Bay of Islands, Northland

The Paihia Blues and Jazz Festival

August 14, 2024 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com 1 Comment

Fiona and I came to one of the first of these about 9 years ago, not long after we first got our Motorhome. It was held at the Falls Camping ground which was then owned by Jan Molloy and partner who along with others helped get the festival under way. I remember the band that was there then was Kantuta along with some others.
Jan and her partner later sold that and set up the Bay of Islands Campervan Park which they still own.

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This year I called Jan who and she was able to squeeze us in for a couple of nights. We’ve been here before, and it is so handy. They’ve had quite a bit of rain this year so the parks were a bit on the damp side so we had to be mindful of parking so we could get out easily.

It is such a great location as you can walk pretty much everywhere and there was a Coach doing a regular circuit of the venues so you could see all the bands playing.

We arrived half through the Friday on a lovely fine day with the odd shower and settled in. There is a Countdown supermarket right opposite, so Fiona went over to get some last-minute provisions.

The next day, we were up early and walked to Jazz HQ which was about a 25-minute walk at the Scenic hotel in Paihia. On the way along the waterfront, we passed a band playing on the footpath outside the shops with several people dancing and getting into the swing of the festival.

After getting our day ticket at the Hotel, we sat down to enjoy some of the music by a really good Napier Blues band called DejaBlue. Fantastic sound and we were able to get a really nice Seafood Chowder for lunch. They were followed by The Nairobi Trio who were really entertaining and again, some great sounds.

Here are some more Images from the Festival

Click on the Gallery below for an Enlarged Slideshow

The Street Band on the way

Nairobi Trio

Courtnay and the Unholy Reverie

Walking towards Paihia

Looking out twards Russell

It was early afternoon then when we decided to head to the Paihia Club where we heard a couple of bands, one of them from Taranaki who were really good. Courtnay and the Unholy Reverie!!….

They played a Led Zeppelin song and several of their own. Fantastic sound washed down by a G&T and the acoustics there were good too.

After a couple of hours, we wandered on to the Paihia Sports bar and then caught the coach to the Twin Pines Manor at Haruru Falls, where we saw another good band, Herbie and the Heartbreakers!

About 6pm the bus arrived, and we decided to call it quits and head back to the Campground while the bus was there.

A great fun day out and lucky with the weather being able to walk to almost everywhere.

Rafe’s tracker map to Paihia – Armada GPS

Close to home, Waikato

A quick trip away in the cold!

August 4, 2024 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com

It’s cold and the weather isn’t that flash, but it was time to give Rafe a fright by getting on a highway or two.

Click on an Image to Enlarge.

My first destination was the Kaiaua NZMCA park and being a Wednesday afternoon, it was no real surprise to find there was only one other vehicle there, but we were joined by another Motorhome later in the day. It rained most of the day, but it was nice and warm and there were a few movie endings I wanted to see on Netflix to keep me going 🙂

Later I wandered over to the pub next door for a glass of wine and managed to catch the 2^nd half of the NZ womans 7’s team winning a medal… fantastic.

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Quiet in Kaiaua

One of the main streets in Thames

The Paeroa Pub

The main street in Paeroa

In the morning, it was still pretty gloomy, but I went for a bit of a walk around with the camera. It is very different here mid-week with unfavourable weather, that’s for certain. Here’s what it looked like a few months ago.

After packing up and stowing things for travel, I thought I’d head for Thames to check out a spot for next year’s Dethleffs Owners group. Finding accommodation for 40 plus vehicles that also takes Dogs that we haven’t been to, is not all that easy.

Our new venue for the get together next year.

After ringing ahead, I later met Kevin who showed me around out next venue which is perfect and an easy walk or bike to the shops. Its in the diary and we’re all ready steady go for early next year.

Feeling pretty pleased with myself, I thought while I was out and about, I’d pop out to Paeroa which is only 20 k’s away and settled into a spot in the council provided freedom camping at the end of the main street. A great spot and for $5 I had power too for the heater… it was cold!

The next morning after a look around Paeroa, I headed back to Auckland stopping at Ngatea for Diesel and the Dump Station. A nice couple of nights away. A flashback to a recent trip to Paeroa.

Rafe’s tracker map to Thames and Paeroa – Armada GPS

Waikato

Matariki in Raglan

July 7, 2024 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com

There is something different about Raglan. It has an atmosphere all of its own and sitting on the balcony of the Pub in the main street with a glass of wine, even though it was freezing, I was just enjoying soaking it up. 🙂

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We left Auckland well after everyone else on the Saturday and arrived in Whatawata just in time for lunch. As I parked Rafe out of the street, I was just getting out of the truck when I met Hilary and Lyn who we last saw at a Dethleffs do at Miranda. They live just around the corner from the Cafe and it was nice to see them again.

After a cup of tea with them and some nibbles, we set off towards Raglan.

Due to the economic downturn and a cold winter, Raglan have been doing a pay for two nights, get a third night for free so we jumped into that with both feet 🙂

The Three Dethleffs, Us, The Grand Alpa and the Pulse.

Arriving in Raglan, we found we were parked right next to one of the biggest Dethleffs on the market and the newest, one of the XLI Grand Alpas with the rear Lounge. Our Globe 4 being one of the oldest Dethleffs in NZ, it was a bit of the old with the young 🙂 There was also a Dethleffs Pulse on the other side. 🙂

That afternoon, we decided to head into the town to check things out.

Click on the Gallery below to enlarge

Action in the street

Mt view of the world from the pub balcony 🙂

A neat second hand shop on the way to the wharf.

The wharf with the Silos you can stay in.

Boats comng back in

Looking towards the Campground from the walkway from town.

Walkers on the beach

After lunch, Fiona had a look around the shops and I went and had a glass of Chardonnay on the balcony overlooking the street and watched the world go by.

Looking out from a Restaurant we had Lunch towards the Sea.

The next day we had lunch at a Restaurant overlooking the water and then walked around to the wharf. There is a neat fish and chip shop there along with a Leatherworks, a Pottery Gallery which we’ve bought some things from before and are very good.

Walking towards the wharf. The Silos peering over the top.

The Museum is well setup there and has a souvenir shop inside and it is well worth a visit. Lots of interesting images of how Raglan used to be.

Lovely on the beach despite the lack of sunshine.

A fantastic three days in a neat spot. The weather closed in a bit on the last day so my trip to the beach looking for some images of blue sky didn’t quite pan out.

It was very pleasant down there sitting on a log for half an hour or so watching the sun go down.

Rafe’s tracker map to Raglan – Armada GPS

Close to home, Preparation

10 years on and its Maintenance and upgrade time!

June 24, 2024 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com 1 Comment

This month, our Dethleffs Motorhome hits the ripe old age of 10 years old. It’s amazing how things creep up and need doing.

About this time of the year, there is a list of things that we need to do to keep Rafe in good shape…

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The annual service done at North Shore Diesel who have looked after it from day 1.

As we’d only done 6000 k’s since the service last year, we elected to skip the fuel filter for a year instead having an additive added in the fuel to nail any Diesel bug that might be lurking.

As they do most years, the Technician, Ben also did a pre-COF check and found a led marker light above the windscreen had died. We managed to get one from Zion Motorhomes, the Dethleffs agents and Ben was able to install it for me.

Interesting reading through the invoice, they also forced a DPF filter burn which is good.

The COF always a stressful time but thanks to the pre Cof check and the light replacement, it sailed through. Interesting though, the VTNZ tech invited me down into the pit to show me the brackets holding the Grey Water tank behind the back axle. It was empty of course and was light enough to lift up above its support about an inch. It has been like this since it was new so I’m not too fussed about it but I will put a couple of Rubber strips to pack the gap with big cable ties to hold the rubber in.

Insurance and Registration one for the Budget 🙂
Big outgoings here!

About a month ago, we decided that our Queen centre bed was getting a bit uncomfortable and started looking at what we needed to do after 10 years. We decided that the feather topper over the mattress had done its dash as some of the feathers were starting to leak out onto the floor. After reading on Facebook, some NZMCA’rs are getting a good run from a Bamboo Memory foam Topper which was on special for just under $200 and its really comfortable. The bed is a little higher but really nice.

The other thing we did in the bedroom is we reupholstered the Headboard which was a bit of cheap brown vinyl stapled to a sheet of ply and pretty hard if you slipped off your pillow.
We bought some good quality foam and some other stuff that covers it and some new good quality light grey vinyl and I re upholstered it and put it back in… much nicer.
Bedroom done!

Just before the last COF late last year I got a huge stone chip on the right-hand headlight. Amazingly it was a chip! I sanded it up and filled it will some clear Araldite and coated the Headlight with a left-over Headlight repair kit I used a few years ago but in doing so, removed all the nice 2 pot lacquer I had done professionally three years ago. It was chipping in form the edge anyway and was starting to go yellow, so time was pretty much up.

I booked it in to a place I found in Albany called Final Touch who specialises in coatings for paint and headlights. They quoted me between $150 and $250 depending on what was involved. It took two of them 2 hours to sand off the three coats of chipped lacquer! But they look amazing and now have a Ceramic Glaze on them which should be good for up to three years and it’s much easier to fix then.

The Reveal.. all done with Ceramic Glaze

The other 10 year upgrades this year have been the Dome / Mi Box Upgrade.

The Lithium Phosphate Battery upgrades was a massive upgrade too. People told me it would “change your life” which it has 🙂 Apart from the Lithium change we also went from 200-amp hours to 300-amp hours.

On the way to get the headlights done, I checked it at their next-door neighbours Carters Tyres to see if my tyres needed rotating, they were due but the experts there thought they were wearing well and were fine where they were so one job less to do.

So, we’re off for the Matariki weekend. I’m not sure where yet but Rafe’s ready and so are we 🙂 Safe travels everyone.

Close to home

First trip away on the new Lithium House Batteries at Kaiaua.

June 9, 2024 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com

Our handy go to place for a weekend without huge cost is Kaiaua and its fantastic right next to both the Kaiaua Hotel and the Fish and Chip shop.

Click on any Image to Enlarge

We left Auckland late on the Saturday morning on the way to our son, Alex’s new house in Mangere Bridge and it’s looking great. It’s really nice to see him in his own house and he is really chuffed with it.

After an hour or so, we thought we’d better hit the trail towards Kaiaua to avoid the worst of the motorway Kings Birthday traffic and cut across to Manukau and went out the back way through Clevedon. We celebrated with a coffee stop in a Clevedon Cafe!

An hour or so later we were rolling into the Kaiaua NZMCA park and there was plenty of room left. It’s a seriously nice part of the world here with the water just outside the gate and plenty of places to walk and a trail which runs from here all the way to Matamata via Thames if you’re really keen 🙂

We started off by visiting the pub and having a G&T out in the Garden Bar.

It was a fairly drab old day with the clouds hanging over us and the odd peep of sunshine coming through but not enough to seriously do any meaningful charging, so I was expecting to see it how the two new Lithium Phosphate, 150AH batteries went. They do have a Bluetooth arrangement where they connect to an app on the phone and show you what’s happening.

At 4:30pm, the Sail GP was on, so the TV was on through the Mi Box which we’ve recently installed. (better quality picture than the dome) This would bring a bit of a drain but with the sun popping in and out on the panels, we really didn’t use much.

By the time the Racing was over it was dark, and we headed over to the Fish and Chip shop for Fish and Chips. Really nice Fish too.

Back with Rafe, we watched a Netflix movie through the Mi Box again and at the end of the night when I switched everything off, we’d only used 20 Amp hours. Unbelievable. Somehow on the AGM’s we would have used heaps more than this and the voltage would have dropped too. The Batteries were showing 13 volts at the end of the night!!

My birthday was only a few days before this so lunch was a plate of Mussels with a G&T each at the Pub!

After lunch, we walked down to the pink dairy and checked out all the Motorhomes parked in the free parking by the beach. Fiona wandered over and bought Ice creams, so we sat there and soaked in the ambience 🙂 A lovely spot.

We went back to Rafe to watch the Sail GP second day and then it was back to the Pub for a birthday dinner, and it was stunning. I had a Rack of Lamb which was melt in your mouth…!!

That night we didn’t really use a lot of power, early to bed so only the Router, the TV until about 9pm, the odd flash of the water pump during loo flushes and making cups of tea and a few LED lights but we did get a few peeps of sunshine during the day … about 8 Amp hours.

The next morning, I checked on the batteries and we were 20 AH down for both days!! Amazing.

The Bluetooth App showing the two batteries on the last morning before we left.

For all the people I discussed this with beforehand who all said, “It will change your life” and take the stress out of not being plugged in and the ability to use power without thinking about it. They’re all right. It’s amazing and I wish I’d done it earlier.

By the time we got back to Devonport we were fully charged off the alternator, so the system works! A great weekend too.

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.

	Phyl Binney on An amazing Little Town Called…
	freelygeneral1a93899… on Over the Hill to Woodville
	Warmenhj on Over the Hill to Woodville
	Kath Ingram on Heading South for the New Year

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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.