It was really nice to be back in Auckland after a nice trip around the South Island and to see our families and friends again. We’ve been away now for over 6 months so we had lots of catching up to do.
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Rafe parked for Christmas in Ardmore on Sara and Alex’s (son)driveway.
Fiona was asked to step in at her old job in Takapuna for a few days so we thought we’d treat ourselves with a park on the waterfront at Takapuna Motorcamp. Friends Gary and Dianne with their new Niesmann and Bischoff and Ian and Lynda with their Dethleffs XLI joined us too.
Fantastic spot
On one of the mornings after Fiona left to walk to work, I set off to walk around the coast to Milford. It is an easy 30 minutes or so mostly along paths but with a little rock hopping right at the beginning.
Takapuna beach, campground on the right
Some of the houses are amazing. It is a great walk and it seems like the world is out there enjoying it. Its just nice sucking in the early morning fresh air and stopping now and then just to take it all in.
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Takapuna beach café opposite the campground
Yachties practising in the wind
The track to Milford
Walking along the old pipes
Thornes bay on the way to Milford
Castor Bay near Milfrod
Heading for Takapuna
Milford Beach
Milford Beach
I eventually ended up in Milford and went to check out our old family boat Rorqual which was happily sitting in the sun in the marina.
Milford Marina, Rorqual the Whalechaser in the foreground
Meeting Peter, Wendy, Grant, Sharron, Mike and Pam in Northland and checking out their American buses was a lot of fun. They’re a great bunch and have been travelling together for a few years. Three of them even knew each other from back in their school days !
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L to R, Peter and Wendy, Pam and Mike, Grant and Sharron with their Motorhomes.
The Holiday Ramblers are on a Ford chassis with 6.8 litre V10 petrol engines with 6 speed auto gearboxes and honestly, when you stand next to them outside, you can barely hear them running. They’re so quiet.
Peter and Wendy’s Rambler
They’re 10 metres long with centre island beds on a 9 ton ticket. They all have slide outs which makes them huge inside. The décor is very similar with the only difference being that Mike’s has a bigger single slideout on one side.
Home on the Range!
As they pulled up beside Rafe, there was a whir of engines with the Hydraulic rams levelling them up, the slideouts coming out and the awnings rolling out. All of them at the same time ! This is Motorhoming the easy way 🙂
With the two slideouts. Peter and Grant’s Motorhomes are like this.You could play a game of footy here! Mike and Pam’s Rambler
They were imported as a bunch of 12 by a Tauranga importer who had them specially designed for NZ road conditions (width) and wired to conform with the NZ electrical standards, several years ago.
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Dining area with of the the twin slideouts.
Lots of Living space on Mike and Pam’s Rambler.
The large single slide out on Mike and Pam’s Rambler
The Dining area on Mike and Pams vehicle.
The Galley
The Helm station
With the large single slideout.
L to R, Peter and Wendy, Pam and Mike, Grant and Sharron with their Motorhomes.
Peter, Wendy, Grant, Sharron, Mike and Pam are either on the phone most nights planning their adventures together with their amazing Motorhomes or on the road.
We had just arrived at the Brett and Bronwen’s Park over property when Bronwen walked out to welcome us with a huge smile. Brett followed soon after. We very quickly felt welcome and they showed us where everything was.
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Nice gardening
After spotting some power points off to the side next to a beautifully bulldozed flat platform, I asked if we could we use them? They were $10 a night so we were in heaven getting ready for a great New Years eve.
The view from the top.
Brett and Bronwen have owned the property for 6 years and have made it available as a POP for just on 3 years but they missed the last NZMCA Bible but what a fantastic place to stay. They are planning to build their dream home up above the site in years to come. A lovely spot.
Easy parking
Brett was telling me that they’ve just installed a new Maytag washing machine ($4), a new toilet and a dump station too, all a quick walk from Tokerau Beach.
We were going to stay 1 night but feeling really comfortable and it being New Years eve, it would be rude not to stay for at least 3 nights 🙂
Looking out from Karikari Estate
We went for a drive around to have a look around. Karikari Estate is just around the corner. The beach is amazing and goes for miles.
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Karikari Estate
Easy parking at Karikari Estate
Tokerau Beach
Tokerau Beach
Probably the best view for a dump station in NZ!
Bronwen and Brett on their property.
A great place to stay in the Far North with some lovely hosts.
We were heading north with no particular destination firmly set except we thought, maybe a night at Waipu and then a night the NZMCA park at Rainbow Falls if there was room.
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The traffic was unbelievable so we left the motorway at Silverdale and headed up Highway 16. I haven’t been up this was for a long time so it was a nice drive through. We stopped at the lookout spot looking out over the Kaipara Harbour just before Wellsford which was nice too.
Rafe at Caledonian park in Waipu
We arrived in Waipu and headed straight for our favorite spot at the Caledonian Park. There are only a couple of spots there where you can get a TV signal next to a power pole and we managed to snaffle one of them.
The next morning, the grounds people were up early to set up for the Scottish Games so we headed towards Kerikeri and after a cup of coffee at the Pear Tree Cafe by the Stone Store, we went to check in to the Rainbow Falls park.
This has to be one of the better parks being right next to a fantastic walking track with the Falls right behind.
Rainbow Falls park with the lighthouse
Just by chance, it happened that old friends Max and Jan were staying opposite us in their new Hobby Caravan so we joined them for a drink outside their caravan.
Max and Jan’s new Hobby with the wrap around sun glasses 🙂
The next day, we went for a walk down towards the Stone Store by the river but got half way down when we realised that we didn’t have a wallet between us for something at the other end so we turned around and headed back to Rafe.
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People at the falls
Swimming at the Falls
Easy walking down to the Stone Store (takes about an hour)
Along the river
A fantastic walk with people fishing in the river, lots of people out enjoying the walk and people swimming under the falls. It is really nice to see so many people out enjoying this fantastic park.
Dusk
We had just got back when my old mate Grant rang and he Dani arrived ready for a cold drink. Max and Jan arrived back at the park not long after (Dani’s parents) and joined us as well. Lots of fun and laughs in Rafe in a nice park.
If you haven’t been to this park, it truly is fantastic having some great walks, the falls and public loos just over the fence as well. The park is now at a point where almost half of it now has gravel down with the grass growing through and it looks great.
We trekked back to Martinborough on the Saturday morning to a busy Martinborough rugby ground. There were Caravans and Motorhomes for Africa. It was the day of the Fair so people had come from far and wide.
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Back at the Park
The park was an amazing place and having gone to virtually having it to ourselves a weekend before with the Cruise Martinborough event to it being as busy as it was was great.
Friends Gary and Dianne, and Ian and Lynda went to Ngawi while we were in Greytown and they arrived back the day before. We met John and Yvonne from Ruakaka in their Dethleffs Nomad Caravan and they were here again too. It was going to be a fun weekend.
Fiona checking out the Jade
We all walked into town and had a good cruise around the Market. Where there were Hot Rods and Classic cars a week before, there were stalls in every corner. It was amazing.
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next door in the Park
This guy was fantastic
The food carts were popular
One of the things I really enjoy doing at these events is simply buying a lime thickshake and a bun and sitting in a street side cafe and watch the world go by. Its great fun.
The next door Neighbour.. Nice !
After a couple of hours of checking out every nook and cranny, we headed back to the park for something wet and cold. The wind finally dropped off a bit, but was bitterly cold. It allowed us to move out into the field where there was some raucous laughter amongst some dancing and singing along.
Out in the MiddleCold !
A great day!
Rafe’s Track North from the park via the Dump Station
Greytown is one of those lovely little towns that just oozes charm and is full of history.
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With up to 35C heat, we thought a trip to the Greytown pool next door to the wonderful little Greytown Holiday Park, well it would be rude not too! The pool is free being provided by the kind citizens of Greytown and it must be slightly heated as it was about 28 C in the pool!
The Gypsy caravan which you can rent at Greytown Holiday Park
The Holiday Park is fabulous with Ken and Nina at the helm. Ken is a real character and couldn’t be more helpful. At $35 for 2 with the NZMCA discount with power, it is very good value. And of course the use of the pool next door !
Fiona checking out one of the oldest Greytown Cottages in the Museum
We were both keen to check out the Shoc Chocolate shop which is almost part of the local Museum.
Inside the Cottage
The Cobblestone Museum is amazing and has a collection of several of the oldest buildings in the area.
The original Cobblestones
There were also a few clever people in the area. One called Donald Donald who invented the wool press and got world wide patents for it. This is back in the late 80’s. He was also well know for inventing a wire fence strainer amongst other things.
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Inside the school house
The Schoolhouse
The inside of the Church
A Church in the Museum
Donald Donalds barn at the Museum
Rafe in the Greytown Holiday Park
A local Church, Hospital, School House and others were well set out in an area where there was originally the Transport Hub for the area with the original cobbles still intact.
A very mod front entrance of the Museum
And afterwards.. the Shoc Chocolate shop was a great place to stop too.
The big day for Cruise Martinborough is when all the cars start in Puruatanga park, where we were staying and then all roar into the town square and completely surround the main square.
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It is truly a magnificant sight. The park in the middle under the trees, gets covered in portable deck chairs from the car owners to shelter from the sun. The coffee and Ice Cream carts are doing a roaring trade. The Cafe’s are flat out and its just a neat scene of people everywhere wandering through the magnificent old Fords, Chevrolets and many others.
Grants Plymouth and CaravanBBQ in a hurry!
The time and money that has gone into these cars is unbelievable and it is not until you get a close up look at some of them that you can appreciate the craftsmenship involved.
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People enjoying the sights
Metal Beauty
Time for a photo
The pie carts were busy
Cruising in the park
American muscle everywhere you look
We spent an hour or so having a good look around before settling for a good old fashioned lime thickshake from a milkshake bar in the square.
End of the day
An amazing scene with several retailers saying that they wished it happened more often 🙂 So do I !
We had arrived in Rafe along with Ian and Lynda with their XLI, and Gary and Dianne with their Niesmann and Bichoff Arto at the NZMCA parking area at the Rugby Ground at Martinborough.
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The Xli, Rafe blocking the wind and the Niesmann and Bichoff on the right
The official Motorhome and caravan parking was at Puruatanga Park. In previous years this has been called Cruise Central but this year it was simply a registration area.
Us parked up the back
We arrived mid afternoon on the first day and were directed to park around the end of a fence which was just perfect.
Early one morning.. it was probably after 9am 🙂 you could hear the dulcit tones of many Ford and Chev V8’s arriving for registration before they headed off to the Drag strip at Masterton for a day of action!
More and more cars kept coming to the point that I thought I should shift Rafe out of the way but there was plenty of room.
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A V8 Hillman with a Home made Tear Drop
Many of the Woman dressed up really nicely in Polka Dot dresses and Parasols but the chaps seemed happy in their cut off jeans and T shirts which seemed a bit of a let down 🙂 .. whatever spins your wheels I suppose !
Some amazing vehicles and it was nice being able to walk amongst them and talk to the people involved with them.
An hour so so later, they were leaving for Masterton for the Drag Strip. A real spectacle and good to see so many cars so nicely looked after.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been wanting to visit Martinborough while the Cruise Martinborough festival was on and this time, it was a happening thing. Nothing to get in the way!
We set off from Ardmore early and by mid afternoon, we found ourselves half way along the Napier Taupo road heading for Hastings. Fiona had tracked down a long lost family friend in Havelock North and we were determined to catch up with her. Annie was a very close friend of Fiona’s late father Norm and she is just a lovely lovely lady. She also did the flowers and helped Fiona at our wedding a hundred years ago. By getting here in one day meant that we had a day to catch up with Annie before we caught up with other friends also going to Martinborough.
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Rafe with our neighbours and the Apple trees
We checked in at an Orchard Parking spot in Hastings. As I drove in, I was welcomed by Rose the Manager, who cheerfully showed me where everything was and helped me get the power sorted ($15 a night) and left us to settle down Rafe. It was almost 5 pm and our neighbours, Sharon and Allan in a 5th wheeler were getting their chairs ready for happy hour amongst the apple trees so we joined them with some other friends of theirs. Lots of fun and nice people. The sun was shining and we were having fun.
Amongst the Apples
Early the next morning, there was a knock on the door and it was Dick Spiekerman bearing gifts. A bag of Walnuts and a bag of Oranges along with a big smile and happily showed me around the property. A lovely guy who clearly is passionate about the property and its amenities for Motorhomers.
Dick on the Tennis Court
They’ve had the Orchard for about 30 years but the parking area has been running for about 8 years. Dick and Elly Spiekerman have had several caravans and 5th Wheelers and still get away from time to time. Now retired he has leased out the business and the Parking area is his new passion.
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The driveway
The Happy Hour Pavilion by the court
Tennis anyone?
Rafe at Napier. A wonderful spot
A tennis court with a Happy Hour pavilion, a toilet and a shower along with a cold weather happy hour room and only 10 minutes drive to Hastings. What more could you want.
They also do long term parking.
Looking towards Napier from Clifton beachAt Clifton beach
We caught up with Annie and her daughter and grandaughter, at her home in Havelock, and then later joined up with friends at Clifton Beach ready for the trip to Martinborough.
Fiona and I had both taken 6 months off for a trip to Europe and to go around the South Island and we were really looking forward to it..
After getting back from Europe in early August and with our house still rented out, we immediately went to Taupo to pick up Rafe who was being cared for in Gary’s shed by Gary’s neighbour Chris… kind chaps that they are !
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Welding on the feet
We returned to Auckland to get a few things done like drop down steadies on Rafe and a couple of other things and then we were off.
Rafe and Ian and Lynda’s XLI
We left Auckland and first stop was Taupo with Gary and Dianne, who we’d been around Europe with and other Motorhome friends Ian and Lynda. A few nights there, a night in Mangaweka, then to Wellington to catch up with my son Alex who commutes from Auckland, then onto the ferry and the adventure began.
Dianne picking the girls up for a tiki tour around Taupo
The highlights:
Best Park over property (POP) – Peski’s in Geraldine where we spent nearly two weeks.
Nice parking
Best free Parking – Lowburn on the lake front.. a week of perfect weather helped here 🙂
The View
Best NZMCA park – probably a tie between Tekapo and Ranfurly. Tekapo is stunning amongst the pine trees right on the lake and Ranfurly, dead flat with a dump station next door, rubbish and water and right in the middle of town !
Amongst the pines with Ray and Margaret on the right
From the back. A nice stained glass window on the back. Note the opening wooden windows.
I’ll let the Image Gallery below tell the story of the trip. Click on the Gallery below for a Slideshow.
Rafe at the Mangaweka Campground
The bridge
Entering the Tory Channel. North Island behind
Rafe with the handbrake on with people getting off at Picton.
Looking across towards Nelson with the snow on the tops of the hills
Some extras with the daffodils
Dogs exercising their owners.
I can feel a drink coming on
The famous Restaurant over the water.
Looking down the main street with the Old St Peters Church and the Windmill behind. The Windmill was in the main street of Nelson for many years.
Fiona on the Bristol Freighter
The Bristol Freighter
The port and the shops
Late afternoon in the sun
Looking down from the lookout
A Happy Place
Nice sign
The Moutere Inn
Dusk looking down Reeftons main street with the old lights lighting the street.
The Hut
The Bearded Miners. Gavin, Peter and Mark
People collecting Driftwood down by the Greymouth Breakwater
ith rafe outside that famous Hotel
The Jetty down at Lake Mahinapua
The Bar. Amazing working cash register
Fiona with the fire at the Empire
Up in the Historic Gold area
The Franz Josef Glacier. See if you can spot a Helicopter
Rafe at Hawea
The amazing dump station with the grates in the ground at Queenstown
Queenstown with Jacks Point on the right
Queenstown waterfront
Fiona and Jessa at Q’town
Fiona checking out the Fairlight Railway Station
A Train at the Station
Inside the carriage – Lumsden
The Texaco Tanker Invercargill
Later Fords
Fiona in the café done up as a 50’s Kitchen
Colac Bay
Curio bay looking towards the campground
The park setup – Lawrence
One of the Roxburgh pubs
A sluicing lake behind the park _ Roxburgh.
Close to the bike trail – Roxburgh
Fiona nearly at Roxburgh
Roxburgh bridge
Clyde Dam
A view over Clyde
The old Hotel
The road through the vineyard through the Kawarau Gorge
The kawerau River from the road
Jessa checking out a Pinot Gris at Mt Rosa
Lunch at the historic Gibbston Valley Tavern
The Ophir Bridge
The Function Centre – Omakau
The front of the Hotel
Starting off at Ranfurly Railway Station
Fiona arriving at Wedderburn
Once the tea rooms, now a museum.
The Dunedin Railway Station
Along the Platform
The Taieri train
In the Railway Station
The Pergola with a peep of Dunedin at the end.
Outside the ballroom
Waimate Markets
The main street at Rush hour 😉 Waimate
The Oamaru Wharf
Plenty of room
Sue (Peskis) with her new Letterbox
The gardens at Peskis
Fiona checking out the Hats
Cheers at Geraldine
Where’s Rafe
One of the performing groups
Fiona with her great auntie Jeannie’s Morris
The interior of Johns truck
Fiona with the Cadburys Chocolate
Lake Tekapo late on our first day
Love the different layers in the colour
The Stone Church with the tourists
Happy Hour with all our visitors at Tekapo. Cell pic
A bridge across the river
Great camping
Across Lake McGregor
Our neighbours Jim and Lynley back at the NZMCA park
At Omakau
The first Tunnel
On the way back to Omakau
Nice !
A Miners hut
On the way to the Stamper Battery
Fiona gold panning
Under the mountains
Rafe in front of the house plugged in. The visitors area on the very left.
The boat club down by the NZMCA park
Parked behind the Gate in Cromwell
Ross is a great character.. the birthday boy.
The pools at Hamner
Fiona enjoying the heat.
Look at all that water.
Fiona at the market – Nelson
The Church cafe – Richmond
The bar at the cellar Door
Lots of Motorhomes on the deck
Mt Ruapehu
Ian and Gary with all the polishing toys!
We met some wonderful people along the way and had some nice 5pm catchups in some fantastic places.
Fiona on the bike ride on the way back to Lowburn alongside lake Dunstan
The weather was superb. Fiona reckons we only had 1 wet day in the South Island! I reckon it was 3 but the weather really looked after us, if anything it was quite hot with a record breaking 33C in Cromwell on the day we decided to do a bike ride from Lowburn to the Historic Precinct and back !
The Historic Precinct
The difference in Fuel prices between the different parts of NZ was quite noticeable with the highest I saw at $1.48 a litre for diesel around Hanmer and the lowest $1.19 in Cromwell. We filled up in Takanini before we left at $.98 a litre! As Fiona says though Hay Ho.. when in Rome !
Happy Hour at Peski’s
One of the things that really surprised me as we went around was how many people recognised us from this Blog and who made themselves known. It was fantastic to meet you and to hear your feedback. We’re fast approaching 400,000 views which is amazing in less than 2 years!
We’re back in Auckland with our feet up for a bit before we set off 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.
Bugger It, we are off - www.buggeritweareoff.com 
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