Europe 2017, UK

Trains past Baker Street

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The night we’ve been packing for finally rolled around and we were off to the airport for our almost midnight flight to Singapore from Auckland. We’d dropped the car off with daughter in law, Sarah earlier in the day and caught a shuttle to the airport.

What we didn’t know was that both of our sons, Drew, his girlfriend Jenna and Alex were on the same flight up from Wellington. We could have driven our car to the airport and they could have driven it home.. never mind. The shuttle was booked and paid for and it was too hard to undo.

At Singapore with our A380 about to take us to London

We left Auckland at 11:55 and about 2am, we both finally got some sleep. I find it really hard to sleep on a plane and dozy bouts is as good as it gets. I end up tired and grumpy at the other end and after a decent sleep, I’m right again:-)

Arriving at Changi at 6:30 odd, we had two hours before the next flight left at 9am. .. 13 hours !!

Both flights was pretty good though. I was watching the flight track and it was interesting to see that we flew over India and then up through Tajikistan and across to Moscow, out to the Baltic sea past Vilnius and then down to the English channel to Heathrow. .. well clear of the trouble spots!

The terminal transfer Train

Arriving at Heathrow was a doddle and what a massive airport. 5 Terminals all connected by trains in tunnels and you walk for miles between things.

Just to get our luggage was a hike through several buildings. I was expecting to get our bag and then go through Immigration. Not here.. you get in a queue, yep, they love their queues and once through Immigration, you get your bag. There wasn’t any customs that I could see.. we simply walked out, amazing. The immigration guy was a great guy and was more interested in having a chat about some of the strange photos he’d seen of people coming through than holding up a big queue 🙂 .. nice guy.

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We were both knackered and made our way straight to the airport Hilton (terminal 4) where we were booked for the night and crashed.

At Paddington with the amazing roof

The next morning, we were up early and caught a train to Terminal 3 where we caught an Express train into Paddington station.

People going for it at Paddington

Paddington is amazing with one of the big wired WW2 looking hanger structures over the whole platform area. Just like you see in all the old movies. Great for piccies so I took a few here. It was busy too with people everywhere.

The huge shopping area in Terminal 3 at Changi
Waiting for the Express to go to Paddington at Heathrow
The Baker street sign
Busy at Paddington

We caught another train from here to Kings Cross and then changed again to catch our prepaid train to Ely. Kings Cross station is very like Paddington with the huge Hanger like look .. amazing.

A visitor from Hawkes Bay checking out the Baker street sign

On the way to Cambridge was the Baker Street stop. My immediate thought was  Sherlock. When we stopped, the double entrance doors perfectly lined up for the Baker Street signs and while I took a piccy a young girl wandered into the shot to photograph it herself.. all this without getting out of my seat ! My lucky day.

After lunch, we rocked into Ely.  A few trains, cabs and stuff but we’re here and its fantastic.

Europe 2017, Getting there

Europe here we come

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Rafe is in Taupo safely tucked up and snug in Gary and Diannes Shed and being very spoilt on carpet too!

Our last view from the place on the hill.

They have sold their Rosie and are waiting for their new “Basil” to arrive from Germany. Basil is a 8.8 metre Niesmann and Bischoff, with all the bells and whistles and yes, it will fit in the shed ! .. more on this later when it arrives.

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Fiona with Boxes and Suitcases

We’re packing up for the trip and we’re also moving our of our room in Milford which we’ve been renting from our son Andrew.

We’ve also packed our bags for Europe. We’re heading first to the UK and after 10 days or so, we’ll be picking up “Ralph”, and yes really, it is its real name 🙂  Its a rental Hymer and we’ll be  joining our friends from Taupo, Gary and Dianne on a trip through Europe.

Empty Wardrobe

Gary and Dianne both lived in Prague for a couple of years and have done several motorhome trips through Europe so know it well.

We’re crossing on the Chunnel together and heading through Belgium, German, Poland and up to Estonia and back down again. Through the South of Poland, Czech Republic, France and then back to the UK.

Ralph the left hand drive Hymer

Once we get back from the UK in early August, we’ll pick up Rafe from Taupo, come back to Auckland for some final sorting out of our stuff and then we’re off to the bottom of the South Island until Christmas, effectively fulltiming ! ..yippee.

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Europe here we come 🙂

Northland

Tucked Away

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Driving along the waterfront in Paihia while I was trying to decide where to stay, I passed Terry and Ruth’s Dethleffs White Magic A Class Motorhome parked on the side of the road. I’ve been meaning to try to catch up with Terry as I’ve been following their progress around the bay with their friends on Facebook. I turned Rafe around and parked a few spaces behind and as it was lunchtime, wandered along the waterfront to look for something to eat.

There was neat place about 50 yards along which was doing $10 roast lamb meals which I thought sounded good and ordered a glass of Chardy to go with it. While I was sitting there, I thought I’d facebook message Terry and see if he was around. I’ve never met Terry or Ruth before so had no idea what they looked like. I simply said I was parked behind them, be nice to catch up and where I was having lunch.

Within two minutes, I had a response back and my neighbours at the next table were looking around for me. How’s that for small world stuff and technology.. I shifted to their table and we swapped various stories for the next hour or so. .. Fun times in the fast lane 🙂 It was nice to catch up and I’m sure we’ll see each other again soon.

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After a memorable lunch with Terry and Ruth, I decided on staying at a little tucked away waterfront site called Beachside Holiday Park owned by Dusty and Aroha Miller.

Right on the water

In their office they have a picture on the wall taken in the early 70’s of the park and it looks completely different. Dusty and Aroha have been here for 15 years, progressively working to a plan they had done for the transformation of this fantastic site. They say there is still things to do but the place looks fantastic.

Dusty with the older pic and the plan behind

The Dump station is what you wish for everywhere where you don’t even need to get your grey water hose dirty. Simply back up over the grate and let her rip !

Great Dump Station
The 70’s pic
Terraced bush camping
Nicely laid out parks
Right on the Water

The laundry looks like a Space Station with industrial machines right along one wall. Toilets and showers are all in new condition and kept very clean. Walking around there are non powered sites for tents on little grassed terraces carved out for camping, most with great views of the water.

Beam me up laundry!

There is a boat ramp there and a rack of kayaks which are available for guests.

For the first night I was parked by the water but Rafe was poking out a bit on the roadway so I moved to a bigger site one row back for the second night. I was also parked under a tree so I had TV reception the next night too!  The charge is $20pp which is pretty much normal at this time of the year around Paihia but right on the water parking with all the facilities, its fantastic.

Nice people and nice to see someone investing in the future and doing a great job of it.

The Netspeed Speedtest
Download: 21.03 Mbps
Upload: 4.03 Mbps
Ping: 59 ms

Rafe’s Track to this site

How I got there, you can see where I turned around to catch up with Terry.
My Motorhome, Northland

The Trusty VW

I bumped into Russell and Pearl at the Kaikohe Equestrian Centre. They were behind me as we drove in so it was nice to have someone else around in that huge carpark.

It wasn’t long before it we introduced ourselves and had a quiet cold one while we watched the local Pony Club pack things up.

Russell and Pearl

They’re Ex Publicans from Alexandra in Otago and are following a book called the Great Kiwi Pub Crawl which they were given for Christmas. So far it has been 3 months and they’re really enjoying themselves. They’re both veteran Motor homers and Caravanners with their current LT35 VW being their 5th recreational vehicle of any sort.

The galley

They bought the VW 3 years ago as an ex renter. Russell was telling me that its done over 300,000 k’s and apparently their engineer was telling him, they don’t touch them until at least 800,000k’s.

Plenty of k’s left there then.

Inside

They are coming up to their 25th year membership of the NZMCA!!. their number is 6000 something  .. I think the current new members are around 75000.

With their 25 years in the NZMCA, they get another badge to add to the 7 they’ve already got.  Well done!

Preparation

The Crystal Cabinet

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It has been two and half years in the making but we’ve finally solved the Glass cabinet problem.

When we first picked up Rafe, unlike other Dethleffs, the Esprits, the Sunlights, the Magic series’s and the Trends.. all of them had Glass cabinets you could fit a glass in. The Globe 4’s cabinet had two shelves in it and was so narrow that only shot glasses and really small glasses would ever fit in.

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One of he narrow shelves. The Glasses don’t fit on them

The first thing I did was remove the shelves so normal sized glasses would fit if they were narrow enough. Then there was the problem on how to fix the glassware so it wouldn’t rattle or get damaged as we moved from place to place.

A couple of lengths of pine  screwed in across the cabinet and some tool clips to hold the glasses and we’re all done.

A tool clip around the stem of the glass

While we were in Martinborough earlier this year, Fiona found 11 cystal glasses in an antique shop by the square. They suited perfectly.  Her new name from friends Gary and Dianne is “Mrs Waterford” and I think she suits the name quite well 🙂

The shelf with the crystal glass base sitting over the edge.
Tool clips
A tool clip
The screw taking the weight of the pine

I’ve set the cabinet up for these glasses as we have a few spares if a couple get broken.

The Cabinet all done looking pretty sharp

Both “Mrs Waterford” and I are both pretty pleased with the way the cabinet looks and there no rattles at all.

Northland

Horses in Kaikohe

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I was on my way to the Horeke Tavern but after hitting some gravel road and with 18k’s to go and the weather looking iffy, I thought I’d be a wuss and head back to the Equestrian Centre in Kaikohe for a park for the night.

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Great parking

I’d just arrived when a smart looking VW Sprinter based van followed me in. This turned out to be some veteran motor homers in their 3rd month away from their home in Alexandra in Otago. They came over and joined me for a happy hour cold one.

This is an amazing place to stay. A huge carpark with power boxes dotted around so you can take your pick. In the middle at one end is a toilet block with showers and a dump station and potable water too. All this for $10 a night. They have made good use of an old red telephone box by making that the place where you pay and register for the night.

The Red Telephone box

The day we were there, the local pony club were practising. Its a great scene.

They are very careful about making sure the gate is locked behind you and for the night with the padlock. While we were there, 4 or 5 police cars raced by in different directions so they must have their reasons 🙂 .. Despite that, we all felt reasonably safe.

The neeaaaybours
HQ with the red telephone box
The toilet, shower block and dump station

The old Ngawha Springs pools are just down the road. I’m not sure if they’re still open though.

Power boxes everywhere you look

A fabulous place to stay in the North and at a great price!

The Netspeed Speedtest .. a long way from a tower!
Download: 5.94 Mbps
Upload: 2.32 Mbps
Ping: 60 ms

Rafes Tracker Map

Rafe’s Tracker map

 

Northland

The Mission Estate

Leaving Kerikeri and heading west, I stumbled over the Mission House at Waimate. An amazing old house built by Maoris under the direction of Rev Samuel Marsden in 1832, the idea was to teach local Maori some of the European tricks of building and farming.

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The Mission House

As I came into the carpark, there was one spot next to the Church entrance where I could back Rafe in and leave the front wheels on the gravel.

Rafe parked by the doorway!

The church is fascinating with some of the oldest graves you’re likely to see anywhere. There is one spectacular gravestone what must have been a local chief or Kamatua that looks well looked after. It must be of some significance but there was no one around to ask about it.

Not sure whos grave this is but its impressive

After this, I went into the house. I’m a real sucker for things old and well looked after so this was really interesting. There was even an old woodturning Lathe there too.

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The Church next door
Those stairs !
The Lathe
One of the bedrooms
Waimate
A spooky Motorhome picky!

Its amazing how well it was built given the construction methods of the day. The stairs were crazy. You’d never get away with those today 🙂

The living room

Well worth a visit and only $10 a head to have a good wander around.

Kauricoast2017, Northland

The Wagon Train Park

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When Phil Walker returned from one of his last ocean going yacht delivery trips and settled with his wife Sylvia in Kerikeri on their lifestyle block,  little did he know that he was about to get started rather than slow down for their retirement.

On a sunny afternoon he set out the picnic table for the arrival of some of his overseas yacht friends and over a few glasses of wine, they decided that the land should be turned into a an RV park with room for chalets,  and they had decided on a new name for it too.
That was 12 years ago and what a great setup it is now.

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Taken the next morning when the sun came out

I dropped in on a really grotty day where the forecast was evil and decided it was time to plug myself in, wash my linen, vacuum Rafe and generally tidy myself up.

This was on the wall in the office which sums up the layout quite well.
As you come in
The communal Kitchen area
One of the Tourist flats
Nicely laid out parks
Rafe getting very wet!
Phil’s Horse
Flash looking toilet blocks

As I arrived I met Phil  who cruised down on his metallic pink scooter. He gave me all the background and its a fascinating story. Now in his mid 70’s, he runs the park and Sylvia is still working part time locally. What about the retirement I asked ?  There’s  a shrug of the shoulders and a smile.

You don’t see too many new RV parks with the perfectly flat and manicured parking spots, its great. The standard parking charge for a powered site is $18.00. There is a complete laundry available and a fully equipped kitchen.

This would be great in summer

You’ll find it just before the turnoff to Kerikeri. It is well worth checking out for a night or two.

The Netspeed Speedtest for this site.. its awful!..
Download: 2.28 Mbps
Upload: 2.37 Mbps
Ping: 60 ms
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&q=-35.267769,173.938412

Rafe’s Tracker map

Off to Kerikeri
Kauricoast2017, Northland

Great Parking at the Bascule Bridge

You have to hand it to the Whangarei Council. They really have pulled out all the stops at the Bascule Bridge Parking area.

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Very civilised parking

There are white vertical strips on the fence to mark the parks with a number in the middle of each park. The parks are wide enough to get a decent sized 8 plus metres vehicle in and still be able to create a 3 metre or close gap between each Motorhome.

The opening bridge

I haven’t see this recently so was pleasantly surprised to see how well it was setup. I immediately went to a Hot Dog cart that was there and celebrated with a Hot Dog on a stick and some chips for lunch 🙂

Brightly painted loos

The Hot Dog man was telling me how the Rally was setup over the road and they were starting from the bridge that night with a special stage on the other side of the bridge.  The cars were due to line up on the bridge by 5pm and then set off at 7pm.

The walkway into town

I thought I’d hang about and watch the action.

The rally cars on the bridge. This was as far as I could get without paying!

By 4:30pm, the car park was chocker but it was all very gentlemanly and apart from the rally cars noise until around 9pm, it was all good. I went for a walk down to the foreshore around 8pm and met a local couple with their young kids. They had just come down for a look.

The Rally start on the bridge

A great place to park for free and there are some nicely painted up new toilets too. You can also walk or bike into town along the pathways along the waterfront.

The Netspeed Speedtest for this site
Download: 14.70 Mbps
Upload: 2.40 Mbps
Ping: 58 ms

Rafes Track to the bridge

Bascule bridge
Kauricoast2017

Staying in a Train

I rocked in to the Dargaville Campervan Park and Cabins and was immediately greeted by Donna leaping out of her live in caravan with a big welcome.  She was fantastic. She and her husband Vic have been managing the Park for some time now and love it.

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Being the only Motorhome in the park in the middle of the week, she suggested I could park anywhere. Unique to this park are a couple of the parks that have an ensuite cabin for Motorhomes where you can park next door and have exclusive use of your own private shower and bathroom for the duration of your stay. The cost of my parking was $18 for the night on my own but on gravel and the bathroom facilities are amazing. There is also a dump station available.

Rafe parked next to an Ensuite

Around the outside of the Motorhome parking are about 10 “cabins” which are actually ex NZ Railways Good wagons converted to accomodation and done really well. With decks attached, small kitchenettes and full bathrooms, they’re fantatsic.

Inside a train: The Bathroom
The sleeping area with the Kitchenette
The bedding area
Nice verandahs.
Looking down Dargaville’s shopping area

The park is right in the centre of town and with Countdown and the Warehouse at the end of the road, makes it very handy to everything.

You can’t beat the welcome from Donna and its a very comfortable place to stay in the centre of a neat town.

Rafe’s Tracker Map

Dargaville at the top of the map

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.