While we were looking around Bowentown, we stumbled on Anzac Bay. What a great spot and I can now understand why it has had so many issues with Freedom Camping. It seems now to be well managed but so busy, you’d need to get there really early to have any chance of getting an overnight spot.
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No room at the InnGreat view
The water literally sparkles and its a really protected safe beach for the kids too. Waterskiing and jet skiers were having fun there too.
A neat wee VW in the overnighting area
We were just stopping to have lunch but within minutes of arriving, I was chatting quite happily to my next door neighbor from Auckland and his friends in a matching Auto Sleeper. They had met as a result of buying the same vehicle 4 or so years ago and were travelling together. Nice people.
Busy busy
After a few sammies and a cuppa, we went for a wander down to the beach and to check out some of the Motorhomes in the overnight area. Some were pretty close together but they all seemed happy with the setup. It was chocker and it was a Sunday too.
Check out that water
A lovely bay and if I get there early enough one day, I might try a night there.
Saturday was a big day. Rob and Helen were off to collect their new Autotrail Tracker RB and they were beside themselves with excitement.
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Rob and Helen looking very happy !
Their first Tracker RB had taken them and their daughter Chloe. all around NZ over the last 4 years or so.
The new Tracker looking very smart
The new Tracker is a different colour, has Automatic Transmission and has 180 horses. It has more room in the front lounge area, a separate Shower and Toilet area and lots of other little tweaks.
The new beast with Rafe behind
Having Rafe parked right behind, I was amazed with the changes in some of the vents, and other fittings which you see on Dethleffs and other makes. Even the tyres are different from the older models.. now Michelins.
Rob unpacking the sealed manual packs.
We drove down to meet them at Athenree Holiday Park as a meeting point and to help celebrate their first night away in it.
The Bedroom. The bed runs the opposite way to the older one.
We hadn’t long checked in when the first glasses of bubbly were consumed. A nice afternoon in the sun with a swim in the hotpools later as well.
Its a lovely Motorhome and they’re over the moon with it.
Its a good thing that Rob is pretty handy and technically minded and likes reading the odd manual.
As the title says.. lots of bedtime reading manuals for Rob!
Its interesting that while quite a few brands of Motorhomes have adopted tracklighting, many haven’t.
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Nice lights in the track.
Rafe started out in life having three tracklights for lighting. Two on either side of the saloon and one across the top of the bed for reading lights. They were probably a great idea in that you can twist and slide the lights and put them anywhere you want them and also shift them out of the way. The only catch with them is that the ones that we have, have very flimsy plastic tabs on them which are so easy to break off, its ridiculous.
The plastic Tab
To be fair to the manufacturers, they can’t be blamed for excited grandchildren accidently bumping into them with their heads when they’re standing on the seats but when the owners are reluctant to use them in case they break, to me means there is a problem.
The screws for the glass at the waist of the light.
The other issue is that we found that as we cruised around NZ, the screws holding the glass would undo and eventually the glass would end up smashing on the table below with glass everywhere.
In the end after breaking a few, we now travel with them in a box and tend not use them for fear of snapping the tabs or breaking them.
Now to get rid of the Track
After looking for ages through lighting shops and RV places, I discovered some really nice LED lights for another model Dethleffs which I ordered through Vantage RV. They had to come from Germany and just arrived the other day so I didn’t waste any time getting them installed. These ones are screwed into the shelves and I’ve set them back out of harms way.
I really wanted to remove the track but found that it was glued as well as screwed so I’m still thinking about this as I don’t want to butcher the cabinets getting it out.
And they can turn right around and direct light where you want it.
The lights are fabulous. We recently had the first trip away with them and the light was awesome.
What an amazing vehicle. Brian bought this 1981 Revcon of EBay sight unseen and had it shipped to NZ in 2012. It was in his words, “a bit of a mess” so he set to and spent the next two years renovating it.
Enid and Brian with their Recon
Most of the furniture is the same but recovered except the bedroom which went from single beds to a centre island Queen bed.
Of course, you can’t have a vehicle like this without having a cocktail cabinet.
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The “Handle Bars” had to be shifted too to right hand drive which was a bit of a mission given its a 454 Chev V8 with a chain driven transfer box all driving the front wheels so there is a lot going on under the floor at the sharp end! Once it was all done, Brian and his wife Enid “the Nagivator ” 🙂 shipped it off to Oz where they spent a year or so clocking up over 25000 miles and loving every minute of it.
Brian with the Revcon
At 10 miles to the gallon, she’s a thirsty girl but what a great look and a comfy 30 feet of Motorhome history.
Bling and more bling
Brian is keen to do up a smaller GM and is currently looking for one to buy to get started with.
It’s always an exciting time when either of the Motorhome and Caravan shows start to see what new knick knacks are available and what’s new. We were staying at the Ellerslie Racecourse NZMCA Rally with 500 or so others and they had put on a shuttle service to make it easy to get to there.
The Rally looks impressive from the entrance.. click on this to enlarge it.
I must have been on one of the first buses to the Showgrounds as the bus driver wasn’t too sure where to drop us off and we circumnavigated the Show grounds a few times before we got there, even a brief tour of Alexander Park too. 🙂
A 4 WD Hymer on the Rocks!
This year was the first year for the new Hymers and also the Cathargo. The Hymer has arrived in force with three or four different models including a 4 wheel drive model which was setup on top of a pile of rocks just to make the point. The Hymer in the piccies is the Starline 690 which is 7.9 metre is length, has a GVM of 5.3 t and has a 3l Mercedes rear wheel drive.
The Hymer Starline 690
With the drop down bed down
The Hymer galley
Hymer Bedroom
One of the new Cathargo’s
Yes, a motorbike in the garage.
Stephanie with her Stacks
The Poptop Camper interior
Poptop Camper from the other end
Poptop on the outside. 12 ft long.
The Jayco Stand
NZ made Allisee with slide outs
Inside the Allisee
The Allisee
The Cathargo was well publicised at last years Covi show but this year is the first time they’ve got several models here. A very smart looking wagon.
The Nomad.
The Nomad Kitchen space
The Nomad Bedroom and bathroom beyond
The Nomad with all its space and Doors for the Bedroom
The Shower on one side ..
And the Toilet on the other. Look at all that storage in the Nomad
Plenty of storage in the Platin
The Frankia Platin
Living Space – Platin
Kitchen Area – Platin
Toilet – Platin
Bedroom – Platin
The Electrics all in one spot on the outside on the Platin
The other interesting story is with the Dethleff Nomad Caravans represented by Central RV. Brett at Central RV sent off his design for a Caravan specially for the local market and this was the first one in. The amount of room in it is amazing and it’s the first caravan I’ve seen with doors on both sides of the bedroom giving complete privacy. The Dethleffs Nomad 650 RQT as it is known is 8.7 meters long, it has a 700kg payload and has a total weight of 2.5 tons so she’s a biggy! It also has an Alko chassis helping to make it tow nicely.
Jonas and Chris and the team at Frankia have received the first of the 8.4 metre Platin series. These really are the ultimate in Motorhomes. The electrical cupboard is a joy in itself having its own external locker with everything very tidily laid out and easy to get at. The inside is amazing as well.. The Platin at the show is 8.5 metres long and has a GVM of 5 tons with a 650kg payload.
Well appointed and is typical of the Frankia range known for its high standards.
Patricia and John with their Lilliput and PlymouthThe interior of John and Patricia’s Lilliput
It’s always nice to see the Lilliput Crew with their lovely old Caravans and usually matched by their amazing, beautifully restored cars.
Patricia and John were here with their caravan and their 1955 Plymouth Belvedere. It was their 55th Wedding Anniversary. They were also well colour co-ordinated for St Patrick’s Day 🙂
Peter with others on the NZMCA StandThe NZMCA stand early in the day
The NZMCA stand was huge. I got there fairly early so it was largely pretty empty given its size but it was nice to see the crew there and great to see most if not all of the Motorhome Friendly Towns all with their own stands promoting their areas.
A lot of the NZMCA regions had their own stands as well and nice to see them too.
I managed to get in and out without parting with too much hard earned loot which Fiona will be pleased about, settling for just a new ground mat for under our awning.
The Autotrail Stand
Inside the big Autotrail Comanche
Autotrail Comanche
The RV / Camec stand.. Where I bought my mat 🙂
NZ made Allisee with slide outs
Rob finishing off setting up the NZMCA Northland stand
This is just bigger than Ben Hur.. There must be more than 450 Motorhomes and Caravans here and they’re still piling in.
Looks impressive from the entrance.. click on this to enlarge it.
Due to the weather being rather nasty last weekend, the Barfoot and Thompson Races were postponed to coincide with this rally and the races were on while the Motorhomers were crossing the track into the centre. … Between the races of course.
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One of the last races
All in good humour and as the day went on, little groups popped up all around the rally with gatherings for a few quiet cold ones while the horses galloped around the track. A great atmosphere.
Race with the stand in the background
It never ceases to amaze me how the good folk of the NZMCA who put themselves out there and go the extra mile for the benefit of everyone else. The Covi/Spoton team organised this rally from scratch and had a roster to make sure that everybody that needed some help or guidance got what they needed and were happily and safely parked.
Dusk on the first night
It was disappointing to hear that a few NZMCA members who failed to check whether their dogs were allowed, made a scene and got unnecessarily nasty for our cheerful volunteers.
Come on guys.. Common sense… Racecourse, horses and dogs don’t go together.. especially when there is a race meeting on. For those responsible for this display of bad manners, it’s nice to think that we could be be respectful and helpful for those volunteering and doing their best for the rest of us.
The NZMCA marshalls Happy Hour
On the positive side, one of the volunteer Rally Marshalls, Jim was telling me that a couple of members who arrived with dogs just to see where they could go, were very thankful when they were redirected to another parking spot just around the corner where dogs were permitted… Nice !
The team also organised a great free bus service to the show which was fantastic.
The Rally from up in the stand
A great rally, some nice people and thanks to Auckland Racing Club, Ellerslie racecourse and of course the Counties NZMCA team for having us there.
After a good solid weekend of babysitting, we thought we’d escape for our last night before Fiona had to return to work.
The Peninsula Campground at Awhitu
I wasn’t really in the mood for huge driving for one night so we figured that up the Awhitu peninsula might be quite nice. I called Auckland City and it seems that even in the height of the Summer silly season, you can still use your camping pass at Awhitu and other parks like it.
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Peninsula Campground. Plenty of room.
After booking in on the phone, we were off heading for Awhitu. We arrived around 1pm and settled Rafe down in the Peninsula Campground.
When you book with the Council, the choices are Self contained or not. When you get to Awhitu, it is Brook Campground or the Peninsula campground. I was a bit confused as to where we were supposed to park as there is no mention of SCC and no signposts 🙂
It wasn’t until we had the downloaded map off the council website that we saw two Motorhome emblems on both the Peninsula and the Brook campgrounds with tags saying SCC camping that we were happy with where we had parked.
The Brook Campground which is behind the Brook Homestead and the Peninsula camp is beside the Homestead and closer to the water. Both have nice toilets and great rubbish collection points and both are an easy walk to the beach.
The Cottage
After settling down and having a look around both Brook Homestead and the Cottage, which they used before the Homestead was built, we sat down for lunch and just blobbed in the sun. A perfect spot for watching the planes coming in to Auckland Airport and they were far enough away not to be a nuisance with sound. A lovely spot.
The Brook Homestead
The Cottage
Peninsula Campground. Plenty of room.
Nice Bbq’s with the wood all stacked ready to go.
Nice looking loos
Fiona dumping rubbish she found on the beach.
In the morning, we went for a walk down to the beach and had a look around. The Ranger popped in and checked the park so it was then I knew for sure we were ok where we parked although we were on our own. There was no one else there which surprised me.
The Beach with the tide out. Pipi gathers out on the mudflats
The park is huge and there are lots of great walks which we’ll check out next time we’re here but it’s a great spot and not too far away from the big smoke.
We only had a night to check this place out before having to head back but we have visited here before but not stayed. See the earlier post. It is a magic spot with a nice beach and plenty of places to explore. We’ll be back for sure.
There is good 4g internet here which surprised me, being where it is although it’s not fast but good enough for Netflix.
The Netspeed Speedtest Download: 5.84 Mbps
Upload: 1.55 Mbps
Ping: 54 ms
This weekend was for babysitting our Grandkids as Mum, Sarah flew to Oz to watch their family horse run in a big race over there. Dad Alex was at work in Wellington so it was down to us to look after Ayden (8) and Liam (4).
The new spotHave to watch the Grey water outlet doesn’t get tangled with a step.
Rafes parking spot at their house used to be over by the Goat Pen in the corner but Rafe tended to get in the way of them getting cars in and out of the garage so we were moved to next to the Garage which actually works really well. It’s also really sheltered from the Southerly and South Westerly winds which is great and closer to the power point too.
One of the two goats
On the Saturday morning, we all got ready to go to Kawakawa Bay for a swim and a fish and chip lunch. We got everyone organised and got the boys into their car seats. As Liam got in, he gave his tightening strap that goes under his seat a good yank so it was too small and he couldn’t get in. We couldn’t figure out how to undo the ratchet and release it. I even started to take it out of the car but decided it was all too hard and left it so that was the end of that idea.
He must be a beginner 🙂
Unpacking began and then we decided we’d walk them around to next door Ardmore Airdrome and have lunch at the cafe opposite and along from the NZMCA park. That all went well and we spent a happy few hours trying to keep them away from the sweet counter 🙂 and watching the planes come and go.
We headed back to their home and Fiona organised to fill a tub fill of water like a small swimming pool as we couldn’t get to the beach. Another few hours of easy entertainment for them splashing about on the lawn.
The boys having fun in the waterFiona watching the boys
The next day, Sarah’s cousin Brooke came to pick up Ayden for the day and showed us how easy it was to fix the seat. “You just lift this and push this button here, like that”. Easy when you know how :-). We then tried taking Liam to the Clevedon Markets but as he got into the seat, he started complaining about the seatand we couldn’t work that out either so we gave up at that point and spent the day at home. All good but I’m not sure why these seats are so complicated. When Alex their Dad, had a car seat, 30 odd years ago, it was all very simple.
One of the Neighbours
Anyway, Mums due home soon so we’re looking at taking off somewhere for a couple of nights 🙂
I didn’t ever think I’d ever become a birdwatcher but when you sit down and watch them, its crazy how clever they are and what they get up to.
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A quiet day at Rays Rest
I’d popped in to one of my favorite spots on the Firth of Thames, Rays Rest. I’ve done a couple of posts on Rays Rest over the last year or so and although I haven’t been here for a while, it is one of my all time favorite places to stay.
Its not popular with Fiona but I suspect that’s because there are no shops there or “anything to do” but that’s its charm. 🙂 Your choices are to Blob and to Blob.. just great.
It wasn’t particularly busy being a Wednesday afternoon but stinking hot.
The birds were amazing as just before the tide turned, they’re were all quite happily sitting on the sand banks and then it was like someone had blown the whistle. They were off to spread themselves out along the edge of the water for a feed and then follow the water as the tide went out. Its amazing just watching them following the water.
All settled
And they’re off
The weather was due to change and pour with rain. No problem here as it is all well draining sand. There is always a friendly face here too and its amazing who you meet.
The local horses came down for a swim too
I also did a Netspeed speed test here and was amazed it was so good given that it is a rural area and quite remote. See below.
Download: 41.19 Mbps
Upload: 24.30 Mbps
Ping: 54 ms
The S650 Hymer is a rare beast on NZ roads so I was really surprised and it was a real pleasure to find one parked right behind me. Donna and Dale hail from Tauranga and were on their way home from up north.
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Donna and Dale
Dales sister used to live in the UK and had been Motorhoming around Europe for 4 years with it before deciding to return to NZ for good so they returned with it as “baggage”! Dale made it sound like she just popped it in a corner of her suitcase but I’m sure it was a little more complicated than that 🙂
Look at all that space
Dale tells me this one is a 2002 Mercedes based machine which is just a smidge over 6 metres. It has a 2.7 litre 5 cylinder Turbo Diesel with Automatic Transmission.
Drop down bed above
Its interesting with some of the new Motorhomes coming out now with the main bed being a drop down rather than a permament bed. This means smaller vans have a huge amount of space for the living area and galley.
Shower and Toilet
The Hymer group owns Dethleffs along with Burstner and several others. All the older Hymer vans have had drop down beds for years and using the extra space well so its no surprise that the new Dethleffs Travel only has a drop down bed.
A nice big galley
It was nice to catch up with them and see them enjoying their trusty older quality Motorhome.
Extra hand basin at the back
A lovely Motorhome and nice to see it has been reliable and in such good shape after 8 years on the road. It really says a lot about the quality of these vans.
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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