North Island road trip 2016

Our own Bathroom

We were heading to Wanganui to catch up with our old neighbours Terry and Lisa but on the way, I had heard about a campground in Kapiti which had a shower and toilet shed for each Motorhome site. I had to check this out.

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Rafe and our helpful neighbour
Rafe and our helpful neighbour

It was a real treat having our own little self contained bathroom just outside the door.  While we were in town, we would see if we could catch up with Fiona’s cousin Malcolm and his wife Michelle, and have them for tea.

We arrived at Kapiti Holiday Park around 4pm and were shown where to park in “Windsor Lane”.  Each named avenue is surrounded by huge high hedges protecting everyone from any winds.

The avenues
The avenues

The hedges also mean you have to be mindful of the direction you park if you want TV reception. My very kind neighbour pointed this out to me when I backed in and he realised that I wouldn’t get a signal where I was, but if I turned Rafe around the other way, my dome would be further from the hedge and would get a clean signal. Good to have that local knowledge.  Thanks neighbor!
KapitiThe little shed had its own shower, toilet and handbasin  in with its own hot water cylinder. There was also a gully trap next to the shed on the outside for waste and a freshwater tap at the back along with a power point. Everything you could ever want and very convenient.

Delicately cut in to the hedge
Delicately cut in to the hedge

We could easily do a dash for the shower in the morning with a towel around us without anyone noticing ! With winter prices it was $40.00 for the night for us both.

Rafe in the zone
Inside the shed
Kapiti Island

The meal went well and it was great to see Malcolm and Michelle.
Just over the road was Paraparamu Beach so we were off for a walk and see the coast. Kapiti Island looks huge as it is just off the beach.

Fiona having a walk
Fiona having a walk on the beach with Kapiti Island behind.

A lovely park and quite a novelty with the little cabins.

North Island road trip 2016

The Old Senior NCO’s Mess

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One of the trips I’ve always wanted to do while in Wellington was to drive from Lyall Bay all the way around the outside past Seatoun and Worser Bay. The buildings into the cliffs and the rustic charms of the way the houses are all set into the cliffs is amazing. It’s like a different world.

The view
The view

When you come out the other end towards Miramar, there is the old Air Force Base and workshops. These days they’re mostly occupied by Artists and a few tradespeople. The old Senior NCO’s mess is now used by a cafe called The Chocolate Fish BBQ cafe.

At the front door
At the front door
Plenty of good easy parking
Plenty of good easy parking

The building has a Historic classification which prevents them from poking holes in it for vents etc so they’ve carefully added a clip on lean to for the kitchen which seems to work quite well for them. The rest of the building is just as it was as a mess building with a few mods for convenience.

My Pork Sandwich
My Pork Sandwich

One of the staff was quite a talented artist and has painted all the seats and backs of the chairs with different images which really brightens the place.

The company vehicle
Easy parking
Fiona picking her lunch
Half of Fiona’s Fish Sammy
Chair Back
Chair Back
Chair Back
Chair Back
Chair Back
Chair Back
Chair Back
A picture on the wall of how it looked earlier on..

The food is sensational and very reasonably priced and is very sandwich based but they’re a good hearty size! .. Outside, the views of the city are fantastic, there are plenty of things for kids or grandchildren to play with and best of all, really easy Motorhome friendly parking.

The view
The view

The place oozes history and we found ourselves easily enjoying a couple of hours taking it all in.

Hot pools, North Island road trip 2016

Hunker down at Holdens

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The weather was about to go downhill dramatically and as there was a deal going on the Campermate app at Holdens Bay Holiday park for $14 a night, it seemed sensible to take up the offer.

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Lots of room in winter
Lots of room in winter

A couple of nights plugged in with the heater on to clear some posts, sounded like a good idea. There were hot pools there too.

Holdens
Rafe all settled in before the afternoon rush.

Its a big park with lots of rental apartments and plenty of powered parks and being a cold winters day and about to get colder, it had more motorhomes there than I expected.
Holdens  Bay is on the eastern side of Lake Rotorua just south of the airport. Its a little out of the way but apart from the odd plane, its a nice quiet spot with great facilities. You can also walk to the lake which is only 5 minutes away and there is a technology museum almost next door. With the deal and forecasted bad weather, a great spot to hunker down.

Nice Kitchen and toilets
The Pool but not pool weather
Looking into Rotorua

NZ is such a small place. I’d no sooner settled Rafe down when I heard a frantic tooting and looked around. There was some people that I’d met the night before in Taupo and put them onto Campermate.
A young Dutch graphic designer with his theatre nurse wife, Stephen and Angelique with their 3 year old son. A really nice couple who were into their third and last week of a NZ campervan tour. They had got  the same deal I had and were staying one night before pushing on towards Auckland. I also bumped into them a few days later at Miranda Holiday park, one of my recommendations for their last night. We’ll hopefully catch up with them in Rotterdam when we get there sometime next year.

HoldensFor those offshore, Campermate is a free cell phone app which shows where Campgrounds, dumpstations, free parking, petrol stations etc are on a map and use your location but also has deals. Well worth getting if you’re touring NZ.

Holdens bay towards Rotorua
Holdens bay towards Rotorua

Its such a neat place Rotorua with so much to do and has a calming atmosphere to it and of course all the Thermal stuff happening.

The Netspeed Speed test for this site:
Test Date: 5/09/2016 2:18 PM
Download: 29.28 Mbps
Upload: 1.87 Mbps
Ping: 46 ms
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&q=-38.122029,176.307822

North Island road trip 2016

The Trees have gone

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It always amused me by the foresight of the Rotorua team with their signs pointing out where not to park in the NZMCA Ngongotaha park, if you wanted a TV signal.

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Ngongotaha looking fantastic
Ngongotaha looking fantastic
The park from the driveway
The park from the driveway

This was due to the huge trees all down one side of the park. There was one tree really that was the culprit for the TV reception problems but I understand they were all a bit rotten so had to go for safety reasons after a limb fell.

Look at that view
Look at that view

Although I thought the trees looked great and I was a wee bit concerned when I heard they had gone, it does look fantastic.

The Dump station
From the back looking out to the lake

I also understand that the area down the front is about to get a makeover and be made ready for more parking.

Lots of rot in the stump
Lots of rot in the stump

Great work guys.. it’s one of the better parks around.

And the Netspeed tests here were amazing:
Test Date: 6/09/2016 3:15 PM
Download: 49.51 Mbps
Upload: 30.07 Mbps
Ping: 33 ms
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&q=-38.076339,176.210040

Hot pools, North Island road trip 2016

Ohinemutu

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It’s always a great experience checking out St Faiths Church and Ohinemutu on the lakefront, when I’m in Rotorua.

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The chap in the window
The walk on water window

I can remember coming here when I was in short pants and it still looks as good now if not better.

Inside St Faiths
Inside St Faiths

It’s always quite serene and has an air about it which is nice. I think the thermal steam from the cracks in the road and everywhere probably helps this too.

There were quite a few people there too having a good look around so that’s great for the donation boxes there. OhinemutuA lovely peaceful spot and there’s a couple of overnight spots for motorhomers just around the corner by the boatramp.

Close to home, Northland, Preparation

Our Netspeed speed upgrade in the sun!

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We were on our way back to Auckland from Kerikeri when we found out our old friends Gary and Chris were at Uretiti Doc park for a few nights. We thought we’d surprise them.

See our earlier meeting here at Uretiti in the pouring rain

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Gary and Chris's van with Rafe behind
Gary and Chris’s van with Rafe behind

As we arrived right on the dot for “elbow exercise time” (with a glass in hand) at 5pm. We started on some wine while Fiona made us all a nice chicken tea.
We weren’t far into the conversation when Gary filled me in on the new Netspeed Router firmware upgrade and what a difference it had made for him.
With all of my speed tests around the country and comparing notes with Gary’s tests, it became very obvious that his speeds were generally 5 mbs a second or so faster than mine. I put that down to the fact that the sides of his van are fibreglass and the sides of mine are composite with an outside shell of aluminium. I’d assumed from that despite us having external aerials, that the router in automatic mode with aerials, was favouring the internal aerials which gave Gary a better signal. Well. .. No more 🙂

The good folk at Netspeed have released a router firmware upgrade which gives you the option to tell the router to only use the external aerials. The firmware upgrade is free but you will have to install it yourself or get someone slightly techy to do it for you. Netspeed will also do it over the phone with you too. It only takes five minutes and is not complicated and well worth doing. The big thing with this upgrade is not to be rushed and let the upgrade finish before fiddling with anything.

Wait for that magic moment when you get the box pop up that says “Success!”

Back to our elbow exercise.. While chatting away, Gary brought out his laptop which had the upgrade file on it for my router and in a few minutes had it installed on my router.  In Uretiti, I immediately went from 2 bars of 4g to three and that added about 15 Mbps odd to my download speed as I was able to get my roof aerials really pumping rather than let the router do as it pleased with my useless internal aerials… Useless inside a metal cage anyway.

What a wonderful sight
What a wonderful sight

Thanks heaps Gary.. We had a great night. Nice to see you both again too.

The Netspeed speed test at Uretiti earlier
Download: 24.42 Mbps
Upload: 2.45 Mbps
Ping: 49 ms

After with the external aerials pumping!
Download: 46.62 Mbps
Upload: 3.39 Mbps
Ping: 35 ms
Connection Type: Wi-Fi

The upload speed is still awful but it is an iffy spot but it’s well worth doing the upgrade !!

How to do the upgrade.. Call Netspeed for the link for the download then download the right file for your router.

Log into your router as administrator.. For security reasons, I’m not going to tell you how to do this here but look at your router instructions.
Follow the instructions in the following screens.

The login screen on your router once you've logged in. Open browser.. Type in 192.168.1.1 ..
The login screen on your router once you’ve logged in. Open browser.. Type in 192.168.1.1  to get here.
This is in Settings. Click on Local update to upload your file and WAIT until it finishes!
This is in Update. Click on Local update to upload your file and WAIT until it finishes!
Once it has finished, you can go to this screen in Settings and set your aerials up. I've got mine on External only
Once it has finished, you can go to this screen in Settings and set your aerials up. I’ve got mine on External only

Have fun and enjoy the extra speed. Call the fine team at Netspeed if you get stuck or need help.

Hot pools, North Island road trip 2016

By the pools parking

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In Rotorua recently, I discovered by accident almost, the amazing new free overnight parking put in as part of the Motorhome Friendly towns scheme and by the Rotorua Council.

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Great Parking
Great Parking

What a great spot right in the middle of town really and in the Gardens area by the Polynesian Pools complex.

The Blue Baths building
Government Gardens
The lake
Sculpture park
Sculptures

Although it’s essentially a modified carpark, it has been done really nicely with the sculpture garden next door and surrounded by pools.

The view from the park
The view from the park

Well done Rotorua Council and I bet it’ll be well used by Motorhomers.

North Island road trip 2016

Eat Street Rotorua

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I parked Rafe in the free Motorhome parking by the boat ramp on the lake front and went for a 5 minute walk up towards the shops with the camera.

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Eat st entrance
Eat st entrance

Walking up the road towards Tutanekai Street, I couldn’t help but notice the new restaurant and eating out area there.
Eat StA whole block of covered walkway which is apparently partly retractable with Bars, Restaurants and Cafes all along the road on both sides.

It looks fantastic. Because it was only 10.30 odd in the morning nothing was open but I bet it’s a lively area in the evenings.
Eat StNext time, I’ll come later in the day. It looks like a lot of fun.

North Island road trip 2016

Evers Swindell Reserve Clive

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On a nice fine day, this is a lovely spot in Clive, right next to the river, and courtesy of the Hastings Council, you can stay here with a gold coin donation.

The River
The River

There’s usually plenty to look at, rowers, people walking, sometimes the odd boatie. There were several buses there and a Motorhome and there was oodles of room for more. Motorhome Parking is under the trees but not in the carpark at the end.

Gorgeous spoy
Gorgeous spot!

With the sun beating down and people coming and going on the biking / walking path behind down to the beach, fantastic.
I was trying to upload some images for several blogs and for whatever reason, the uploads kept bombing out so I decided as I was in a bit of a valley, I’d move to Eriksen Park which isn’t that far from Clive.

CliveThere are toilets there too but I did see signs talking about it being prone to flooding with high tides and rainfall. Lovely spot but pick the weather.

Hot pools, North Island road trip 2016

Drinks and Food by the side of the Hot Pool !

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I felt like spoiling myself and had heard about the new Top 10 Taupo’s new pool bar. A swim in a hot pool and be served a nice Chardonnay sounded like just the ticket to me.

Check out these images in Hi Res by clicking on them

I arrived at the Top 10 around lunch time which was great after a great run across the Napier – Taupo rd. After spending two nights in the NZMCA Eriksen rd park, I was a little taken back by the Top 10 winter rates for a single person at $27.00. But then thought, everything is spic and span and the new multi million dollar pool complex and so on, it’s not that bad when you compare it to others and I was spoiling myself 🙂

People enjoying the Bar
People enjoying the Bar
One of the hotter pools
One of the hotter pools

After parking Rafe, it was time to do some laundry and check the place out out before having a swim. It’s nicely laid out with lots of green things (trees and stuff) between parks and the Toilets and Showers are absolutely immaculate and pretty new. There is also Pétanque, Volleyball, Tennis, Trampolines, Basketball and something new called Neos.. There’s plenty for everyone.
The washing was finished so I was off for a swim.

Look how close to the pool I got but a bit noisy
One of the cabins
Kitchen, Laundry and loos
The TV showing Shrek
The Cave
The League is on.. Would be better switched off !

There are no steps which makes it interesting for getting in and out. You sort of slide in and out over a concrete bank. The main hot pool is huge with other hotter and cooler pools and channels from it. There is a cave which is 4 metres deep at one end of the pool with a waterfall over the entrance. And the bar.. Fantastic. You can buy pizza’s, meals, drinks, what ever takes your fancy and there are partly submerged chairs to sit on too. There was a unique system when I checked in where they took my credit card number so all you have to do is give the bar person your site number and sign your name and it’s all done. The prices were very reasonable too .. $8.00 for a big glass of Chardy. Very pleasant.

Enjoying the Sun
Enjoying the Sun

There is also a huge TV screen over the pool which had the movie Shrek on when I first got in. Early in the evening, it had the league on which I thought was a bit of an atmosphere killer. It was better when it was switched off in between !.. Each to there own.

Kids watching Shrek
Kids watching Shrek

Although this is a commercial Top 10 site and the price is up there at $57 peak for 2 with power, it isn’t too bad when you see what’s there and you’re ready to treat yourself to something special.
TaupoIt’s a novel experience and a first for me here in NZ. This is the only one in NZ like this. Go and spoil yourself.

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.