As we left Mokau, we were invited along with Steve and Rosemary to stay at Greg and Shona’s place in New Plymouth. They are also part of the Dethleffs Owners team and Graeme and Shirley were going to be there too.
Us on the left in front, Steve and Rosemary’s Esprit GT behind and to the right, Greg and Shona’s Advantage.
I was a wee bit nervous after repairing part of my Chassis at the back which gets scraped occasionally on high forecourts and driveways as there was a huge camber at the end of the driveway, but no damage was done 🙂
It was lovely to catch up with Greg and Shona and it was very kind of them to put us all up in their driveway with power too! We had a fantastic dinner together and a lovely night in the driveway.
In the morning we all set off in different directions. Fiona and I set off to New Plymouth city to see the famous Len Lye Gallery and have some lunch and Fiona was keen to see some shops 🙂
The Len Lye centre with the White Swan behind.
Our next destination was all about New Years eve 🙂
The reflection of the White Swan hotel in the Len Lye centre
Thanks again guys for having us in your driveway and thanks for a great night. It was great to see Graeme and Shirley again too.
The ride though to Mokau from Otorohanga was pretty good but the forecast was for plenty of rain, so I wondered about the Tainui Wetere Domain campsite which is all grass. I needn’t have worried as underneath the grass was all sand and only puddles around were pretty much on the road in.
A Great atmosphere
I’ve driven past this Campground run by the local community by the rugby grounds and after reading its rave reviews, I was keen like Steve to stay here. It’s a fabulous place right next to a lagoon with very sheltered swimming for the children.
Settling in at MokauThe two Dethleffs.
After parking up, I slotted straight into a powered site and Steve popped in beside us. I was surprised we’d be able to get a powered site as it was really busy, but most were happy to be without.
Steve and I went for a walk down to the beach for a look around. It’s an amazing spot.
The wee estuary beyond the sandhillsA bit choppy further outThe two Dethleffs at Waitara
Another great night of catching up together and in the morning, we all set off towards Waitara for a quick stop at a supermarket and where Steve knew of a spot to have lunch by a fantastic raging sea… it made some nice images.
The water at Waitara
After a cup of tea and a look about, we set off to New Plymouth.
We had just finished a great Christmas with our family, and it was time to head off to a long-awaited trip to Taranaki. Last year, I had done several trips to New Plymouth to meet up with old work colleagues from my days at the Herald and for a Hospice Auction. But it was all very quick and like a sprint from Auckland and back. This time, we could have bit of a nosey round.
The park
We left Auckland early, but it still took over an hour to get through the Takanini/Papakura area on the Motorway. The traffic was diabolical, and this was on the 27th.
A great hobby to take away.
After getting through there, it was easy peasy all the way to Otorohanga where we were meeting up with friends from the Dethleffs Owners Group, Steve and Rosemary. They had come down the day before and were very ready with a park right next to them at the NZMCA park which made things really easy. Here is an interesting link about their railway station 🙂
Rosemary and Fiona under the awning.Steve and Rosemary’s Esprit GT with the back of Rafe appearing behind.
We had a great night with them… It was really nice to catch up with them again.
The Railway station the next morningParking beside the Railway. Steve and Rosemary on the left.
In the morning we headed into Otorohanga town and had lunch in a cafe and quick look around before heading off towards New Plymouth.
I’ve been meaning to pop in here for years but because we have several friends near here, it never seems to work out.
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We left Colins POP early in the morning in Mangawhai and cruised over the hill past Langs Beach and onto Waipu Cove. It really is a stunning little spot well served by a great Restaurant, a Dairy and a Fish and Chip shop.
Our neighbours at Waipu
We checked into the Waipu Cove campground with a very smiley Jemma on the front desk. You know its always going to go well when you get greeted like that 🙂 She was very helpful and pointed us to a parking spot right behind the sandhills by the beach.
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Looking up towards Ruakaka
Great showers and nice ablution blocks.
Lots of space with big parks.
After settling down Rafe, opening vents and plugging in and finding out where everything was, we checked out the beach and then, decided to walk down to the Cove Restaurant (same organisation as in Mangawhai and very good!)
Back towards the Cove
They gave us an amazing, shared platter with bits of everything starting with Oysters and Pork belly… just fantastic and as we couldn’t do full meals, just perfect along with a Gin and a Chardy 🙂
Fiona walking up the beach.
A well spent couple of hours here and we crossed the road and walked back to the campground along the beach and through the sandhills. Just a wonderful spot.
Waipu campground. oodles of room.
A few brave souls were in the water and although I did twitch for a swim, by the time I was ready to get in, the clouds rolled in, so it didn’t happen 🙂
Fantastic beach
After an afternoon of chatting with others and sitting on the beach, we walked just outside the campground gates to get Fish and Chips.
Looking back from the sandhill, you can see Rafe in the corner of the hedge.
Another Fantastic day, not doing a lot but great weather generally, nice people and a lovely spot.
Our spot at Waipu Cove.. you can see the sandhills behind.
We’ll be back here, it’s all just so easy and that beach!
After almost a month of sitting in one spot, it was time to blow out the cobwebs with a quick trip away for the weekend. Fiona was keen to go to the markets at Mangawhai so Mangawhai it was.
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Looking out over the Estuary
We found a great wee pop up on the hill above the village close to the markets. Colin has a house up behind the shops and provides power and water and a great view. It is also a very easy walk to the shops.
Looking out at DuskThe view from Rafe in Mangawhai
We arrived there about 7:30 odd on the Friday night and slotted in on a compacted grass are looking right out over the estuary.
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Us up on the hill
The Pie Caravan !
The Entrance to Bennets Chocolate Shop
The outside of bennetts
The popular shop in Mangawhai.. Sausages in bread 🙂
A new shopping centre
Cove Restaurant where we had lunch
The view down to the Village
The next morning, we woke up to a sunny day and after getting organised walked down to the village and the markets at the primary school. It’s a great atmosphere with everyone having fun and getting into the swing of it.
Arriving at the Markets
The great find for me was a caravan there selling these amazing pies. The owner was a real foodie who used to run a local restaurant and now make the pies and sell them locally. The coffee was something else too. I had a Lamb and Mint pie, and Fiona had a Curried Fish. both amazing!
At the Bennetts Coffee shopBennetts Chocolates
After this we walked back to the main shops from the school and after a coffee and a visit to Bennetts Chocolates (who could resist!) we stopped in for lunch at the Cove restaurant.
Cove Restaurant where we had lunch
Then it was back to Rafe. A great day of Sunshine, Great Food and Coffee in a lovely spot.
In mid 2014, as Caravan owners, we saw our perfect motorhome. It was out in Howick with a whole heap of other Dethleffs behind a church. Jonas and his wife Irene were bringing them into New Zealand and selling them from the carpark behind his church.
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On the lot .. Madam with Rafe when we were first looking.
To cut a long story short, we bought the van, and it was sent off to Silverdale to be prepared for us.
The Showroom
I can remember how scary it was driving this home to Devonport for the first time, through the rush hour traffic back to Devonport. That was nearly 10 years ago !
The other day, I met up with Jonas and Irene to see their brand-new Sales building in Pokeno next to their current building which will be their service centre.
From the back with the extra Storage
It is HUGE. There is also a big yard behind the building for more storage of Motorhomes.
The current building with the new building on the right
They’ve come a long way over the last nearly 10 years and you have to take your hat off to them for doing so well. They now have a lot more brands and to build them all from scratch in New Zealand is no mean feat.
Congratulations on the new building and Well Done!
What an exciting day for Tony and Fiona. After two and a half years, the handover of their new Motorhome and its HUGE!
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The Morelo Palace behind for comparison
After several trips to the factory in Germany over the last 2 years and lots of research, it has finally happened. As Tony says, “When he was filling in the options form, the pen didn’t want to stop”, so as Tony says, “Its fully pimped “!
The new beast
It is 10 metres long, 4 meters high. Carries 500 litres of fresh water and 240 litres of both black and grey water. It is on a Mercedes Actros Chassis with a 400HP, 7 litre 6-cylinder motor with a 12-speed gearbox.
The “Stairway to Heaven “
There was an option to have the drive in the boot storage for a small vehicle but as Tony said, he could make better use of the space as a bigger garage and get more locker space outside by putting the electrics where the car would go.
Huge living and entertaining space.
It is like a footie field inside with a higher than most Motorhomes stud height, slightly wider than your average bear and of course the length.
The Galley
They had a Morelo Palace before this and there was one parked in front of it at the Zion yard and you can definitely see the difference next to the Empire Liner. When they bought their Palace, the Empire liners weren’t available in a form that was acceptable by NZ Transport, but several rules changed in the last few years.
Centre Island Bed
I’m really pleased for them as they have been through numerous delays due to Covid and shipping/parts delays and its finally here and it is exactly what they wanted.
A wee break from a motorhomes but this was a special event 🙂
We’re due to go away again soon 🙂
The sun was shining and there was an Art Show on at Fort Cautley which is the old Army base above Narrow Neck beach.
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Great tree
It was a sculpture exhibition and is its first time back after a 5 year break due to Covid with the proceeds were going to Womens Refuge.
This got some attention.
I was quite looking forward to this as it was the first time the historic fort buildings and gun emplacements were being used as part of the exhibition.
Part of the Historic Fortifications
There were some nice pieces. The Lady lifting the rock got plenty of interest.
Click on the Gallery below to see the show
Liam with his Dog
A Kaleidescope of plants
Part of the Historic Fortifications
In the Fort cd’s
Secondary school art
3 little pigs
Neat Dolls house
The Giant Whale Tail with the view
Rotating Blocks
There was a giant whale’s tail, and it was nice the way the old gun emplacement was decorated with coloured petals. Grandson Liam took a shine to the bronze dog just inside the entrance.
The coloured petals by the Gun
There was some really interesting stuff here and it was well worth the walk in the sun. The view next door couldn’t be beaten either 🙂
First were the coffee carts who must have done a roaring trade both strategically parked at each end of the park and fantastic coffee too.
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Popular on Saturday morning
Then came tossing the Gumboot, Throwing the Hammer and throwing the Caber.
Throwing the GumbootThe CaberThrowing the Hammer
There was a 50-minute walk in 5 minutes and also some egg throwing too… 🙂
The walk
A lot of fun and in perfect sunshine. The Motorhomes parked around the grounds got their chairs out and watched in comfort with their morning teas and biscuits 🙂
The GrandstandThe Grandstand for the games
After this the Hamilton Pipe Band came on with the pipes and drums which sounded amazing. You can’t beat a good pipe band.
Hamilton Pipe BandHamilton Pipe BandHamilton Pipe Band
The games carried on then we had the ceremonial entrance of the Haggis lead by one of the senior pipers and with Chairman of the NZMCA Waikato group carrying the Haggis with the Whiskey following behind.
The Haggis being piped in.Michael with the Haggis
I’ve never tried Haggis before but it’s really nice and found myself partaking when I was offered seconds 🙂 Must be the McLean blood in me!
In the afternoon there was a jazz group called the Flaming Mudcats on the stage which I popped over to check out. They were really good with a chap on the double bass.
Check out all those Motorhomes
In the evening, it was back in the hall for another band called Landslide, a Fleetwood Mac tribute band where we sat with our Dethleff Friends from the group. Nice to see them again.
Saturday night with Landslide
After a lie in on the Sunday morning after the rugby, Fiona went for another walk into town while I chatted to our Dairy Farmer neighbours from Rotorua, Tony and Teresa. There were a lot of discussions about the rugby and that Brit in the bunker 🙂 as you can imagine.
Click on the Gallery below for an enlarged slideshow
Hamilton Pipe Band
Hamilton Pipe Band
Hamilton Pipe Band
Hamilton Pipe Band
Hamilton Pipe Band
The Haggis
The Caber
Throwing the Gumboot
Throwing the Hammer
The walk
Throwing the Gumboot
Neal with his Highland gear 🙂
Harmonic Resonators on the Sunday night.
During the afternoon, there was an Accordion player, Annie Gong with come music sounds that she had made and versions of some well know songs, which sounded like a whole orchestra. It was well done. There were also raffles being held backed by NZMCA sponsors and others.
Harmonic Resonators on the Sunday night.
That night there was another band called The Harmonic Resonators which was essentially a family group which did some great harmonic singing. Think Crosby Stills and Nash but with some Te Reo as well along with lots of old favourites. They were fantastic and had great voices. Everyone in the hall were there to the end with a standing ovation. 🙂
Click on this to enlarge!
700 Motorhomes! see if you can find yours!
The weather was really starting to deteriorate with wind coming in but to a large degree, we were sheltered by Mt Te Aroha. The wind was coming around it though but that changed it to a south easterly which worked well as we were all parked pointing to the south. Over Sunday night, it blew dogs off chains, and we rocked and rolled. Some left later on Sunday to avoid the forecasted gloom 🙂
I was just pleased that the ground was so well prepared so there was little chance of getting stuck.
We were going to go over to the hall again for the final farewells and raffle results, but the weather was awful, so we decided to take advantage of a spell in the rain and head for the gate before the rush. Once we got to Ngatea, we refueled, emptied tanks and had a cup of tea.
The whiskey tradition.
Thanks for a fantastic weekend, great entertainment and as I said at the beginning, very well organised and we’re looking forward to the next one. 🙂
Rafe’s tracker map to the Te Aroha Romp – Armada GPS
After the huge success of the Tokoroa Timber town Romp over several years, the move to Te Aroha was only going to be better. Michael, Des and the team from the Waikato NZMCA committee have well and truly done a fantastic job over the years and I was really looking forward to it.
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Sheltered by the Mountain
It was explained to everyone at the beginning that the show was only on with some strict rules from the council due to their sensitivity of have nearly 700 Motorhomes, Caravans and Buses parked on and around their footy ground. It probably didn’t help that some rain arrived on the morning before the parking got underway but the parkers did an excellent job getting Motorhomes and Caravans to vary the route through to the parks so there weren’t great big tracks created.
Rafe with the soccer field behind
We were parked in the middle between the soccer and rugby grounds on some very solid and what felt like well drained ground which I was pleased about as there were some dire predictions of what was to come towards the end of the weekend.
Ready for the Rugby
The event went from Friday through to Monday with the weather packing up on the Sunday night. Many people left before the weather deteriorated on Sunday.
The parkers heading for a beer after a busy Friday
After parking Rafe, we opened vents and then went for a walk into Te Aroha across conveniently walkway across the river. The first port of call was a cafe for a coffee and a scone and then Fiona walked further on to have a look at the shops.
One of a few sculptures in the street
We’ve been here several times before to a Waikato rally and for a look at the town. It’s a lovely spot. Check out these links.
After heading back to the park, I went for a walk around and bumped into old friends Tim and Pam who I haven’t seen for years. Tim and Pam were involved with the Classic Boats on Rotoiti, and we used to catch up every year down there when I was involved with the Classic Yacht Association. Great to see them.
Click on the Gallery below to see the Concert enlarged.
One of the sights
Ready for the Rugby
The White Goat band Friday Night
The White Goat band Friday Night
The White Goat band Friday Night
The White Goat band Friday Night
The White Goat band Friday Night
Dancing between the tables Friday night
Dancing between the tables Friday night
Dancing while sitting 🙂
Dancing between the tables Friday night
Great to see a good number of our Dethleffs Group here with their Motorhomes and having fun. I also caught up with Neal who with his team have parked all vehicles for years on these rallies and is stepping down from the role this year. He’s a real gem and a great character.
Neal with his Highland gear 🙂
Later on Fiona and I headed over to the Hall with some lubricant and settled down for a great night with a band called the White Goat band.
They were fantastic doing all the old favourites that everyone knew. Most were up dancing all night and were there until it finished.
Dancing between the tables Friday nightThe White Goat band Friday NightThe White Goat band Friday Night
A great night and we still had the Highland Games to come the next day ! Next post 🙂
Rafe’s tracker map to the Te Aroha Romp – Armada GPS
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.
In the morning we all set off in different directions. Fiona and I set off to New Plymouth city to see the famous Len Lye Gallery and have some lunch and Fiona was keen to see some shops 🙂
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