Isn’t just great having the NZMCA app now running on our iPads. Even though I’ve had the gps files installed in Rafes in dash gps, it’s really nice sitting in the deck chair with the iPad and figuring out where to next with the app.
Rafe behind the railway stationThe Motorhome parking behind the station
We found in the iPad, a great spot in Waihi that sounded fantastic. It’s at the Goldfields railway station at Waihi. For $10 per night, there are 6 powered sites and more space for others as well. There is also access to water and the Rail Trail toilets as the Rail Trail ends at the railway station. About 15 minutes walk away is the centre of town.
Click on the images for hi res or slideshow
Waihi station
The train with the Waihi station
Today’s driver
Nicely kept carriages
Rafe in the overnight area from the train
Pulling out of Waihi, off to Waikino
The traffic to waihi
Close to waikino
A nice Mitzi zooming past
Arriving at Waikino
Waikino station
Inside the cafe at Waikino station
Outside Waikino station
Shifting the loco
Allaboard
Back to Waihi
On the way back to Waihi
The Conductor watching at a crossing
We arrived and plugged in, paid for the park and we’re just in time for the last train ride to Waikino and back. The perfect way to check out the bike trails before walking or biking the Karangahape gorge trails.
Waihi station with Rafe parked behind
The train stops for 15 minutes or so, just enough time for a beer, glass of wine or just a coffee or ice cream. A great way to spend a couple of hours and fun too.
There are 3 return trips each day from Waihi.
To beat the traffic south, we stayed overnight in Rafe, in their Ardmore driveway with Alex, Sarah and the boys.
At around 8:30 in the morning, we heard the little knock from 3yr old Liam wanting to come in. Fiona let him in and he jumped on the bed and played his favourite games on Fiona’s iPad.
We got up and had breakfast 15 or so minutes later when Ayden(7yrs) arrived to join in. He went on to tell us that Liam had sneaked out to see us and in doing so, got stuck in the cat flap in the back door. To cries of “help please” Sarah got up to help him back out of the cat flap and free himself. We had no idea but when I mentioned it to him later, he shrugged his shoulders and just grinned at me. 😀
Dancing
After saying goodbye, we headed towards Paeroa to stop briefly at Countdown for groceries and then on to Katikati to join in with the NZMCA promoted Katikati Wine and Avocado festival at Uretara Domain.
Rafe in front of the the park. Although we could have stayed there, we moved later over to the edge of the park closer to other Motorhomes.
We did this for the first time last year and it was a real hoot. Great music, interesting food and nice wines. I bought a nice bottle of Chardonnay and Fiona had a cider and we ordered several bits to make up a great lunch. We joined up with some nice people from Tauranga. After them, we were joined by another couple also from Tauranga but originally from Auckland. As it turns out, our sons had both been posted overseas one after the other to the same place. Small world stuff.
It was a great day. The Katikati Lions club did a great job arranging parking for about 30 odd Motorhomes and setting up the event.
The normally free are next to the reserve.. Chocker !
Earlier in the day
Everyone was involved
One of the stalls
One of the wine dealers
Lions club people cleaning up as the day went on. They did a fantastic job.
One of the early bands
One of the wine stalls there
I’m not sure who they were but she was amazing on the bagpipes too.
You can see the Motorhomes in the background
One of the main bands
Dancing
Talks around the cricket pitch
Later I moved Rafe over with the other Motorhomes once some cars left.
Last year, we were in the normal free parking next to the domain but this year, there were more vans so we parked right on the domain behind a temporary fence which worked really well.
Later we were invited over to our neighbours two buses for the customary happy hour with about 18 others from Motorhomes.
The proceeds of the festival were for the local rescue helicopter.
A great fun day for everyone and I hope this years charity, Katikati rescue Helicopter rescue squad did OK from the proceeds.
Yesterday morning, I pulled into Ray’s Rest mainly just to have a cup of tea, something to eat and tidy up Rafe. This included putting my towel and togs on my bike rack clothes line.
Some action at Ray’s Rest
As it does, lunch time came around fairly quickly so I closed the roof hatches, shut the windows and I was heading into Kaiaua for fish and chips for lunch. I’d just arrived back when my neighbour came over to tell me that I had left in such a hurry that I’d left my towel and togs on the bike rack line. The towel was still there but the togs had vanished!
I ate the fish and chips while they were hot, Gurnard and a couple of scallops. Yum! Then set off in Rafe to look for my togs. Just down the road about 100 metres from Ray’s Rest towards Kaiaua were my togs on the side of the road in a shrub! Memo to self: I must make sure I clear the clothesline before taking off 😳
So, feeling like a bit of a chump, I went over and thanked my neighbour giving him the good news that it was bone dry 😄 It’s just as well my togs are bright orange!
Back at Ray’s Rest, not a puff of the forecast wind, hardly any clouds to be seen, I decided to stay the night.
In the morning on the beach
The sunset was amazing… As was the morning again today. It’s easy to see why so many Motorhomers stay here.
looking out of the window last night at Ray’s RestDusk at Ray’s Rest
Remember to click on the images to see them in all there glory!
I’ve been wanting to check out Port Waikato with Rafe for a while now after reading such good reviews of the Motorcamp there with the Jandals covered fence in the usual camping apps.
Jandal covered fence
The weather forecast wasn’t good. The forecast was for up to 40 knots from the south east with showers easing overnight so I thought Port Waikato would be good being on the west coast.
I booked in on the way and there was plenty of room being almost mid week.
“Ers and Mine” matching Motorhome and Bach within the camp next to Rafe.Permanent Caravans within the camp
I arrived and checked in with a delightful French chap who seemed to be in charge. He couldn’t have been more helpful, showing me how to get to the beach, where the cafe was.
The camp ground is well setup. Big parking spots with plenty of room for awnings. Nicely kept toilets, laundry, tv lounge and a nice BBQ area.
Within 5 minutes of arriving, I met my neighbours who were parked quite a distance away and as the time ticked away, we had the customary happy hour or so at 5pm in Rafe.
The Waikato river at dusk
Ers and Mine
The wharf
Sunset beach looking up towards Manukau
The Waikato River
On the way towards Port Waikato, the Tuakau bridge.
After tea, I went for a walk around to the sand dunes and a general nosey around. The baches and buildings are amazing for being quite eclectic. All different colours too. There was even a pink one! I always said that I make all the important decisions, she decides what’s important! I guess his colour choice wasn’t considered important 😊
The pink bach
I had a quick look around the beach with the camera before joining my neighbours at the Cafe for a quick coffee.
The Sand dunes
A neat spot to stay and it’s only 90 minutes from Auckland. I bet it’s busy in the height of summer.
Tom and Erin were my neighbours at Port Waikato holiday park and are based in Fielding. They bought their very Retro looking 1988 Mitsibishi L300 from some recently arrived South Africans who brought it with them when they arrived in NZ but then decided to buy a new Dethleffs.
The van with all its colourful awnings.
For a small van, I was expecting not enough room to swing a cat but was hugely surprised by the amount of storage and little spaces being used really creatively. There is even a drinks cabinet!
More seating and easy to get at driving position.
Luton sleeping area
Neat little spot fit microwave and jug
Drinks cabinet !
Retro awnings
They’ve had this van now for more than 11 years and have been everywhere several times with no issues.
One of the first things they did was make it NZ CSC compliant by adding grey water tanks and fine tuning a few other things. They also changed the TV setup to digital from UHF, changed the lighting to LED along with some upgrades to squabs etc.
Spacious seating area
They plan to continue their regular weekend trips to their favourite Foxton Beach weekend spot along with more cruising around NZ.
A well kept, neat looking van with lots of charm.
Over the last few months there has been quite a lot of discussion on the NZMCA forum on the changes to the Free camping area at Gulf Harbour.
Nice spot for overnighting with a great view
We were going to spend a night with my brother in law John and his other half Marnie at Silverdale and as we were a bit early, we decided to check it out and stop for a cup of tea. The weather wasn’t playing the game so it wasn’t looking its best as the nice overnighting spot that it is.
Nice for a cup of tea, Great outlook right back to the City
I think the council have done quite a good job of separating the boat trailer car parking, the Motorhome parking and the ferry parkers.
The sign writing is nice and clear and allows plenty of room for everyone.
On the northern sideA great spot with good facilities including a dump station
My only comment for improvements would be to take a leaf out of Taupo councils book and paint the 3m fire safety gap, as No Parking between each park, so the tourists and those not aware, don’t try to jam in late at night.
Oops, maybe just stopping for a moment.. Nice long trailer parking for the boaties.
We only stopped for a look and moved on to Silverdale but a big improvement.
While we were in Napier in the waterfront park, who should also be there amongst the 150 odd motorhomes but Bruce and Raewyn in their Dethleffs Sunlight. They came in a little later than us and were lucky to get a waterfront view site where they could put out their awning. You can see the back of us on the left in the background. We spent a very pleasant happy hour with them with some others one night.
Bruce and Raewyns Sunlight
When they took delivery of their new van just before Christmas, it was missing a knife and forks drawer and just came with a shelf where you could put a plastic tray down on non slip.
Bruce decided that he was going to go one better and took the shelf out and make some drawers so he could make better use of the space. After finding that the veneer used in the rest of the van was almost impossible to get, he cannibalised the shelf into drawer fronts so he could match the colour of the van.
Bruce with his drawers
He measured up and bought some soft close drawer sliders and made three drawers to accommodate all their kitchen bits and bobs. A big improvement and one that really adds to the functionality of their galley area.
I don’t know how many times I’ve driven past Wairakei over the years but as we left Gary and Diannes place this time and we had plenty of time, I thought we’d get a closer look at where some of our power comes from.
The plumbing undera bridge and the steam
After taking a couple of wrong turns and ending up at a semi rural café and camping ground down a dusty road and getting rafe all covered in muck and another turn ending up at a Contact office block, we found the Lookout road alongside a BP service station. There is very little to say where the lookout is but the road leads along fences, past lots of expensive looking plumbing and you end up driving up a hill to the lookout. Well worth the effort.
A panorama from the lookout. Click on this for more detail.
I took a few piccies and we were on our way.
From the lookout of the Bores
Amazing to think that all that heat comes out from under our feet and creates our power or at least some of it.
On arrival in Taupo on the waterfront, we pulled up next to Oliver and Noeline from Hamilton.
The Fiat / CI Munro
They purchased their 2009 2.3 litre Fiat Ducato 2 years ago so they take away their grandkids. The ex rental with a CI Munro back had done 110,000 odd k’s but is in exceptional condition. They’ve added solar power and more battery power along with a bigger TV and are really enjoying it. They recently did a trip right down to Bluff around the South Island and enjoyed some time at former west coaster Noelines old region.
Looking forward. Bed up stairsThe Galley are at the back
The van performed faultlessly all the way around and they are planning a trip into new territory up to the Bay of Islands and beyond. A really nice tidy functional Motorhome.
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.
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