i came across this today. It would interesting to tow. Room for the whole family 😎
It looks like a Dethleffs Esprit with a matching caravan modelled from another Esprit..
Has anyone see anything like this in Australasia yet ?
Matching colours
The Beach
Uretiti has to be in one of the best locations for a camping ground. Right behind the sand dunes and onto a beach that runs from Waipu Cove in the South to Ruakaka in the north. It’s about 10 kms long!
The park itself is huge and you basically park where you want to. As it is all grass, it’s sometimes a little tricky getting level but there is plenty of room with Long drop toilets and cold shower stations dotted throughout the park. There are walks around the dunes for those looking for some exercise.
Don’t forget to click on the images to see the Hi Res version
We parked on the beach side next to a track through the sand dunes to the beach.
We’d spent a great day brunching and riding around Whangarei Town centre which was fun so when we got to Uretiti, we were ready to blob out. On arrival, Fiona discovered that we had run out of tea😕 so in the morning we were off for a shopping trip to Waipu, then back to Uretiti to enjoy the sun. We parked on a knoll parallel to the beach and had a bit of a view of the dunes.
It was time for a swim. Even though it was a hot day, I’d have to say it was “refreshing”! I wasn’t in for long but it’s always nice to be able to tick off that first swim.
After a couple of hours on the beach, it was time to watch more Motorhomes and caravanners roll in for parks. Even when Uretiti is busy there are always plenty of gaps. It is huge!
With the sun coming down, out came the awning and down went the new mat under the awning for the first time and it was great to put the bike clothesline into service too.
With the phone ringing with work coming in, we knew we had to head back to Milford the next morning.
Uretiti is a magic spot. It’s even better when you have a NZMCA/DOC pass and we’ll be back.
The tenants are in and we’re off.
After a few last minute things to do to get the house ready for the tenants saw a couple of quick trips between Milford and Devonport but the tenants are in and it all looks good.
I celebrated with my first night away by catching up with long term friends Alan and Grant for a few cold ones and stayed the night at a reserve in Torpedo Bay in Devonport.
There were a few jobs to be done this week so we were in Milford until Saturday morning and now the fridge is pretty much sorted, we’re off.
The forecast was evil. Thunder and lightning was due and it was blowing a cross wind for most of the way north. We stopped for brunch at the Cider Shed just north of Warkworth. We’ve been there a few times before and they’re always good for a nice feed. There is a nice big level carpark making it easy to park large Motorhomes.
After a good break, we headed further north to Wellsford and then finally Waipu. Checking out the new NZMCA bible, we found the Caledonian park behind the shops. What an amazing place to stay. With power too, all for $10 a night.
We walked down to the McLeod Pizza Barn so Fiona felt right at home(she’s a McLeod) after an hour or two there we walked back to Rafe at the Caledonian Park.
By midnight it was raining pretty steadily and about 3am it was all in thunder and lightning. With the huge roof vent above our bed, it was fun watching the fun and games above. By the sounds of it, nothing like what they had back in Auckland.
On Sunday, we thought we’d head up to Whangarei and have a nosey around. We parked in the Motorhome parking in the Town centre while we had brunch. Whangarei is very Motorhome friendly with plenty of parking for bigger vehicles and several dump stations. The town centre is a fantastic place where it seems half of Whangarei meets, lunches and enjoys the ambience.
The walk to the town centre
Fiona waiting for brunch at the town centre
The town centre Marina
One of our neighbours at Pohe bridge
At the Pohe bridge
On our bike ride. The town centre from the Riverside bridge.
After a few hours of taking it all in, we set off to try a new park we heard about on the NZMCA Northland Facebook page called Pohe Bridge. A big carpark next to a new bridge. There is a cycle way / walkway which goes all around the harbour from the bridge and back again. Off came the bikes and we were heading back into the town centre again. Across a foot bridge, through the town centre and back along the northern side and back to Rafe.
We opted not to stay there, only because the sun was shining and we fancied getting some mileage out of our Doc pass which we’ve hardly used, and thought Uretiti beach seemed like a nicer spot with the beach.
A walk and sit on the beach for a while and we settled down for the night.
The Anxious Fridge
Every now and then a good product can fail which can be simply bad luck. We get it repaired and life goes on. When things like a fridge fails to work or fails to be useable, there are consequences like food going off or a cancelled trip. When there is a failure due to a silly design fault which lead to these consequences, there is plenty of room for an end user to be a bit miffed.
About a year ago, I was chatting to a neighbour at Uretiti DOC campground in Waipu. He had a New Euro Motorhome with the same fridge as ours and was showing me how his door lock mechanism had failed so he couldn’t open his fridge door. He ended up taking out the decorative panelling off the front so he could get to a shaft to open his door with a pair of pliers! The shaft had failed when two bits of coat hanger like wire, end on end had slipped past each other rendering the door mechanism useless. There was no proper joining shroud to keep the two bits of wire lined up. He’d gone to some trouble to show me how to get at this shaft and seemed fairly convinced, I was going to be next. This thankfully, hasn’t happened yet but I was very appreciative for the efforts he went to so I knew how to deal with it. My memory from this was how Micky Mouse, the whole setup was for a supposedly quality fridge that was more expensive than my fridge at home.
Friday night was looking good to get away up north for a few days. We’d both just finished work and decided to stop at the Silverdale Roadside Cafe and BP station for some diesel and food.
We’d just got going when the fridge starting beeping with a light flashing as well. It beeped for 30 seconds every 2.5 minutes. It was driving us nuts and we knew we’d never be able to sleep with it like this. At the truck stop, we turned off the fridge while we had tea and got some fuel as it seemed to keeping stuff cold, just making a racket!
After tea, reading through the “book” gave error messages for things like no gas, no power and talked about other buttons beeping with the alarm but nothing for this error. It did talk about having a “door open” alarm and the “light on in the fridge” alarm. That’s what it had to be as the fridge was still working perfectly.
In the meantime, we had a fridge full of food and didn’t know how to fix it.
We decided we’d go home, rescue the food and try again Saturday morning if we could find a fix.
Isn’t Google great for this… “Why is my fridge beeping” gave me a list of answers from several caravan sites and they all mentioned two fridges, ours being one of them. The fridge, can’t remember the model number now but it’s definitely the same as our one and they’re in all the newer bigger motorhomes and caravans.
Well, the nitty gritty of it is, they have a bad built in design fault or as some call this “an undocumented feature”! The led light is part of a printed circuit board inside the door catch assembly with an edge connector poking out the back into the fridge space.
Who is the fruit loop who thought putting an unprotected printed circuit board in a fridge was a good idea? Why not give it sealed plastic cover and some heat shrink and make it reliable?
I could see by putting my finger in the door switch that the interior led light went off but still had a faint glow so the door switch must be short circuiting by moisture. This was mentioned on various sites as well.
The recommended fixes from the Internet: pull the door catch cover off, wipe the plug surfaces dry and reconnect, reset fridge.. This didn’t work. Next step, disassemble again and disable the light by pulling the plug off. Yippee, success, but no light but at least the bloody fridge was quiet, works efficiently and we could sleep without the damn thing beeping all night!
So we shifted all the frozen and perishable foods, cheese and wine etc back into Rafe and we finally got away at 10am. It seems I’ll have to get a new door micro switch.
The coffee cup holder
This was Pete’s first rally with his new Dethleffs Black Magic so it was great to see the Kiwi ingenuity being applied to his van.
There is a notable absence of anywhere in the Ducato cab for holding coffee. Pete decided this had to change and came up with a nice tray with locking blocks underneath the hold it between the two front seats on the seat arms.
Clever use of dead space and with the use of matching vinyl from the floor and a nice wooden surround, it really looks the part.
The Wooden Table
This is Richards second year at a Dethleffs owners rally so it was nice to catch up again. Being the clever chap that he is, he significantly upgraded his dining area with a new table. Looking at the photo again, it looks like it might be Kauri. Very Nicely done!
A thing of beauty.
The slide out cupboard
The nice thing about a get together like the Dethleffs Owners meetings is to catch up with other owners like John with his Dethleffs Black Magic, and see the modifications and improvements they have made to their Motorhomes.
One of the wee gems that I really liked was John’s change to his curved galley cupboard which was hinged with shelves, into a full slide out cupboard. It completely changes the the availability of the shelves behind and allows you to make better use of the shelf space.
2nd Dethleffs NZ owners rally, day 2 – 20 plus images
After a great day of meeting new people, swapping notes and checking out new Motorhomes, everyone arrived at the Miranda Motorcamp outdoor kitchen. While most continued the chat over a cold orange juice, a BBQ fry up was under way by Owen and his team representing Jonas and Dethleffs NZ. They did a magnificent job of cooking for over 80 people. Thank you Owen, Jonas and Dethleffs NZ for providing the great food and for another great event.
A surprise for the evening was the presence of a team from Mecatronics and Kiwisat in Italy who supply the bulk of the Dethleffs TV antennas in NZ.
Enjoy the Gallery and remember to select the images for hi-res images.
Enjoying the moment
Happy people enjoying a cuppa in company this morning.
The next day under cover
Dethleffs crews in the outdoor Kitchen area.
After the tidy up, many retired to the hot pool in the Campground.
This morning, many left to head home to all over NZ but there are quite a few staying on. More tomorrow!
2nd annual NZ Dethleffs owners rally. 30 plus images
A great showing of hardware, nice weather, lots of happy faces and gatherings of like minded people swapping notes and enjoying their Motorhomes. 
Miranda Holiday Park is a great venue and is chocker with Dethleffs. I’m looking forward to a swim in the hot pools later.
Enjoy the images.
John with this Black Magic
Don’t forget to click on each image to get the hi res version
It I s interesting to see innovative improvements made by owners to their Motorhomes. I’ll post more on these over the next few days.
Last year, we had 24 odd Motorhomes attending, this year it is more than 40! What will it be next year.
Milford Marina Footbridge
This is a wee bit off topic, more about boats than Motorhomes but I’m so disappointed in our brain dead elected council people to let this go ahead. Read on.
Years ago, there was a huge footbridge with steps that went from the northern end of Milford beach and climbed up into the cliff to join a track to go to Inga / Beach Rd. Over the years, the bridge fell into a state of disrepair and in the late 60’s -early 70’s was deemed unsafe and demolished with a promise from the council that it would be replaced at a future date.
Time marched on and the Milford Mariners Society and Milford Cruising club members developed the marina to where it is today with about 200 boats with jettys, power and water.
Along came a few people from Castor Bay who couldn’t be bothered walking around the marina to get to the beach and had the council drag out the “promise” to renew the bridge.
This “replacement” is a mechanical bridge which they intend to operate remotely which is very different from what was there and with all the best intentions, will break down. When it does, it will become a safety issue, not to mention the costs in running it.
Anyway, how it works – Boaties are supposed to radio in to Viaduct Harbour to have the bridge opened when they want to leave or enter the creek. There will be alarms to “warn” people off the bridge which will be heard all around the Milford basin.
Most mariners will tell you that Milford creek is a nightmare to enter in anything from an easterly quarter in more that 15 -20 odd knots with the swell. If the bridge fails to open, there would be mayhem with boats up each others chuff in the corner of the entrance with nowhere to go.
I’ve entered the channel several times in Rorqual when it has been quite rough after a holiday weekend or two and once you’re committed to enter, there is no turning back. It is simply too narrow with rocks on both sides with the swell coming from behind. This makes it incredibly hard to steer until you get well into the creek. It is a safety issue which I think the council has largely ignored.
I understand the cost before construction started was already at $1m with talkfests and surveys. I reckon it’ll be at least $2-3 m before its finished.. all for a few people to walk to the beach.
We hear them say.. “ it won’t fail”. Those in Viaduct harbour will tell you about their bridge that “wouldn’t fail” that has failed regularly since it was installed which is why we are hearing talk about it being replaced.
Anyway .. as you can see, it is being built.
As a safety measure, they are constructing a pontoon which will require ongoing dredging (cost) just outside the bridge. On a busy holiday weekend with returning boats, this will be totally inadequate as it will only be big enough to hold about 4 vessels.
News Flash : A wee birdie tells me that the folk who open the bridge at Viaduct Harbour won’t work the Milford bridge as they have enough trouble getting folk off the Viaduct bridge before opening, let alone try to do Milford remotely.. What now ?
Bugger It, we are off - www.buggeritweareoff.com 
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