It’s great to be on the road.. As I suspected might happen… Forgetting something important…, we got as far as the city and had to return to  Devonport to send out my September invoices ..😗… That set us back half an hour for doing a job on the way for a Wellington customer,…on a farm at Glen Murray. ..it didn’t really matter at the end of the day..we’re on the road and away .. Yay.
Madam reading up on the wind farmThe wind farm at Te Uku
We arrived 40 minutes later and got some nice images .. Rafes first visit to a farm and getting the designer dirt treatment😀
The Gps then had a moment where it took us the back windy way from there to Raglan where we caught up with our friends from Taupo, Dianne and Gary in their new Dethleffs XLI. Great to see them again.
Raglan Main stRaglan Hotel
Dianne had arranged for us to stay at the Raglan Motorcamp which is on a peninsula virtually surrounded by water with a footbridge into town so we’re looking forward to checking that out later… More on this tomorrow.
As we’re renting the house out, we’re running down the pantry stocks in the house so provisioning the van for the Sth Island trip tomorrow was pretty straight forward… more a case of finding places to put stuff.
Madam in the Supermarket provisioning for the trip.
I spent a couple of hours yesterday pulling everything out of the cupboards and resetting where stuff goes in which cupboards… It’s amazing the space that was created for yep! …. more stuff
Under floor storage. There are three ares like this .. Very handy
We use big plastic storage bins for keeping things tidy in the garage and most of that was rejigged as well so it’s all looking good.. Â I’ve got that feeling we’re going to forget something important..
Wardrobe drawers.. A cheap way for extra storage
On a recent visit to the Plastic Box company, I discovered a neat way of making better use of our wardrobes. They have a hanging draw set that is designed to make a wardrobe into some shelving… To do both wardrobes was about $140 all up and it looks like it should work quite well..
Yippee .. Off tomorrow to meet some Motorhome friends at Raglan for a couple days, then Marton to meet some other Motorhome friends and then we travel in convoy to the South Island via WOW in Wellington.
I’ll try to post daily now we’re on the move. Keep your eyes peeled😃
Mike & Wendy with their Rapido, Madam in the background ready for lunch.
After leaving Rob & Helens at Snells Beach after a morning cuppa, we met Mike & Wendy with their new French A class Rapido at Shakespeare Bay, Whangaparoa. I went to school with Mike last century and Fiona met Wendy at Tech not long after 🙂
The Rapido is based on a Fiat Ducato, with a centre island bed with a HUGE garage across the back. Very comfortable and very similar to the Dethleffs EspritÂ
Mike likes his knick knacks so its great for him to have this amazing amount of storage 🙂
We’ve been trying to get together with them for some time so it was nice to finally have lunch together. They had spent the night at Shakespeare Park and ready to toodle back to Devonport.
The Girls whipped up some LunchRafe & the Rapido at Shakespeare Park
After a nice lunch and swapping notes, it was great for each of us to come away having learnt something about our vans. Mike being a Certified Gasfitter and Plumber, has done some really clever things with both the gas and the water. .. Auto changing gas bottles and outside shower and other things too!
It was nice to see them enjoying their new Motorhome.
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On Saturday, we cruised up to see our Motorhome friends, Rob & Helen at Snells Beach .
It was great to have a meal with them before we all visit the South Island later this month. We are hoping to catch up with them down there too.
Some strategic parking saw the ramp to the door 🙂Snells Beach HousingOur parking spot at the Northern end
We parked the van at the end of their road at the Northern part of the beach.. a lovely spot and the weather was playing the game albeit with plenty of wind.
Catching up with Rob and Helen and hearing their plans for the South Island was great fun. We last saw them at the Kai Iwi lakes rally in July.
We’ve stayed here at Snells beach before but were in the “middle carpark” further down the beach and there is a third carpark as well for motorhomes.
Apparently some of the locals around the middle park have been getting agitated about some of the behaviour from some of the Freedom Campers in their patch.
Unfortunately with the huge growth in Motorhoming,  most councils want to provide freedom camping which is great. The trouble is, many are providing the space but not policing it effectively. As a result, the “mattress vans” and non compliant renters and cars are ruining for everyone by not playing the game and “freedom camping” generally is seen as a blight in their backyard.
It’s a shame that the irresponsible few are going to bugger it up for many who are playing by the rules.
The Middle ParkNorthern End of Snells
We woke up early and went for a walk along Snells beach to the other Motorhome parks and it was all looking really nice ..A few vans in each and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.
Motorhomers enjoying the Southernmost parkHappy Dog walkers
They’re a very friendly lot up there .. all the dog walkers saying hello or good morning and smiling away.. A really nice place to stay looking out at Kawau Island.
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We are  still waiting for a tenant for the house but it has only been just over a week. Rome wasn’t built in a day as they say.
We’re really looking forward to heading south in a couple of weeks time.  Here’s another great recent trip in the meantime.
All the Vans at the LakesAt Kaiwi Lakes Rally
Late in July, we arranged to meet friends at a NZMCA rally being held at kai Iwi lakes .. somewhere I’ve have never been to before north of Dargaville on the coast. We left Auckland on a Saturday morning and arrived there just after midday.. its a good 2.5 – 3 hr run.
There were a lot of vans and a lot more of them were European Motorhomes than the traditional bus conversions that we’ve seen at these events. A really interesting place and another well organised event by the Northland NZMCA crew. Along with meeting our friends from Snells Beach, we met many Dethleffs van owners, some who have travelled quite some distance to be part of the fun. Remember to click on the images to enlarge them.
One of the biggest in the parkLots of Ferns
There aren’t many DOC camps around the Auckland region and on the way home, we were keen to try the Trounson Kauri park which is just up the road (15k’s or so) towards Waipoua Forest . .. somewhere else we’d never been to.
All parked up
After plugging in to the power and settling down, we were off to explore the park. It is really nicely set up .. a boardwalk stretches through the whole length of the  forest. Amazing huge Kauri Trees mixed with new growth.. It’s very clean and an easy 1/2 hour walk through the whole park. Well worth doing.
And I took one of her 🙂Just to prove that I did the walk, Fiona took this cell phone piccy
We got back to the van and settled down in front of the heater to warm up with a glass of something cold .. This must be one of the few DOC parks with power. Several vans of nice French tourists arrived just before dark which was good.
There is also a building with a hot shower and kitchen facilities and nice clean toilets.
The walk was fantastic and its a great spot for a night in your Motorhome.
During the walk
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The Firth Tower and House. The original was burnt down in 1902
3k’s or so outside of Matamata is the Firth Tower Museum.
Its an amazing collection of original buildings in the grounds of what used to be a farm for the Firth family in Auckland to feed the flour mill. It later became the base for a well known Waikato family to farm.
The original farmhouse was built with the tower in the later 1800’s but the farmhouse burnt down in 1902 and was replaced then by the current house. It was then owned by the McCaw family. Don’t forget you can click on the images to enlarge them
Firth Tower Museum Historical man cave
The Coach
Original Tractor
Milking .. love the old radio
Each building had its own collection
Out with the washing
Love the stick with the fork
Where we parked for the night, that’s the back of the van with the arrow. From the top of the tower shot through the glass.
Madam checking out the Phone box
The House with Tower
The Schoolhouse, Post office and Church
Madam all dressed for the occasion
Firth Tower
Sunset
In each of the buildings there is a theme of history, Agriculture, Transport, Medical, local war involvement, and there is even two carriages with the History of the Kaimai tunnel as well.
The volunteers who staff it were all wearing historical gear to add to the feel of the place. When we visited, there was school trip of local primary school kids and they all got dressed up in historical clothing to add to the occasion.
Dusk with The Tower
For $10 you can stay the night with power or free parking without power. One of the nice things about being on the road is discovering new places to stay and how nice they can be and often it is the least expensive that are the nicest places to stay… this was one of those times.  A great way to spend the day and it really is a well setup museum.
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After Te Aroha, we headed to Matamata to see the Firth Tower Museum complex and Madam was keen for some retail therapy.
Usually, I’m passing through Matamata and only really stop at the KFC shop on the way to Rotorua or a cup of tea on the way back so it was nice to actually stop and check it out properly.
Its an amazing little town. We arrived early around 10am and went for a walk through the town, stopping for a cuppa in an Italian coffee shop as you do in Matamata!
Getting to the end of the main strip, there was this amazing I site, all done up as one of the Lord of the Ring buildings, complete with a thatched roof. Now that we’ve been in and got all the brochures, we both decided that we would save the tour to the Film set for another time. Click on the images to enlarge
Madam in front of the Isite
Madam looking happy about some retail therapy
Main street of Matamata
The I site.. easy to see we are in Lord of the Rings territory
After getting some food for tea from various shops, we decided to head for the Firth Tower Museum, where we would probably stay the night.. More on that tomorrow.
Saturday was a big day… starting with launching my old ex Whalechaser now being looked after by my sons after they’ve literally repainted the whole thing. Click on the photos to enlarge
Rorqual being launched
After parking her in the berth, we were off in Rafe to the Grandkids in Ardmore to babysit. I’m always very careful going up their 1/2 k odd long driveway as the trees and shrubs at the gateway lining it grow like weeds and reach out to try and scratch Rafe. Alex and Sarah had given them a good haircut so all good.
Our spot in the cornerThe Tree Haircut
After a good night parked in the corner,  we woke up to the family tradition on Fathers Day of chocolate fish.. yum first thing in the morning 🙂
After a cup of coffee and breakfast, we both felt that a hot swim might be the order of the day and neither of us being ready to go home, so we thought a decent drive, Te Aroha hot pools, 120 odd K away.
Rather than go the way we always go, via Maugataroto, we thought we’d try down State Highway 1 on the motorway and turn off at Ohinewai through to Tahuna. What a great run too apart from taking a wrong turn and adding 15 minutes or so to the trip.. no harm done.
Checking in to the Te Aroha Holiday Park, just on the South Side of the Town itself was easy. $34 for the two of us with the NZMCA discount.. what a classic place. All the cabins are ex workingmens huts. In really good nick too.
Click on the photos to Enlarge
Nice big parks
The kids adventure playground. Working phone and Kitchen/Laundry
Cabins and Adventure playgound
Amazing 50’s working mans huts as cabins
Our first use of the new Clothesline
Mt Te Aroha behind
Reading through Rankers and Wikicamps, some of the comments are awful and the place didn’t deserve the bad rap that it had. One of the comments was that the hot pools didn’t have any water in them, .. my first question when I checked in .. after that it was all good.
There was a really nice pool complex too. The pools weren’t ready until after 6 and it was dark by then so no photos.
Huge parking spaces and nicely separated off by hedges and plants. Well placed and easy to get to Dump Station too. A nice place to stay.
It was this time a year ago that we went to our first ever NZMCA rally in Northland. A really nice bunch of people and there were in excess of 90 Motorhomes in attendance, quite a few of them from Auckland.
One row back !
Notayot
The spectators
Balloon blowing
Balloon blowing
The games
The Beach
Happy Camping
Under the Tree
Early Morning at Balnd Bay
Early morning
Prizegiving
The prizegiving on Sunday morning
At Russell with the Sutherlands
With The Sutherlands at Russell the next day
A magic spot just south of the Bay of Islands right on the water. It was only our 5th or 6th trip away in a relatively new machine so we were still very much finding our way so when the North Easterly gusts of 30-40 knots odd rolled in around 11pm and the van started rocking, it was a bit interesting 🙂
We arrived around 2pm on the Saturday afternoon. Many of them had arrived the previous day so all the primo waterfront spots were all taken.. that was before we found out about the wind, then we were quite relieved to be a row back!
The Games started soon after we arrived.. lots of fun and good to see everyone having a good laugh.
We met Rob & Helen  who have become good friends since and we spent the the next night with them in the Russell RSA carpark. The following night we spent at Uretiti Doc park another magic place in the world.
Uretiti Doc park with the Awning out
If I remember correctly, that was the first time we used the awning and the BBQ gas jack.. funny what you remember.. a great weekend away.
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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