Tag Archives: Biking

Rotorua

Redwood Forest Treewalk and Ride

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This was the main reason why we wanted to come to Rotorua. We moved Rafe to Cozy Cottage Holiday Park as it’s a bit less to bike! We’ve stayed here before some time ago and as they were doing a deal and because I’m a sucker for Hot Pools which they have, yippee, we’re in!

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Walking through Redwood Forest

Its also closer to the Redwood Park area. As it was Easter, the park was chocker but mostly with tents and a few Caravans.

The Tree walk

After checking in, we got the bikes ready and headed off to the Redwoods Forest area. Although we had a brochure with a map on the back of the Trail to get there was as clear as mud and we found ourselves having to stop and get directions a few times but got there and its a great ride just getting there once you know where you’re going 🙂

Fiona checking in

I waited with the bikes and got some pictures around it while Fiona did the walk. It looks great with platforms on the bigger trees with suspension bridges between. It takes about 45 minutes to an hour. There is also a night time walk you can do with the trees all lit up which comes free with the daytime walk.

Into the forest

After Fiona got back, we got on the bikes and opted to do the “Mokopuna” trail which takes you around an easy route through the trees and about 2/3rds of the way around there is an exit chute from the forest where you can head back into town for lunch which is exactly what we did.

Magical

On the way back we rode past the Racecourse where there were 600 odd plus mostly white Motorhomes enjoying the NZMCA Annual AGM. An awesome sight seeing so many parked in one spot.

After the walk and onto the ride.

After lunch we headed back to the Park for a hot swim after our 16 odd K’s ride.

Rotorua

The Ngongotaha Trail

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Staying in the Rotorua Family Holiday park, we were very close to the trail into Rotorua..in fact it starts just behind the Ngongotaha shops but we got on from right over the road.

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Fiona on the Trail into town

We set the bikes up and we were off. The Trail starts down the side of a wide bike lane on a road and then turns into the sealed path through bush right next to an old disused Railway line.

On the trail into Rotorua

Eventually it comes out at Lake road which is the main road heading to downtown Rotorua and past Kuirau Park.

The view from the top. Biking into town

We were heading into town for lunch at Eat St. I’ve been here several times but never actually stopped here for a feed so after checking all the shops out, we decided on a shared Pizza from and Italian Restaurant which was fantastic.

Eat st

An hour or so later we rode around to Kuirau park and had a look at some of the Thermal areas there. Amazing to see boiling mud in the middle of a built up area like that.

Plenty of heat
Kuirau Park

After having a good look around here, we headed back down to the trial back to Rafe at the park.

Coming back to the camp

The round trip was about 16k’s according to the bike so not far at all and a good bit of exercise on a well setup and safe Trail.

Down the road from the camp

 

Rotorua

Art Deco by the lake

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Fiona and I popped in to this Camp Saver park a few years ago and it is in a magic spot. Right on the end of the Ngongotaha bike trail to Rotorua.

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The Cabins look awesome

The bike trail into town is just over the road and at the end of a very short road is the lake with a public ramp and a jetty.  Ngongotaha shops are an easy walk up the road.

Reece and Dianne have been running this camp for a few years now and although they’re Motorhomers themselves, there hasn’t really been much time for them to get away.

The Childrens play area

Every time I looked outside Rafe, there was Reece chopping a tree back or getting a planned maintenance chore out of the way.

Classic shower block

The newly done up Art Deco shower and Toilet blocks are just the bees knees and the cabins are in the same style.

Down the road from the camp

The last time we were here it was so hot, we spent the best part of an afternoon in their swimming pool. There is also a well appointed play area for the little ones too.

Rafe’s Tracker map to Rotorua Family Holiday Park – Armada GPS

Coromandel 2021

Fun in the sun at Pauanui

With the Covid scare stopping our Anniversary weekend trip dead in its tracks, we headed off to Pauanui for the weekend to catch up with family and friends with our bikes on the back.

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Fantastic Beach

Its a great place for bikes as its all pretty flat and as most of the locals there use bikes to get around, they seem pretty tolerant and used to seeing them on the road.

We checked in at our favourite place for parking there, the Pauanui Sports Club. The Pauanui Club have been offering parking for NZMCA’rs for a few years now and doing a great job of it.

Looking good

The first day we were there, there was a knock at the door in the morning and it was our grandson Ayden who had biked around to say hello. We were later joined by his Dad, Alex and brother Liam.

Alex teeing off

The mini golf course next door was the place to be which was also busy with the long weekend. Granny Fiona went along too. 8 yr old Liam found a water trap within a few strokes of his club. As it was quite hot, he was in no hurry to get out either 🙂

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Liam cooling off !
Liam fishing his ball out of the water 🙂
Fiona and Alex
Ayden at the mini golf
Fiona and Liam at the mini golf
Off to buy a slushy after with Granny.

We had been invited out to tea with one of Fiona’s old school friends Janette and her husband Evan. Always nice to see them so we were off on our bikes to their place for a great night.

Busy busy

The next day we spent meeting the neighbours. Paul and Ruth on one side from Auckland and Peter and Wendy from Tauranga on the other. Small world stuff too. It turns out I’d met one of Peter and Wendy’s good friends involved with the Motorhome industry who we met again later in the weekend. I also used to work with Paul’s brother in Auckland 30 plus years or so ago in the newspaper industry..

We took the boys to the village to get some lunch.

We finished off here by having fish and chips with the grandkids around at their place. A nice weekend.

I’ve been a great supporter of the Pauanui Club. They’ve been great supporters of the NZMCA and its members and provide a great facility.  It is run with little human intervention meaning, no booking, no sites are marked out.

Due to its popularity now, I think time has come for the sites to be marked out and a limit placed on the numbers like the NZMCA sites.

Over the weekend, we ended up having 14 vans in there with only half having some reasonable fire gaps between them.

An extra one out by the Airfield

The general thought here was that it would be a good idea that the club put some “below lawn mower height” pegs in to define some sites and make sure that everyone is kept safe. Cheap and easy and it can continue to be run as it is.

Busy busy busy

Its a fantastic place to stay with great people and long may it continue.

Nice to get away for the long weekend and catch up with everyone at a great spot.

Rafe’s Tracker map – Armada GPS

Coromandel 2020

Paradise on the Beach

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That’s Hahei! one of my favorite spots to stay but it has been a while since I’ve been here..

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The Beach

Arriving at Hahei and checking in with Cathy at the front desk was easy and she directed me to a great spot right behind the dunes by the beach. Cathy’s husband Grant is General Manager and it was really nice to chat to them both. With the Covid 19 lockdown, the NZMCA Camp Saver program has given them a welcome boost to their numbers.. You can only imagine the effect the lack of tourists would make to the bottom line for a big park like this so great that its working for them.

Grant and Cathy

The last time I was here was with friends from Taupo and Snells Beach but that was way back in 2017 according to Cathy’s records.. how time flies!

The weather was due to deteriorate but I had the day to check the place out and there is plenty of it.

Great Outlook

Just down the road is Cathedral Cove which you can walk to. Fiona and I did this a few years ago and its well worth doing.

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Things to do
The Beach
Walk to the beach
Looking out
The Spa pool over the bay
Lots of room.. it filled in later
Cabins
New covered BBQ area

Since I was last here, there is a Spa pool available now right on the crest of the dunes next to the beach which looks out over the bay to the Islands beyond. What a nice idea and I bet its popular in the peak season. There is also a BBQ hut with shelter looking out over the bay too..

The spa

Its a huge park with some really nice Tourist flats at one end overlooking the beach. And just acres of parking spots.

The Tourist Flats

With more than 200 powered sites, there is lots of space with room between parks and easy access to them as well.

Just a lovely atmosphere, a fantastic beach and its just over a couple of hours from Auckland.

Rafe’s Tracker map to Hahei

BOP 2020

Whakatane River

Whakatane .. its great to be here..

It’s been a wee while  since either of us have been in this part of the country so I was really looking forward to checking it out.

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The Awakeri Campground was great with the pool too but we were leaving that behind.. we arrived in Whakatane later in the morning and checked in and settled down.

Biking past the campground

This was a very different camp from Awakeri where the sites were a lot smaller but it was only $20 a night with power and had everything you would ever want in a fantastic location.

Easy Parking

Whakatane Holiday Park is pretty much right in the centre of town on the edge of the river, protected by a raised stop bank with a walking track on top which the locals seem to really enjoy.

Close by the town

The walking track around to the town

The track goes right into town and it is only 5 minutes away.  All the White Island boat services and Tourist area is based on the edge of the river just along from the park. There is also the Gardens and a model train and playground set up there too.

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Catching up
Whakatane town
Neat Mural by the coffee shop
Some tourist cabins
Looking down from the wall

We enjoyed a good look through the shops and a cuppa in one of the coffee shops and then headed back to Rafe.

Dusk with the walkers

Later in the day, we met David and Michelle who were visiting in their near new Dethleffs Trend motorhome. This is their first motorhome and they were really enjoying it. Nice people and they popped over later for a drink. It was really nice to see them.

Rafe’s Tracker trail to the camp at Whakatane

Nice spot and really handy and great value with the Camp saver.

Rotorua

Good value Motohome parking with Pools.

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After a great lunch at a Cafe in Ngongotaha shopping centre (the one closest to the NZMCA park) we had to start thinking about where we were going to stay for the night. It was 36C and I was sweaty already. It was also time to wash the linen.

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Rafe between the Hedgerows

Rotorua Family Holiday Park came up on the NZMCA app as being reasonably priced and they also had a laundry and a pool!  Perfection at $34 a night with a powered site and they were just around the corner in Ngongotaha.

Kids Playground

Motorhomers Reece and Diane, have been working on this park for the last 13 years and it looks fantastic. I was really impressed with the Motorhome sites being big, between hedgerows and easy to get in and out off.

The Tourist Flats .. neat

After buying their new Motorhome about 18 months ago, their only regret was having been too busy to get away in it.. the downside of self employment but they’ve done an excellent job of doing up the park and I’m sure they’ll get time to get away eventually !

Art Deco Loos

The Tourist flats and Toilets are in an Art Deco style and have all been done up and they look great.

How are those Flats

They’ve just finished doing up the Kitchen, Laundry and BBQ area and it looks good.

The Barbeque area.. neat and tidy

Fiona stripped the bed and headed off to the Laundry while I walked around and got some piccies. After that, we both headed straight for the pool and were there most of the afternoon. It was heavenly. We did have momentary thoughts about biking in on the trail to Rotorua which is literally just outside the gate but it was just too hot!

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Indie one of the Tourist Flats (Occupied)
Some cabins too
Kitchen
The Germans in their rented vans
Nice big parks with hedges between
That pool and there is a spa pool in that building behind.

We hadn’t long been in the pool when we met some German tourists who lived in southern Germany near Isny where the Dethleffs Motorhomes are made. Nice people and they were really interesting to talk to given Brexit and other things that are happening at the moment.

Nicely setup

It was nice to find a really nice clean campground, with great hosts at a really sensible price, in what is normally quite an expensive place to stay.

Rafe’s Tracker Map

Hawkes Bay

Botannical Motorhome parking

When we’re in Napier, Eriksen NZMCA park is our go to spot to stay. Lots of room, nice and flat, never any hassle and an easy bike ride into town.

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Very Nice!

As we generally only get to Napier once every 18 months or so, there is always plenty of changes to see but this visit completely bowled me over. The extra bunds and planting for parking is amazing and I’m sure they haven’t finished. Like Ngongotaha, they’ve build a Happy Hour Hall and function centre.

Rafe hiding amongst the Shrubs

The first time I came here not long after it opened, the whole left hand side of the field was leased out to a local farmer for growing something so to see it like this is fantastic. We also came here a bit later when there was an earthquake !

Out exposed so we could get the wind!.. and it was lovely.

We arrived here with a 35C heat and decided after looking at Clifton Beach that there was not enough Westerly winds getting in to cool us down..  Then the penny dropped..  winds off the vineyards at Ericksen and so off we went.

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Fantastic Gardens
Up against the Hedge for the wind
Nice Parking
Tidy too

We hadn’t long been there when we took the bikes down and headed into our favorite Art Deco pub, the Masonic for a Cold G&T and Chardy.  With plenty of wind about, it was very pleasant.

Fiona on the bike trail to into Town

After an hour or so, we made our way back to Ericksen flying back with the wind behind us 🙂

Rafe’s Track to Ericksen

Coromandel 2019

Down on the Beach

Having finished with the house pretty much with the landscaping, Laundry and Kitchen bits, it was time to get back in Rafe and head south.

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A primo spot in the corner

With the 32C degree temperatures plus, we figured a beach park would be the name of the game so we picked Waihi Beach NZMCA park.

Its a busy park now and its easy to see why being so handy to the Beach and easy rides to cafe’s. There’s even a nice Cafe right next door.

Look at those plants go!

Having done some piccies of the opening, I was really pleased to see how the plants had grown and how established it all looks. Its nice too to see the 3 metre parking marks. I reckon that makes it much easier to line yourself up keep everyone a resonable distance apart.

Nice planting and they’re off

When we first arrived there was a good westerley breeze blowing across the park so the sensible place to park was on the upwind side of the park and with the 30 plus degree temporatures, it was nice to have the breeze blowing through Rafe to keep us cool.

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Great sign
Hot Hot hot!
Look at those plants go!
Catching the breeze
Nice Beach
On the way back from Bowentown
The Bike trail heading back to the park

We spent the first afternoon down in the township being only a 10 minute bike ride away and then headed down the bike trail down to Bowentown about 7ks’ south. Its a great ride and although we didn’t go right down to Anzac Bay its a great run.

The Bike trail heading back to the park

The next day we walked down to the beach. A nice spot to stop over and good to see the park is so popular.

Coromandel 2019

Waihi Beach Pod

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Waihi Beach NZMCA park is an easy 10 minute bike ride away from the centre of Waihi Beach shops.

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Easy parking for our bikes

We rode in for a look around the shops and to check out somewhere for lunch.

The Courtyard

Fiona found a setup called the Pod which is a group of Bure like buildings amongst a very pacific inspired garden which serves fantastic food and coffee. It also has a few shops in there too in separate buildings. Its on the left as you ride into the shops.

Fiona in the Bure

Quite a setup and it seemed to be very popular with the locals.
There is also easy secure parking for bikes (bring a bike lock).

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The middle courtyard
The Entrance
Fiona in the Bure

A lovely spot and quite different from your normal cafe.

One of the shops