Caroline had a really popular Celtic cafe and bar in the Whanganui City Centre but tragedy struck and it burnt to the ground. Bouncing back from adversity, she purchased the Arohomo Hotel next to the river which was for sale at the time.
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From the street
Over the course of the last few years, she has completely rebuilt the Bar and Restaurant and now Caroline’s Boatshed is one of Whanganui’s finest eating out establishments. Having quite a lot of land behind the Restaurant, with her Caretaker, Bruce, they’ve developed this into a well equipped Motorhome park complete with 30 powered sites, a dump station, showers and a washing machine.
The carpark and Caroline’s Boathouse
At $15 a night for a powered site for 1 or $25 for two, it’s very good value.
The outbuilding at the back.
For me, being right next to the river, a flat bike ride to town, it’s a magic discovery
Heading for the Countdown supermarket at Kilburnie after a quick trip down from Paekaekareki was easy. There was plenty of parking over two car parks and I got heaps of stuff for us both for a few days. After nearly two weeks of unsupervised travel, I’d spent the previous two days tidying up the van, washing the linen and getting things shipshape for Fiona 🙂
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In Evans Bay
It was time to head for the airport and pick her up from the flight from Auckland. I hadn’t been to Wellington airport for a while so I was a bit unsure of how Motorhome friendly it might or might not be! Wee bit stressful !
After getting a fright at how low the canopy was for the pick up area, I opted for the departure ramp and all was fine !
We made it safely to Evans Bay after that and it was nice to be able to switch off, open the vents and have a cup of tea and work out what we were doing.
After we’d had lunch in a French Cafe in town by David Jones, we walked to the main War memorial museum to see the Peter Jackson display of World War 1. It was amazing with the usual high quality displays. The realism was quite something.
Tank tracks above
It was interesting as my Grandfather drove one of these old Tanks in the Somme in the First World War. I remember as a 4 year old him telling me stories of how they used to cross the German trenches with these monsters. I won’t spill all the gory details but it’s interesting that now that I’m nearly 60, I can still remember exactly what he described 🙂
I used to love listening to his stories and he loved telling them. He was a real character.
Apparently he turned up to his own funeral after the war at his home town in Little Downham, Ely. He saw someone in the street and asked where they were.. “Oh Bert, they’re all at your funeral down at the church!” His mother was so pleased to see him that she scraped the mud of his coat and put it in a little tin. My son Alex has got that tin with the dirt today along with medals and other important family stuff. … Great stuff for a 4 yr old 🙂 .. And his peppermints in the old Mark 1 Zephyr were good too !
Outside the Memorial
Soldiers on the ramps
The Entrance
In the Trenches
The tank above the trenches
Back to the show.. I didn’t realise the scale and how big they were compared to infantry soldiers and the crews.
Poignant Memorial
The display was stunning and I reckon it’s a must do if you’re in Wellington. The very last display is quite poignant too of an older chap in a field of poppies with a young boy.. Fantastic display.
In Wellington, I received a message from my old friend (and work colleague and Motorhomer) Grant suggesting that we should go and check out the Roxy Theatre in Miramar.
Click on the images to see Hi Res or a slideshow As it was only a few K’s away from our base at Evans Bay, we set out to check it out and it’s a thing of beauty.
Owned jointly by Richard Taylor and Jamie Selkirk of Weta Workshop fame, it is simply stunning. They’ve owned it for quite a long time but due to their work commitments with the movie industry, they had to put the renovation job on hold until a few years ago.
It was once a shopping centre so it has been a big do up job.
Some of the art
The Cafe and Shop
Upstairs with the ceiling
There is a really nice cafe on the ground floor but the decor and attention to detail with old movie cameras, the art and a huge ceiling mural is just stunning.
In the middle of Miramar shops, it’s something you must check out.
The Weta cave is at the other end of Park ave, which is also worth visiting too. There is easy Motorhome parking in the surrounding streets so easy to get there. Thanks Grant for telling us about it.
This was a real discovery as when I first arrived, they immediately said that they allowed Certified Self Contained Motorhomers to stay overnight. A great discovery as it doesn’t say anywhere and doesn’t seem to appear on any apps that I use. .. Now we know.
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Cafe over the carpark
The Pioneers village is just outside Stratford on the southern side and is a collection of 40 plus pioneer buildings set up as a village and done very well.
Okato CottageInside Okato Cottage
Many of the buildings have come from the area and have their full history with them so it’s a great record of who did what locally and the the buildings are well setup for visitors.
A nurse a bit worse for wear
Raewyn oiling the wheels
Many of the local families have donated all sorts of furniture, clothes and their old homes to make it happen. There is also a train with carriages on a track that surrounds the entire village. Board member Raewyn was the train driver on the day and was very helpful with showing me what was there.
Plenty of parking
There is an adjoining cafe which has a great selection of food for lunches and coffee stops so a good place to stop and as I said, very easy parking.
You’ve got to hand it to the good folk of Otorohonga, they’ve certainly thought about standing out from the crowd with their public loos.
The Railway Station
I was heading towards Tauramunui to do the Forgotten Highway and as I was approaching Otorohonga, I thought I’d stop at the Railway Cafe in the Railway Station around the behind the main shops. It was closed but I noticed the loos right across the road.
The Chaps
What a hoot having all the names on the door..
The Woman’s
Something there for everyone !
Easy peasy parking
Another cafe famous for its great coffee, with very easy parking for bigger Motorhomes, which you wouldn’t know was there.
Leaving Thames after a great few days cruising around the Coromandel Peninsula with plenty of time of my hands. I had all day to get home but just before Pipiroa, I started seeing signs for the Bugger café. Well with the Toyota Bugger ad having just been judged one of the all time top ads and the name of this blog, I just had to stop and check it out and I wasn’t to be disappointed.
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Big Carpark
A huge carpark in front and although it was busy with cars, there were plenty of big spaces to make easy parking for a large motorhome like Rafe.
Rafe snuggled into a park
I stopped to take some piccies outside and wandered in to a big cheery welcome from owner, Glenda and her team.. nothing beats a great welcome.
Nice food, nice people, reasonable pricing and lots of Bugger bits around the wall encouraging good humour. Their line is “Laugh a little” which you can see everywhere and its infectious.
I bought a Bugger Tshirt and a Bugger Motorhome Rug called the Bugger Rug for Fiona. Lots of fun and neat people.
Glenda and John also have a Bugger café in Tirau.
Heading back to Auckland after a great weekend in the Helensville area, we stopped at a place called Provenance which we’d been to before a long time ago when it was Beesonline.
The Parking
A huge carpark which makes it easy to get a Motorhome into and a very park like environment with a bridge to get to the Café.
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When we went there, there had been thunderstorms the night before and the weather had been misbehaving badly so the pictures don’t show it at its best.
Nice outdoor area
I imagine their outdoor areas would be nice in the sunshine. It was also really interesting to see they had a huge garden where they grow a lot of there own veges and herbs.
Someone knows how to grow Lemons!
They also have about 10 or so absolutely laden Lemon trees. Someone here knows what they’re doing.
Looking from the Carpark
The Garden
The Garden
The Entrance
Great Fireplace
The Bar
You can see your van from the cafe
There was a big fire raging when we got there and it was all very warm and toasty inside despite the weather and we sat down and ordered some lunch.
Corrugated Cow on the roof
As I was still nursing my implanted tooth, I went for a mushroom penne type of meal and Fiona had the same. It was just amazing.
When it was Beesonline, it was very popular and its good to see the same high standards still apply. They still have some hives out the back too.
Bees out the back
If you’re heading out west to Muriwai or beyond, it is just on the left before you get to Waimauku on the main road.
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.
Having quite a lot of land behind the Restaurant, with her Caretaker, Bruce, they’ve developed this into a well equipped Motorhome park complete with 30 powered sites, a dump station, showers and a washing machine.
Bugger It, we are off - www.buggeritweareoff.com 
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