As we pulled in to this newish NZMCA park, we could see why some would be confused and miss it. It has an really interesting entrance which curls around to the left and down a hill by the entrance to the Otorohanga College but it is pretty clearly marked.
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The Entrance to the park
We arrived mid afternoon just before one of the 4 local Park Custodians Rob popped in to check all was ship shape. A nice guy and he gave us some good information of the park and where everything was.
Nice and Shady
The neighbours are interesting.. all cows but there are quite a few of them and the location right by the river is lovely. It seems that Otorohanga has had some issues over the years with flooding and there have been some big stop banks built but this area seems to be ok.
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Happy Days
Rob, one of the 4 custodians
Meeting the neighbours
There were quite a few Motorhomes and a couple of Caravans but plenty of room for more.
A peep of the river behind
The sun was shining, there was a nice breeze.. another top spot to stay and only 800 metres into the shops. (15 minutes on a bike!)
The Netspeed Speedtest
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Ping: 55ms
Friends in New Plymouth suggested I should have a look at Opunake but on the way from Hawera, I read about a small campsite at Kaupokonui Beach which is not far on the Opunake side of Manaia, about 4ks so I thought I’d give it a shot. The campsite itself was down in a valley next to a river entrance to the sea with huge sandhills opposite. It looked the business but before I went down the valley, I stopped at the top to see if there was any internet around.. There was, so off I went.
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Campground with view
I met Jim in the office who was very a happy friendly guy who said that if I stayed for three days, it would be $15 per night. I still had another week of unsupervised travel before Fiona came down so it sounded like a good plan 🙂
I parked up and almost immediately met my neighbours who were in their new Carado, which is made in the Hymer factory and is identical to the Dethleffs Sunlight. Dot and Ron were cruising in their new van and were originally from Wellington. They have just sold their house and looking at what to do next.
Whitebaiters enjoying the riverLooking across from the Dunes
The campground is great as it sits on a plateau above the river entrance. The level below is a favourite spot for whitebaiters and there is a footbridge which makes the Sandhills opposite, easily accessible.
More of the playground, campground at the top level
From the bridge
The campground. Office in the background
The river mouth with people fishing
The sandhill opposite
I went for a couple of walks around and the first thing you notice is the quiet, the clean air and for the time I was here, it was non stop sunshine and no wind.
I also met three caravan/bus loads of people from Wanganui here for the weekend.
Our friends from Wanganui enjoying the sun.
With the first Bledisloe test looming that night, he was having trouble with his sky card which I tested in our tv as well for him but I suspect it needs resetting by sky for not having had power for a few weeks.
Nice pic of Rafe with the mountain
I went to sleep ignoring the rugby but happened to wake up at midnight anyway and watched it then on Prime.. Great game.
For its money, it’s a nice camp in a great location and it’s not surprising it gets really busy in summer.
Fiona had left Bland Bay and was heading back to town to do other things .. and work so she suggested that I spend another night out on the way back. We stopped in Waipu and had lunch and then Fiona went on to Auckland.
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The cricket pitch with the campground behind
I rang the good folk at one of my favorite spots when the weathers good, Whangateau by Matakana. A great campground run by Auckland City.
In the Grandstand
Today was a bit different as when I arrived, the tide was out and there was a friendly game of cricket with two families involved. One was from Whangaparoa and the other from the UK visiting. They were having a ball. I had to get some piccies.
Looking out to Omaha
Kids enjoying the pontoon
The Estaury
It is a fascinating place to watch as the tide comes in really quickly covering hundreds of metres of exposed mud in just under an hour… Amazing to watch.
The water is coming in
A nice campground if you’re looking for somewhere not to far from Auckland. See my earlier Whangateau post here.
Fiona’s cousin Iain has been coming here for years, every holiday break and he calls it his “Happy Place” and I heard somone else call it this too… and its all true 🙂
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A Happy Place
Kaiteriteri is just a magic place in the world and with an off season deal for NZMCA members at $98 a week, it truly is happy time sitting there amongst other nice NZMCA’rs looking at the beach literally in front of your front bumper!
Long termers in the middle rows
We’d just stopped and parked in front of the reception and I was walking in to check in when I met Selwyn and Lynda. This was before I’d even checked in ! They were off on a walk over to Little Kaiteriteri via a lookout on a track through the bush. They showed me how to get there so we could do it to. What a welcome !
Close to the water
The receptionist was amazing too. She insisted that if we weren’t happy with the site, I could shift which we did later.
Huge
Its a huge campground with muliple ammenties blocks. In winter, they cut costs by closing all but one block. There are more than 400 powered sites and several cottages. They even have their own small supermarket and nearby are several bars and restaurants to suit all tastes . A very well setup campground.
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Plenty of space
Looking down the back
Little Kaiteriteri from up by the lookout
In the bay
Flash beachside apartments upstairs. Supermarket downstairs with hot bread!
Some of the cabins
After checking in on a brilliantly fine day, we went for a walk up to the lookout at one end of the beach and Fiona carried on to Little Kaiteriteri for more exercise. That afternoon, we sat around the beach and checked out the camp.
Fiona at the lookout
Later in the day, we met up again with Selwyn and Lynda who were only parked two away from us so we commandeered an empty barbeque table and enjoyed an hour of laughs and something cold with them. They hadn’t come that far as they lived in Motueka or “Mot” as its known locally. This to me gives you some idea of how good they think it is at Kaiteriteri when they could be anywhere.
Looking down from the lookout
The next day, we took off in Rafe over to the next bay around Marahau. It is a really bendy, twisty road and we averaged probably 30 k all the way there. Interesting though to see and it is another lovely bay. From here you can go right up into the Abel Tasman Park. We headed back on another easier road and stopped for a cup of tea at the charming coffee shop in Riwaka.
The Bowentown Holiday Park is in one of the best locations with one of the best Beachs !
With a friendly crew and with the NZMCA off season deal of pay for two nights, and get two thrown in, it was just too tempting! Their normal tariff at $23pp powered I thought was very reasonable anyway, given the facilities provided.
With Tania’s cheery voice on the phone and confirming there was a space for Rafe, I was underway.
The Bowentown Holiday Park is at the end of a long peninsula right on the beach. It is well setup up with a newish Amenities block with TV room, Games room, huge Kitchen and an amazing space age looking Laundry. There is also a spa pool area there too. I was offered a park right up against the hill overlooking the beach and the rest of the park. It was a breeze getting in and settling Rafe and I was off for a look around and down to the beach. A magic spot.
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The Beach!
The view from Rafe
What a view
The walk to Waihi Beach
More great parking
The Kitchen
Spacey Laundry
Play area
Looking up to Wahi Beach
On the Boardwalk
The park has just changed hands after 30 something years, with new owners Mike and Bec settling in and only just 4 weeks in, have already got a plan of attack for new improvements. Two of the cabins are well into a full refurbishment with more to come!
New owners Mike and Bec
The beach here though is the feature of course and being right next to it, it just doesn’t get any better. Even in Winter!
A nice park, nice people and I’ll be back soon.
The Netspeed Speed test Download 12.79mbs Upload 3.12mbs
Ping 157ms
The last time we stayed at Wenderholm, we stayed in the public carpark by the beach. Although we had a great night and its a great spot, compared to other Auckland CSC parks where Motorhomers were safely fenced off, this was somewhat of a disappointment.
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After discussing this with our veteran Auckland parks motorhoming friends, Rob and Helen, they told us that the Schischka park was THE place to go so here we were and it was fabulous.
There is a big electric gate with a digital keypad and after a 500 metre driveway it opens up to a massive grassed parking area by the water with brand new flush toilets in the middle. There are also some baches where you can stay if you don’t have your own accommodation.
Schiska house where you can stay
Schiska House from the CSC parking
The new loos
Rafe parked with the Estuary
The Puhoi Estuary
The Walk to the beach
Couldrey House
The Beach
We could only spend one night here but it is stunning. We went for a walk down a waterfront track to the beach and checked out the old Historic Couldrey House. There are new toilets there too. There are walks all over the hill there too so plenty to do and see.
The camp from the Estaury
A great place to stay and so handy to the big smoke of Auckland too.
One of Rafe’s tracking maps below.
You’ve got black sand between your toes and at the Kopua Raglan Motorcamp right on the beach, there is plenty of that.
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The Black Sand
We’ve stayed here a few times now and one of the things that I really noticed this time is the recently done up showers and toilets. The pressure in the showers is so good, you almost don’t need soap.. let the water do its thing.. amazing.
Chess anyone?
When you check in, you get a swipe card which you use for both the automatic gates and the facilities. A good system and it worked well. There is a $10 bond which you get back as you leave after returning the card.
Lots of stripes
The camp is on a peninsula of sand basically so it there were no worries with the awful forecast of heavy rain. We knew we’d be fine on the well drained sand. It is almost completely surrounded by water but there is a well lit footbridge connecting it to the town with an easy walk in to the cafes and shops.
The Bridge to Raglan
There are more than 200 powered sites with quite a few permanent caravans and they also have Cabins that can be rented too.
The Fish and Chip shop on the edge of the camp and apparently they’re pretty good.
I heard someone comment that they thought it was a bit expensive but at $86 for two nights for two nights with power and all the new facilities with the NZMCA discount, I thought that was very reasonable.
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The amazing showers
After we arrived
One of the cafes in town
We spent a couple of really nice nights there. Yes it rained and it blew but nothing like the forecast said. Over the two days there with friends, Dianne and Gary from Taupo and Jonas and Irene from Auckland, we had several walks into town for a look around the shops and an great meal at one of their restaurants.
The Beach
Very easy accomodation, friendly people, great facilities and a really interesting town.
Rafe, The Niesmann and Jonas’s Trend
Before you ask, No Dogs but there is some free Wifi!
The Netspeed Speedtest
Download: 31.34mbs
Upload: 26.30mbs
Ping: 56ms
There is a cassette only dump station which is connected to a Septic tank which I’ve never used but plenty do and there is potable water too. I waited until I went back through Whitianga and used that Dump Station.
How good is this!
I rocked up to the “Office” door and Margaret popped her head around the door with the usual smiley face she has. A really nice lady and its amazing that she pretty much runs this now on her own now.
well drained sandy grass
All the proceeds from Camping are sent to the Charity of the moment. Last time we were here it was St Johns in Whitianga.
I met Dave and Helen who were in their Caravan from Whangamata who were with their friends who were next to us. Dave is a Self Containment officer so it was really interesting talking to him about Motorhome and Caravan things.
There was also a really nice guy from Nelson staying there called Bim who is travelling around the North Island with his friend in his Motorhome with a boat. With the wind blowing Dogs off Chains that day, neither Dave or Bim were keen to battle the elements out in the bay in their boats.
Whitianga around the headland in the distance
I went for a couple of walks along the beach and got some updated images.. Its a sensational place to stay and its a place you never get sick of.
With a river flowing around it and easy to walk through bush, this really is a lovely spot to stay.
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The River
I dropped in out of the blue and with my NZMCA card was charged $10 with power which I thought was amazing. This included some Wifi, access to Toilets, Showers and a well set up Kitchen.
Plenty of space
After settling down with Rafe, opening some vents and plugging in, I set off to have a look around.
Nice Bush
I was blown away by the beauty of the bush and the river. There are quite few permanent Caravans attached to buildings set up as Baches but not many of them were occupied.
Perfect spot
Although I could get some wifi via my Netspeed connection, it was a bit ropey and the cell phone service was erratic too. Even text messages were tough going but it is all about enjoying talking to each other and enjoying the scenery.
Great river
Only 3k’s from the Coroglen pub on a nicely formed gravel road, it is easy to get to.
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Kitchen
Neat Oven in the Kitchen
Great social area
One of the Bach’s
I spent a very pleasant couple of hours chatting to a couple of 20 something year old Danish Soldiers who had recently been in Afghanistan which was really interesting as my youngest son was there in NZ’s first rotation when he was 17 about 2001. They’re both travelling around NZ together in a small van.
A really nice spot, nice hosts and really good value.
I’ve been wanting to park here for a while but haven’t really had a reason to come out this way until today 🙂
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Room for big and small
One of the things I’m really allergic to is parking in Pub/Club carparks overnight and the Glenview club is not one of these. I has a completely separate Motorhome and Caravan parking area away from the main carpark for bar patrons.
There are 38 parks without power and another 12 parks with power all on well drained grass.
There is an honesty box but they’re there almost every day after 2pm. Its $15 a night without power and $20 a night with power. There is a shower and Toilets and there are meals later in the week during the evenings. There is also fresh water, a dump station with rubbish and recycling.
A grand entrance way
On a week day before a big show it was really busy. Its amazingly quiet and in a great spot right on the Waikato river opposite the Hamilton Gardens.
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Hamilton gardens
I met several people in Caravans who had sold homes locally and were staying there due to work or to be close to family so there are quite a few who almost reside there longterm.
A really nice location, friendly hosts and a really quiet spot to stay.
The Netspeed Speedtest from this location
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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.
Bugger It, we are off - www.buggeritweareoff.com 
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