Tag Archives: Campgrounds

Our Netspeed speed upgrade in the sun!

October 13, 2016 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com 1 Comment

We were on our way back to Auckland from Kerikeri when we found out our old friends Gary and Chris were at Uretiti Doc park for a few nights. We thought we’d surprise them.

See our earlier meeting here at Uretiti in the pouring rain

Click on the images to see Hi Res

Gary and Chris's van with Rafe behind — Gary and Chris’s van with Rafe behind

As we arrived right on the dot for “elbow exercise time” (with a glass in hand) at 5pm. We started on some wine while Fiona made us all a nice chicken tea.
We weren’t far into the conversation when Gary filled me in on the new Netspeed Router firmware upgrade and what a difference it had made for him.
With all of my speed tests around the country and comparing notes with Gary’s tests, it became very obvious that his speeds were generally 5 mbs a second or so faster than mine. I put that down to the fact that the sides of his van are fibreglass and the sides of mine are composite with an outside shell of aluminium. I’d assumed from that despite us having external aerials, that the router in automatic mode with aerials, was favouring the internal aerials which gave Gary a better signal. Well. .. No more 🙂

The good folk at Netspeed have released a router firmware upgrade which gives you the option to tell the router to only use the external aerials. The firmware upgrade is free but you will have to install it yourself or get someone slightly techy to do it for you. Netspeed will also do it over the phone with you too. It only takes five minutes and is not complicated and well worth doing. The big thing with this upgrade is not to be rushed and let the upgrade finish before fiddling with anything.

Wait for that magic moment when you get the box pop up that says “Success!”

Back to our elbow exercise.. While chatting away, Gary brought out his laptop which had the upgrade file on it for my router and in a few minutes had it installed on my router. In Uretiti, I immediately went from 2 bars of 4g to three and that added about 15 Mbps odd to my download speed as I was able to get my roof aerials really pumping rather than let the router do as it pleased with my useless internal aerials… Useless inside a metal cage anyway.

Thanks heaps Gary.. We had a great night. Nice to see you both again too.

The Netspeed speed test at Uretiti earlier
Download: 24.42 Mbps
Upload: 2.45 Mbps
Ping: 49 ms

After with the external aerials pumping!
Download: 46.62 Mbps
Upload: 3.39 Mbps
Ping: 35 ms
Connection Type: Wi-Fi

The upload speed is still awful but it is an iffy spot but it’s well worth doing the upgrade !!

How to do the upgrade.. Call Netspeed for the link for the download then download the right file for your router.

Log into your router as administrator.. For security reasons, I’m not going to tell you how to do this here but look at your router instructions.
Follow the instructions in the following screens.

The login screen on your router once you've logged in. Open browser.. Type in 192.168.1.1 .. — The login screen on your router once you’ve logged in. Open browser.. Type in 192.168.1.1 to get here.

This is in Settings. Click on Local update to upload your file and WAIT until it finishes! — This is in Update. Click on Local update to upload your file and WAIT until it finishes!

Once it has finished, you can go to this screen in Settings and set your aerials up. I've got mine on External only — Once it has finished, you can go to this screen in Settings and set your aerials up. I’ve got mine on External only

Have fun and enjoy the extra speed. Call the fine team at Netspeed if you get stuck or need help.

Hot pools, North Island road trip 2016

Drinks and Food by the side of the Hot Pool !

October 2, 2016 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com 4 Comments

I felt like spoiling myself and had heard about the new Top 10 Taupo’s new pool bar. A swim in a hot pool and be served a nice Chardonnay sounded like just the ticket to me.

Check out these images in Hi Res by clicking on them

I arrived at the Top 10 around lunch time which was great after a great run across the Napier – Taupo rd. After spending two nights in the NZMCA Eriksen rd park, I was a little taken back by the Top 10 winter rates for a single person at $27.00. But then thought, everything is spic and span and the new multi million dollar pool complex and so on, it’s not that bad when you compare it to others and I was spoiling myself 🙂

After parking Rafe, it was time to do some laundry and check the place out out before having a swim. It’s nicely laid out with lots of green things (trees and stuff) between parks and the Toilets and Showers are absolutely immaculate and pretty new. There is also Pétanque, Volleyball, Tennis, Trampolines, Basketball and something new called Neos.. There’s plenty for everyone.
The washing was finished so I was off for a swim.

Look how close to the pool I got but a bit noisy

One of the cabins

Kitchen, Laundry and loos

The TV showing Shrek

The Cave

The League is on.. Would be better switched off !

There are no steps which makes it interesting for getting in and out. You sort of slide in and out over a concrete bank. The main hot pool is huge with other hotter and cooler pools and channels from it. There is a cave which is 4 metres deep at one end of the pool with a waterfall over the entrance. And the bar.. Fantastic. You can buy pizza’s, meals, drinks, what ever takes your fancy and there are partly submerged chairs to sit on too. There was a unique system when I checked in where they took my credit card number so all you have to do is give the bar person your site number and sign your name and it’s all done. The prices were very reasonable too .. $8.00 for a big glass of Chardy. Very pleasant.

There is also a huge TV screen over the pool which had the movie Shrek on when I first got in. Early in the evening, it had the league on which I thought was a bit of an atmosphere killer. It was better when it was switched off in between !.. Each to there own.

Although this is a commercial Top 10 site and the price is up there at $57 peak for 2 with power, it isn’t too bad when you see what’s there and you’re ready to treat yourself to something special.
It’s a novel experience and a first for me here in NZ. This is the only one in NZ like this. Go and spoil yourself.

North Island road trip 2016

Caroline’s Outback Gem

September 23, 2016 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com 5 Comments

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.

Click on the images for Hi res or a slideshow

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.

For me, being right next to the river, a flat bike ride to town, it’s a magic discovery

North Island road trip 2016

In sight of the mountain

September 5, 2016 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com

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.

Click on the images to see Hi res or a slideshow

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.

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.

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.

North Island road trip 2016

Listening to the waves

September 1, 2016 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com 2 Comments

Arriving in New Plymouth around lunchtime, I thought I’d try to park so I could easily catch up with a work colleague from the Herald. He lived in Fitzroy and as the Camp on the beach which was virtually at the end of his road and had a great review, I checked in. The very friendly lady gave me a swipe card for the barrier and a code for the toilets, showers and laundry.

Click on the images for hi res or a slideshow

The Walkway winding its way along the waterfront. The campground is behind.

It was $40 for two nights so I thought that was reasonable and went and parked and plugged in. There were a few other Motorhomes there but it was nice and quiet. All you could hear was the surf which was nice.
I gave Rob a quick call to see where he was up but he was busy on a job and so I went for a walk along the beach and later wandered up the road to his place when he had finished. His house was literally at the top of the campground and about 50 metres away.It was nice to see Rob and his wife Bonnie as It had been a few years since I’d seen them. They popped down later in the afternoon to see Rafe and join me for a drink which was great.Rob showed me where the coastal walkway was which went right through the camp. It starts round by the Port and goes for miles along the waterfront and around to Bell Block and it’s well used. In the morning, after I’d done some washing in the laundry, I jumped on my bike and went for a ride. I went around as far Te Rewa Rewa bridge which lines up really nicely with Mount Taranaki as you’ll see from the top piccy.

The Len Lye centre with the old pub beside

Later in the day, I went around to Robs and he very kindly drove me around some of the sights of New Plymouth. From the port, to the Len Lye centre which is amazing and out to Waitara, Bell Block to the end of the walkway. It was fantastic. I didn’t realise New Plymouth had so much going on.

The end of the walkway at the port

The Len Lye centre with the old pub beside

Later in the day, we had a drink and tea at Rob and Bonnies, and Robs brother Jim, who I also worked with was coming around for tea with his wife Lin. I haven’t seen Jim for donkeys years so it was really great to see them too. A real reunion.

It doesn't matter where you are in New Plymiuth, you know exactly where you are when you see this. — It doesn’t matter where you are in New Plymiuth, you know exactly where you are when you see this.

Tea was fantastic and after a great evening, I walked the 50 metres or so down the hill to Rafe. I knew there was a reason why I wanted power and the temperature being 5C it was soon very obvious 🙂
A perfect couple of days, another nice camp on the waterfront and very handy for the reunion with my friends. Thanks again Rob for the great welcome and showing me around.

North Island road trip 2016

Staying with the Schoolhouse

August 29, 2016 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com

The Whangamomona Holiday Park was setup by the Stratford Council using the old school house on a local park ground which was also used by the Rugby Club. It is now run by the local community.

The Schoolhouse now houses a kitchen, toilets and showers

The school was closed down in 1979 and several buildings taken away but the old schoolhouse still remains. Some of the older buildings also remain and are used as Backpackers cabins with bunks in them.
Its a perfectly flat parking area divided by a hedge between powered and non powered sites. There is a well setup playground and an eclectic bunch of Exercycles in the grass which you can use if you like. An open air Gym!
There’s also the odd chook and some miniature ponies running around free too.
There’s a kitchen which is being replaced by a newer one in the schoolhouse, loos recycling and and outside wash up area.
At $15 a head including power with everything in good order and clean, I thought it was pretty reasonable.

The camp manager Richard lives on site and seems like a good chap too. I was given a guided tour around the camp and through the old schoolhouse.

A nice spot and an easy walk to the pub and the village.

North Island road trip 2016

Down by the riverside

August 23, 2016 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com

One of the great things about traveling on your own is that as most of the campgrounds charge by the person rather than by the park, it’s quite cheap to stay wherever you like. I’m meeting Fiona in Wellington later in the week so it’ll be time to be sensible again 🙂

I checked in at the Tauramunui Motor Camp which is beside the river. After meeting the owner who gave me a good run down on the road to Whangamomona and gave me a brochure, showed me where to park. He’s a character, an ex Merchant Navy seaman from the UK with lots of stories to tell. He was really helpful and offered several brochures on the highway which was great and gave me confidence for the trip. He was telling me, they’d had a huge amount of rain and as it was all grass parking, there were some no go areas with the grass being too soft.
At $16 including a NZMCA discount for a powered site, I thought this was pretty good and it would enable me to use the new Philips induction plate I’d just got, being on power. These plates are so efficient. In with the frozen peas into a pot and after just over a minute or so, they’re ready to go. Cooking steaks or meat takes a little longer. Fantastic.

Nice Barbecue area outside the Kitchen

Herbs you can help yourself to.

Play area for the nippers

I went for a walk down to the front of the park and it borders on the river. A nice spot.
Around the back of the camp were cabins in the trees and in the middle a playground for the kids and the ablutions, showers and Kitchen block. All nice and clean and in good shape. I was there on my own until about 7pm when two or three camper vans popped in. The place still felt empty but it is the middle of winter 🙂

Coromandel 2016

Smiling Faces

August 14, 2016 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com

There’s nothing quite like a great welcome when you first arrive to check in for a spot in a Holiday Park. Helen and Trevor have been managing Coromandel Top 10 Holiday Park for the owners while they take a break overseas.

After seeing the state of the not quite finished NZMCA park, I decided to check in to the Coromandel Top 10 Holiday park and what a great welcome 🙂

Due to the huge amounts of rain, the grass was a muddy bog and everyone was huddled in a corner on the tar seal. There had been a few towed out that morning and more were rescued over the next few days !

I was given a nice park on Gravel with plenty of room around me with nice hedges separating the parking spots. Dump station just opposite and easy to get a big Motorhome into.

There is a heated swimming pool which some brave people were swimming in when I arrived back from a walk into town and it wasn’t a warm summer night either! The pool was warm but the lights were off and they’d forgotten about towels too. They were having fun with their children who were in too.

I was on my own and with winter rates it was $22 a night with power and the use of everything which I thought was pretty good for an effortless couple of nights in a clean and well kept Holiday Park.

The kids in the park on Saturday certainly enjoyed it.

Auckland Parks, Close to home, Day Trips, Friends, Hot pools

Keeping warm in the big Freeze

August 9, 2016 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com

The forecast was definitely sorting out our location for us this weekend.. Parakai so we were plugged in for the heat and close to the pools. Parts of the Hawkes Bay was without power and roads were closed everywhere with snow. Somewhere warm and close by was the order of the day.

The last time we were at Parakai, it was hosing down and there was mud everywhere. It was very much the same this time except we were lucky in that we got to see a lot more of the sun but jeepers it was cold!

Muddy bits roped off. All the grass was muddy. Gary and Chris’s Fuso next to us. The latecomer with his wheels down next on the right.

One of our neighbours who arrived later in the night missed the concrete strips (easy to do) and his rear dual wheels were a good 4-6 inches down in the mud.

The pools were fantastic and it was nice to see our fulltiming friends, Gary and Chris again after their trip up North.

Click on the images to see Hi Res or a slideshow

I had just bought a new toy through the Noel Leeming / NZMCA discount scheme. It was a Philips Induction plate and what a little beauty. I’d just put enough frozen peas in the pot for four with some warm water. Then I hit the go button, wow, I wasn’t timing it but it wouldn’t have been much more than a minute and it was ready to eat. Then we did the steaks in a Staub pan while the girls were getting some chips from over the road. These took a lot longer and as its so easy to control the heat, better cooked and quicker than gas. Well worth getting.

After a good feed, we blobbed for a while and then went for a swim. Later, Chris made some nice scones for tea and we had a couple of glasses of Italian red to finish the day.

The Permanent area

The pool entrance

Outside the Railway Museum

the next morning, Fiona was keen to re visit the Antique shop at Helensville railway station so we went around there and quickly checked out the Railway Museum and café for a cuppa.

Chris and Gary (walking away) with their Fuso

Gary and Chris headed off for Rays Rest and we headed home.
A nice weekend and despite the cold, Parakai definitely looks better when the sun is beating down.

Coromandel 2016

The Sports Club

August 3, 2016 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com 5 Comments

It doesn’t get much better than this. In a great spot, perfectly flat parking, Power, Water, a very handy bar if you need one and cooked dinner next to a Golf course and Mini Golf.. where? At the Pauanui Club. And only $8 a day for parking with the power and access to the loos.

Click on an image to see Hi Res or a slideshow

Pauanui — Rafe plugged in, Club in the background

I was on my last night after doing the round trip from Thames via Coromandel and Whitianga meeting heaps of neat new people and catching up with some old friends too. A great few days.

Mini Golf

For the kids, conveniently right next to the bar

Airstrip next door

Golf

So its nice to kick back, plug in and make it easy. The grass is really well drained and is solid so I have no worries about the rain or it getting muddy.

We’ve stayed here before earlier this year when it was warmer and I’ve also done a blog on it. Its worth having a look at the last blog as it was done in summer and there were a few more people around.

Pauanui beach.. from the earlier blog in Summer

Since my last visit, the water has been finished off at the parking spots and it’s all looking good.

The club is a magic spot, they’re friendly helpful people and with a bike, from here it’s not far to anywhere.

The Netspeed Speedtest for this site
Download: 42.19 Mbps
Upload: 11.45 Mbps
Ping: 54 ms
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&q=-37.021481,175.860135

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.

	Chris Miller - Bugge… on Escape to Kaiaua
	Warmenhj on Escape to Kaiaua
	Chris Miller - Bugge… on Oh No a breakdown
	Chris Miller - Bugge… on Oh No a breakdown

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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.