Tag Archives: Dethleffs

Northland

Tucked Away

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Driving along the waterfront in Paihia while I was trying to decide where to stay, I passed Terry and Ruth’s Dethleffs White Magic A Class Motorhome parked on the side of the road. I’ve been meaning to try to catch up with Terry as I’ve been following their progress around the bay with their friends on Facebook. I turned Rafe around and parked a few spaces behind and as it was lunchtime, wandered along the waterfront to look for something to eat.

There was neat place about 50 yards along which was doing $10 roast lamb meals which I thought sounded good and ordered a glass of Chardy to go with it. While I was sitting there, I thought I’d facebook message Terry and see if he was around. I’ve never met Terry or Ruth before so had no idea what they looked like. I simply said I was parked behind them, be nice to catch up and where I was having lunch.

Within two minutes, I had a response back and my neighbours at the next table were looking around for me. How’s that for small world stuff and technology.. I shifted to their table and we swapped various stories for the next hour or so. .. Fun times in the fast lane 🙂 It was nice to catch up and I’m sure we’ll see each other again soon.

Click on the Images for Hi Res or a Slideshow

After a memorable lunch with Terry and Ruth, I decided on staying at a little tucked away waterfront site called Beachside Holiday Park owned by Dusty and Aroha Miller.

Right on the water

In their office they have a picture on the wall taken in the early 70’s of the park and it looks completely different. Dusty and Aroha have been here for 15 years, progressively working to a plan they had done for the transformation of this fantastic site. They say there is still things to do but the place looks fantastic.

Dusty with the older pic and the plan behind

The Dump station is what you wish for everywhere where you don’t even need to get your grey water hose dirty. Simply back up over the grate and let her rip !

Great Dump Station
The 70’s pic
Terraced bush camping
Nicely laid out parks
Right on the Water

The laundry looks like a Space Station with industrial machines right along one wall. Toilets and showers are all in new condition and kept very clean. Walking around there are non powered sites for tents on little grassed terraces carved out for camping, most with great views of the water.

Beam me up laundry!

There is a boat ramp there and a rack of kayaks which are available for guests.

For the first night I was parked by the water but Rafe was poking out a bit on the roadway so I moved to a bigger site one row back for the second night. I was also parked under a tree so I had TV reception the next night too!  The charge is $20pp which is pretty much normal at this time of the year around Paihia but right on the water parking with all the facilities, its fantastic.

Nice people and nice to see someone investing in the future and doing a great job of it.

The Netspeed Speedtest
Download: 21.03 Mbps
Upload: 4.03 Mbps
Ping: 59 ms

Rafe’s Track to this site

How I got there, you can see where I turned around to catch up with Terry.
Preparation

The Crystal Cabinet

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It has been two and half years in the making but we’ve finally solved the Glass cabinet problem.

When we first picked up Rafe, unlike other Dethleffs, the Esprits, the Sunlights, the Magic series’s and the Trends.. all of them had Glass cabinets you could fit a glass in. The Globe 4’s cabinet had two shelves in it and was so narrow that only shot glasses and really small glasses would ever fit in.

Click on the images for Hi Res or a Slideshow

One of he narrow shelves. The Glasses don’t fit on them

The first thing I did was remove the shelves so normal sized glasses would fit if they were narrow enough. Then there was the problem on how to fix the glassware so it wouldn’t rattle or get damaged as we moved from place to place.

A couple of lengths of pine  screwed in across the cabinet and some tool clips to hold the glasses and we’re all done.

A tool clip around the stem of the glass

While we were in Martinborough earlier this year, Fiona found 11 cystal glasses in an antique shop by the square. They suited perfectly.  Her new name from friends Gary and Dianne is “Mrs Waterford” and I think she suits the name quite well 🙂

The shelf with the crystal glass base sitting over the edge.
Tool clips
A tool clip
The screw taking the weight of the pine

I’ve set the cabinet up for these glasses as we have a few spares if a couple get broken.

The Cabinet all done looking pretty sharp

Both “Mrs Waterford” and I are both pretty pleased with the way the cabinet looks and there no rattles at all.

Preparation

New Saloon Lighting

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Its interesting that while quite a few brands of Motorhomes have adopted tracklighting, many haven’t.

Click on the images for Hi Res

Nice lights in the track.
Nice lights in the track.

Rafe started out in life having three tracklights for lighting. Two on either side of the saloon and one across the top of the bed for reading lights. They were probably a great idea in that you can twist and slide the lights and put them anywhere you want them and also shift them out of the way. The only catch with them is that the ones that we have, have very flimsy plastic tabs on them which are so easy to break off, its ridiculous.

The plastic Tab
The plastic Tab

New Lights

To be fair to the manufacturers, they can’t be blamed for excited grandchildren accidently bumping into them with their heads when they’re standing on the seats but when the owners are reluctant to use them in case they break, to me means there is a problem.

The screws for the glass at the waist of the light.
The screws for the glass at the waist of the light.

The other issue is that we found that as we cruised around NZ, the screws holding the glass would undo and eventually the glass would end up smashing on the table below with glass everywhere.
In the end after breaking a few, we now travel with them in a box and tend not use them for fear of snapping the tabs or breaking them.

Now to get rid of the Track
Now to get rid of the Track

After looking for ages through lighting shops and RV places, I discovered some really nice LED lights for another model Dethleffs which I ordered through Vantage RV. They had to come from Germany and just arrived the other day  so I didn’t waste any time getting them installed. These ones are screwed into the shelves and I’ve set them back out of harms way.

I really wanted to remove the track but found that it was glued as well as screwed so I’m still thinking about this as I don’t want to butcher the cabinets getting it out.

And they can turn right around and direct light where you want it.
And they can turn right around and direct light where you want it.

The lights are fabulous. We recently had the first trip away with them and the light was awesome.

Int'l Motorhomes, Shows

The 2017 Covi Motorhome Show

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It’s  always an exciting time when  either of the Motorhome and Caravan shows start to see what new knick knacks are available and what’s new. We were staying at the Ellerslie Racecourse NZMCA Rally with 500 or so others and they had put on a shuttle service to make it easy to get to there.

The Rally looks impressive from the entrance.. click on this to enlarge it.

I must have been on one of the first buses to the Showgrounds as the bus driver wasn’t too sure where to drop us off and we circumnavigated the Show grounds a few times before we got there, even a brief tour of Alexander Park too.   🙂

A 4 WD Hymer on the Rocks!

This year was the first year for the new Hymers and also the Cathargo. The Hymer has arrived in force with three or four different models including a 4 wheel drive model which was setup on top of a pile of rocks just to make the point. The Hymer in the piccies is the Starline 690 which is 7.9 metre is length, has a GVM of 5.3 t and has a 3l Mercedes rear wheel drive.

The Hymer Starline 690
With the drop down bed down
The Hymer galley
Hymer Bedroom
One of the new Cathargo’s
Yes, a motorbike in the garage.
Stephanie with her Stacks
The Poptop Camper interior
Poptop Camper from the other end
Poptop on the outside. 12 ft long.
The Jayco Stand
NZ made Allisee with slide outs
Inside the Allisee
The Allisee

The Cathargo was well publicised at last years Covi show but this year is the first time they’ve got several models here. A very smart looking wagon.

The Nomad.
The Nomad Kitchen space
The Nomad Bedroom and bathroom beyond
The Nomad with all its space and Doors for the Bedroom
The Shower on one side ..
And the Toilet on the other. Look at all that storage in the Nomad
Plenty of storage in the Platin
The Frankia Platin
Living Space – Platin
Kitchen Area – Platin
Toilet – Platin
Bedroom – Platin
The Electrics all in one spot on the outside on the Platin

The other interesting story is with the Dethleff Nomad Caravans represented by Central RV. Brett at Central RV sent off his design for a Caravan specially for the local market and this was the first one in. The amount of room in it is amazing and it’s the first caravan I’ve seen with doors on both sides of the bedroom giving complete privacy. The Dethleffs Nomad 650 RQT as it is known is 8.7 meters long, it has a 700kg payload and has a total weight of 2.5 tons so she’s a biggy!  It also has an Alko chassis helping to make it tow nicely.

Jonas and Chris and the team at Frankia have received the first of the 8.4 metre Platin series.  These really are the ultimate in Motorhomes.  The electrical cupboard is a joy in itself having its own external locker with everything very tidily laid out and easy to get at. The inside is amazing as well.. The Platin at the show is 8.5 metres long and has a GVM of 5 tons with a 650kg payload.
Well appointed and is typical of the Frankia range known for its high standards.

Patricia and John with their Lilliput and Plymouth
The interior of John and Patricia’s Lilliput

It’s always nice to see the Lilliput Crew with their lovely old Caravans and usually matched by their amazing, beautifully restored cars.

Patricia and John were here with their  caravan and their 1955 Plymouth Belvedere. It was their 55th Wedding Anniversary.  They were also well colour co-ordinated for St Patrick’s Day 🙂

Peter with others on the NZMCA Stand
The NZMCA stand early in the day

The NZMCA stand was huge. I got there fairly early so it was largely pretty empty given its size but it was nice to see the crew there and great to see most if not all of the Motorhome Friendly Towns all with their own stands promoting their areas.

A lot of the NZMCA regions had their own stands as well and nice to see them too.

I managed to get in and out without parting with too much hard earned loot which Fiona will be pleased about, settling for just a new ground mat for under our awning.

The Autotrail Stand
Inside the big Autotrail Comanche
Autotrail Comanche
The RV / Camec stand.. Where I bought my mat 🙂
NZ made Allisee with slide outs
Rob finishing off setting up the NZMCA Northland stand
Motorhome Friendly Towns
On the Dethleffs Stand
The Jayco Stand

Another great show with lots to see.

Coromandel 2016

Glorious Gravel

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One of our favorite parks that we use a lot too, is Ardmore by the airfield. Its a great park and usually full of some interesting people as well.

Click on the images for Hi Res

The wide view
The wide view with the new gravel

We were on our way to Coromandel with our friends Rob, Helen and Chloe and to avoid the morning traffic we checked in with Rafe and their Tracker for the night.  We arrived first and soon after we  found we were next to another Dethleffs, some  people that  that we’d met some months ago, Liz and Dave in their Esprit.

The front row
The front row

It was time for a drink so they came over to Rafe and soon after Rob, Helen and Chloe arrived and joined in too.

Dave and Liz's Dethleffs Esprit next to Rafe on the new Gravel
Dave and Liz’s Dethleffs Esprit next to Rafe on the new Gravel

The biggest thing about Ardmore now is the massive amount of gravel that now covers the old grass area at the back. What a huge difference it makes and also extends the useable area of the park.
Its level too which is great.

Well done to those who make it such a great park.

ArdmoreWe had a great night there and in the morning were up early to get away to Coromandel.

Preparation, Quirky things, Waikato

The Laundry Chute

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Its amazing who you meet and what clever things they do to their motorhomes to make them work better for their lifestyle. During the recent Dethleffs Owners group meeting at the Classic Car Museum in Hamilton, I was fortunate enough to meet Walter and Nolina from Taupo and to see some of the clever things they have done to their Dethleffs Esprit.

Don’t forget you can click on the images for hi res !

Walter lying across the bed showing the top of the laundry chute.
Walter lying across the bed showing the top of the laundry chute.

Walter saw the need to have somewhere to put their laundry. In almost all the centre island bed Dethleffs models, there is a shelf which extends about 800mm along each side of the bed from the back wall.

In mine I have a speaker and some usb jacks for phones and ipads etc.   Walter very cleverly decided to use his on one side to install an opening round marine hatch which opens to a chute which Nolina made, that drops down into the garage underneath. The bottom of the chute detachs as a bag to cart away the washing.  Fabulous idea and a great way of getting the washing out of the way.

The chute in the garage with the detachable bag.
The chute in the garage with the detachable bag.

That’s an idea I’m going to use 🙂

They have also made use of waste space under a seat and in a cupboard for a glasses case and a drinks cabinet under the seat.

Nolina with the drinks cabinet.
Nolina with the drinks cabinet.

Great stuff! A great use of what could otherwise be wasted space.

Rallies, Waikato

The old and the new at the Museum

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It is always a great occasion once a year when the nations Dethleffs owners get together for a catchup all in one spot. Its a good opportunity to see what others have done to their vans to make their motorhoming more fun.

Click on the images to see them in Hi Res or a slideshow

View from the Museum
View from the Museum

This year was the biggest yet with 75 motorhomes and caravans which made life interesting to yours truly and my old friend Gary from Taupo to get them all parked. We had a lot of fun as we did it with little walkie talkies that Gary had. The hard part was not being able to have a chat with everyone as they came in, that had to wait for later.  As they all had the same sided habitation door, we decided we’d park them in rows with the doors facing together on a 3 metre space and the opposite side being a 4 meter space so that people could escape without skittling tables and chairs etc and it worked really well.

In the social lane
In the social lane
From the road .. impressive.
From the road .. impressive.

The first 40 odd arrived on the Friday and everyone settled in, met old friends and checked out the car museum.  The car museum is fabulous. We visited this last March and had a good look through. You can see that here. There are all those cars that we had as kids, the Mark 1 Zephyrs, the Prefects and a lot older. It really is something to see. Outside is normally a NZMCA POP where you can stay overnight and it was nice to see friends Marama and Karen pop in for the night.

The Cord
Dodge trucks
The Auburn
Inside the Museum
The front of the Auburn
Fiona’s favourite, the Messerschmitt
Corvette
An Alvis
A car I had as a teenager, a Mark 1 Zephyr
The back of the Auburn

The next day after a good breakfast in the Juke Box Diner onsite, we caught a bus to a local Tea Estate and got to taste and learn about locally grown tea which was really interesting and on the way back popped in for lunch at the Hamilton Gardens Café. Some decided to walk off their lunch around the amazing gardens.

Off to check out the tea
Arriving at the tea place off the bus.. Fiona, Gary and Dianne
Sussing out the Tea
Gary Aroma checking
Dianne smelling the aroma
The Gardens
Lunch at the gardens café, Graham from Tauranga, Fiona, Gary and Dianne
The latecomers on the other side and the Marquee
Open homing
Bev in her and Bernies Esprit
Peter and Bernie on their tables!
Fush and Chups
cell phone pic

After getting back to HQ at the museum, it was open home for motorhomes so a quick vacuum and a tidy up of Rafe and it was visits all around. Lots of fun and it was nice to see people we hadn’t seen for a long time.

Open Homes
Open Homes

At 6pm it was time for a drink in the Marquee and a feed in the Diner which was immediately followed by a great display of the local rock n roll dance club and they were fantastic.

dethleffs
Slightly blurry cell phone pic!

We finished up the day with Dianne and Gary with friends Ian and Lynda in their XLI right next to us. A lot of fun and we had some great laughs.

catching up with friends
Ian and Lynda’s XLI on the left, Rafe on the right.
The way there from Rafes tracker
The way there from Rafes tracker

A great day and well hosted by Mr and Mrs Dethleff in NZ, Jonas and Irene Ng. Thanks guys and thanks to Dianne for organising  a great day out.

And the Netspeed speed test from this site.
Test Date: 12/11/2016 5:14 PM
Download: 40.43 Mbps
Upload: 12.35 Mbps
Ping: 34 ms

Preparation

Sorting out the shambles in the Wardrobe

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I don’t know about you but when I’m away Motorhoming but I largely wear T shirts, Jeans and Shorts etc.  Stuff you’d stick in a drawer. The Dethleffs come with well set up wardrobes but not a lot of drawers in the bed room area for clothes.

The cloth basket with clothes
The cloth basket with clothes

So I set out to change our wardrobe into something that would be useful for clothes like drawers.

The first option we used lasted about 18 months which was a hanging basket type of arrangement which was suspended from the rail. It had cloth covered cardboard boxes which slid in and out like drawers. This worked quite well for about 8 months when it just collapsed to a point where it was almost unusable.

What we started with. You can see the top hangy bit straining on day 1
What we started with. You can see the top hangy bit straining on day 1

I set out a few weeks ago to sort this out with some shelving bits which I got from Bunnings.

The screwed rails with the first shelf in
The screwed rails with the first shelf in

The Steel supports screw in first using glue and short screws(also glued) and then the shelf brackets clip in with plastic locks which prevent the shelf or brackets from coming out while you’re driving.

All the shelves in
All the shelves in

I thought that I would possibly have to bungy cord the shelves in while we were moving but so far, I haven’t even had to do that. It works a treat. The whole things for these shelves cost about $240.00 so it wasn’t insignificant but the problem seems to have gone away 🙂

Preparation

Nitrogen in your Tyres

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I’ve been using Nitrogen in tyres for years and it does seem to make a huge difference. The biggest bonus is the consistency of the running pressure so you tend to run your tyres at the correct pressure. The other difference is apparently the heat is controlled much more effectively. What makes it even better is it is so cheap to use. Click the images to see Hi Res

Rafe getting Nitro'd
Rafe getting Nitro’d

My regular tyre shop in Bridgestone Tyres Devonport, have had a machine for years which effectively sucks the air (and other things like moisture) out of your tyres and replaces it with Nitrogen from the atmosphere. Yep, the atmosphere is 78% Nitrogen.

Jane and Monty with The Nitrogen machine
Jane and Monty with The Nitrogen machine

I went down today to get a top up and check as my recent service rotated the tyres and they didn’t have a machine so it was off to Jane and Monty today to get the tyre pressures sorted. I’ve got 70psi in the front and 74psi in the rear and that seems to work fine with a GVM of 4300kg.  I’m using soft compound Michelins and with my 30,000k service and tyre rotation, the engineers that rotated the tyres, were really impressed with the condition of the front tyres, especially given that its front wheel drive.  No scuffing at all and absolutely even wear right across the treads. Some of that can be directly attributed to Nitrogen but also I tend to mother it a bit.

Monty watching the machine top up my tyres
Monty watching the machine top up my tyres

Below is what the experts say:

  • Nitrogen is used in Formula 1 racing, aviation tyres, military vehicles, NASCAR and heavy construction vehicles.
  • Nitrogen maintains tyre pressure 3 to 4 times longer than air-filled tyres and disperses heat more effectively resulting in better fuel economy.
  • Nitrogen delivers longer tread life due to less heat generation.
  • Nitrogen inflated tyres deliver optimum handling characteristics for longer as pressure is more likely to be maintained at the correct level.
  • Nitrogen also slows the chemical ageing of the tyre’s rubber components resulting in fewer tyre failures.
  • Nitrogen results in improved performance, increased safety and lower maintenance.

A Poster on the wall
A Poster on the wall
To do a first bleed of Air and fill with Nitrogen takes about 20 minutes and costs about $40 and the top ups every 6 months are $20. While getting my tyres topped up today, I joked with Monty about how the high pressure was making their compressor earn its keep but that’s normal, so they can deal with the high pressures. If you want to get the Nitrogen in, call Jane at Bridgestone Tyres, Devonport before you go , as Motorhomes do tend to take up a big chunk of their parking 🙂
Coromandel 2016

Watch where you put your feet

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As I left Coromandel, I popped down to the NZMCA park to say goodbye to several friends in different Motorhomes and Caravans.

I had a plan to go around to the eastern side and head down towards Pauanui  or Whitianga. As I checked out with my new friends from Christchurch, Rory and Henny, they were heading that way too and were happy for me to tag along so we were off to Whitianga.

I had made a loose arrangement to catch up with a new Dethleffs White Magic owner Paul and his wife Judith. The White Magic is the new version of the Globe 4 like ours but with a few different options and I was keen to see both them and their new van.

After a windblown crossing of the hills above Coromandel I stopped at The Esplanade at Whitianga for a cup of coffee and Paul and Judith arrived not long after.

simpsons
Looking down to the end of the spit at Simpson Beach

I had another cup of coffee with them and after lots of swapping notes, they went for a walk into town, so I headed back to Simpsons Beach Camp where I was going meet up with the Rory, Henny, Dave and Karen in their caravans.

Rafe, Rory and Henny and Dave and Karen's caravan
Rafe, Rory and Henny and Dave and Karen’s caravan

Click on the images to see Hi Res or a slideshow

simpsons

This camp is owned by an elderly couple, the Simpsons, who donate the $10 charge they make per night to a charity of their choice every year and it is just a fantastic spot right on a great beach. There is fresh rain water available and a black water only dump station. Its just a magic spot and a great swimming beach in summer. .. or winter if you’re brave!

We were sharing the area with a lot of Sheep, so the only thing we had to watch for between Motorhomes and Caravans was sheep poo and there was plenty of it !

Simpsons Beach
Simpsons Beach

Paul and Judith popped in to see Simpsons Beach to check it out for a future stay and agreed, it was a lovely spot but they were committed to carry on to Matarangi for the night.  It was great to see them.

Paul and Judiths Dethleffs White Magic
Paul and Judiths Dethleffs White Magic

As this blog had just hit the 100, 000 hits mark at 5.00am that morning, I was keen to crack open a nice Italian red and celebrate with them.  At around 4:30, we had a few drinks in Rafe as the showers rolled through.

A couple of hours later, I cooked up a lovely steak before Rory summoned be by phone from next door, so they could teach me a new game of cards they all played.  I cant quite remember the name of it.. 10 something but it doesn’t have suites and is a little like snap without the snap 🙂  A great game and they were great company.

The next morning was time for lots of cups of coffee  and walking.

Rafe at Simpsons Beach
Rafe at Simpsons Beach

It is such a great spot. Rory, Henny along with Dave and Karen were heading to Hot Water beach and invited me to go too, but with only one night left before Fiona came home, I thought I’d head to Pauanui for the night as it was  that little bit closer to home and its nice to plug in as well.

Its not the first time I’ve stayed here before in summer and it never disappoints.