For our last night in Wellington before the ferry, we thought it would be sensible to get a bit closer to avoid the weekday traffic with our early check in being 7am at the Bluebridge terminal.
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The NZMCA App screamed out the Petone Club as a good place to be and we cruised in the late morning to this massive park.
Petone Club
There’s plenty of room to park and they’re very obliging and helpful. They have a Buffet going for lunch and dinner and you’re very welcome in the bar. Just remember to take your NZMCA card with you.
Our parking.
The parking area is huge and all sealed. The power is a bit awkward as it is all in a bunch of 4 plugs right next to the entrance to the Motorhome parking area so its throw your leads over the fence.
The entrance to the parking area. The power is on the gatepost outside.
Our lead was just long enough to reach but it all works and for $10 a night, a fantastic place to stop. There are also toilets and a shower that can be used too.
We went for walk down to the local Pak N Save for some basics, which is about 20 minutes walk away.
Later in the day, we invited our next door neighbours over for a drink. John and Margaret hail from Masterton and were staying in Wellington. After a pleasant hour with them, we went into the Petone club for a spectacular tea for $9.50 each and a Sticky Date pudding.. Yum! All washed down with a huge $7 glass of chardy.. also Yum!
After spending our last night in Auckland with eldest son Drew and his partner Jenna in Milford, we set off in the morning, bound for Taupo.
Rafe and Ian and Lynda’s XLI
We were heading for Dianne and Gary’s home in Taupo to meet other fulltimimg Motorhome friends Ian and Lynda, who arrived earlier in their Dethleffs XLI.
Dianne and Fiona made a spectacular curry for us all and we had a lot of laughs and lots of fun.
Dianne picking the girls up for a tiki tour around Taupo
In the morning, we all went to a local Cafe and then for a look around Taupo. Another great night with everyone and lots more laughs and Fiona and I were off to Rafe for the night. In the morning we caught up briefly with everyone for a cup of tea and then we were off, heading further south.
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Rafe at the campground
The Explanation
The powerstation
The old Pumphouse on the side of the river
The Mangaweka River Bridge with the cliffs
The river with the camp on the right
Fiona on the bridge across the river
We stopped at the Army Museum in Waiouru for lunch which was great and then carried on to Mangaweka.
Rafe at the Mangaweka Campground
We stayed at a neat wee Campground in Mangaweka last Christmas with Gary and Dianne and its a fantastic place right by the river. The same people own another more upmarket Campground with a bar and eating area right over the bridge.
Look at those cliffs!
There is also an old Power Station just along the road with an old dam. Apparently Mangaweka was one of the first to have its own streetlights and electricity in the country, all driven by this local dam.
Fiona at the old Power station
At $7 a night each with power with our NZMCA discount, it is spectacularly “reasonably priced” but I understand the price with soon be $9 per night with no discount. .. Still very good value in a lovely spot.
We spent a nice couple of nights with the two Grandsons and their parents at Ardmore and then we headed off to Port Waikato for our last night away for the weekend.
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The Jandal Wall
The last time I came to Port Waikato in the middle of last year, the camp was run by a very helpful French chap who couldn’t do enough for you.
Last year in October, the camp was bought out by a Hapu of Tainui and the welcome we got from manager Mathew was unbelievable.
He’s a lovely guy and again was just so helpful. With the new management comes some enthusiasm to do a few deals to rev things up in winter. The deal we had was pay for one adult and get another one free for a powered site which was amazing. Where else do you get this with all the other facilities too 🙂
The Powered sites
After finding a nice spot for Rafe and settling down, Fiona and I decided to walk the 1k or so down to Sunset beach. A nice easy flat walk and the beach is amazing. There is something that is quite magical about our West Coast beaches.
The wild west
The Tv room and Kitchen
A local bach
The front fence
We spent an hour so taking it all in and then headed back to Rafe.
Sunset beach
As it was a holiday park and despite the cold weather, the park was reasonably busy with plenty of caravans and lots of Bach owners in their permanent chalets in the park.
Great decorating skills
Some have gone to some trouble to set them apart from the others.
Along the beach
The rain came down overnight which we expected and we enjoyed a leisurely run home with very little traffic.
On the Estuary
Its a great spot, the camp is well setup and with Mathew on the handlebars now, you’ll really enjoy your stay. Check it out.
We popped in at Waipu on the way home from further north to find that the Caledonian park has now got a Gravel driveway from St Mary St which is fantastic news.
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Lovely parking
Often we’ve been there to stay and its either been wet or about to rain and although the parking under the trees is pretty well drained and solid, the road across the end of the footy field to get to the parking, is often a bog and impassable.
From the carpark. You can see the parking under the trees on the right.Once boggy and mucky!
Staying out in the carpark when there is a rugby event on is not really my cup of tea and although we’ve done this when it has been wet, its not really a relaxing area to be in with cars coming and going.
With the hall behind
So good news. A great park for NZMCA’rs at $10 a night with power and toilets and so close to Waipu, its a wonderful place to stay.
We arrived in Auckland about an hour earlier than planned around 10:30pm and immediately grabbed a cab and headed for the Hotel Ibis at the airport. Our son Alex was going to pick us up in our car around 7:30 in the morning but with the body clocks being as they were, we were awake and ready to go by 5:30am wondering what to do with ourselves 🙂
It was great to see Alex, Sarah and the boys at their home in Ardmore after a long time away. Unfortunately, we had to press on and pick up Rafe from Dianne and Gary’s shed in Taupo otherwise we had no where to sleep !
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We left Ardmore around 9:30 and headed south stopping at Cambridge for lunch and then getting to Taupo about 1pm. Rafe’s COF had expired and it was booked in for 2pm which it flew through.
I hate the waiting and standing around with WOF’s or COF’s as you never know what is going to spring out of the woodwork but today was a good day 🙂
Lovely spot
We headed up to the National Equestrian Centre which is off the road north to Rotorua, just after the turnoff from Taupo. Its a magic spot and is $10 including power, showers and toilets.
Caravan Alley
With the jet lag the way it was, neither of us felt too good about driving north until we’d had a go at our body clocks and getting some sleep so we elected to stay here, despite the weather for the next 3 days and it just came down cats and dogs.
Toilets, Showers and rubbish right opposite
Although my front wheels were close to the gravel. There was quite a bit of churned up mud just in front so I was keeping an eye on that. The land around Taupo is a little top soil over pumice so it is really well draining and although there was a huge puddle behind and partly under us, when the rain stopped and we had to get out, I simply backed back from the mud and drove sideways around it and there was no slipping at all ! The water that was behind us had drained away really quickly.
You can see some of the neighbouring thermal activity here.
Its a great spot to park and the caretaker is really helpful and a really nice bloke.
After leaving there, we thought a night at the NZMCA park at Ngongotaha might be the ticket and then after that Auckland.
At Alex and Sarah’s in Auckland
On the fourth day, we headed back to Auckland and stayed with Alex, Sarah and the boys in Ardmore.
Liam and Granny Fiona on the sideline.
The next day grandson Ayden was playing rugby at his rugby club around the corner so we all went around and watched that.
Ayden off for the Tryline. On the left, Grandad Paul, Granny Fiona and Grand Gran Mary all providing plenty of encouragement !
A great family occasion. Sarah’s parents Paul and Mary were there too. Ayden scored about 5 tries which was great so a lot of family excitement.
Ayden off again with the ball
Its lovely to be back in Rafe and we don’t realise how spoilt we are until we drive something a bit older. Its nice to be back.
Kitzingen is about 350 k’s from Prague and after stopping just inside the Czech Republic border to spend our last crowns on Diesel and lunch, we cruised on into Germany.
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Us before the rush
We arrived in Kitzingen about 2pm in the afternoon at a great Stellplatz by the river which was 9 Euros a night plus power at .5EU by kwh. It took two 50c coins to get through the night with just a fridge going and a couple of phones and a laptop charging.. pretty cheap. This works out about NZ$15 a night all up with free toilets and dumping and it was a stones throw from the centre of a charming village with more of those lovely old buildings.
Gary looking relaxed with Harry and Ralph
We settled down and made a start on a 5 litre bottle of Estrella Wine which I’d bought for about NZ$9 in a Tesco store in Prague. I was assured from another shopper that it was ok to drink but we were a still bit worried about it. It was actually quite nice when you think what it cost 🙂
Fiona walking across the bridge on the right. Lovely old buildings
The next morning, Fiona was off early over the bridge to the baker to get some buns for us all for breakfast then we all went back for a look and a cup of coffee in the square.
Part of the churchfrom the camp
In the town
The View from the camp to the town
You pay for your ticket here and display it in your window
A Euro for your water
The Dump Station
.50 EU for power
Later in the day, the motorhomes started filling up the Stellplatz and parked where ever they could. The place was chocker.
Busy town
A park right by the river with barges to watch go by, close to town and nice and cheap.
I was on my way to the Horeke Tavern but after hitting some gravel road and with 18k’s to go and the weather looking iffy, I thought I’d be a wuss and head back to the Equestrian Centre in Kaikohe for a park for the night.
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Great parking
I’d just arrived when a smart looking VW Sprinter based van followed me in. This turned out to be some veteran motor homers in their 3rd month away from their home in Alexandra in Otago. They came over and joined me for a happy hour cold one.
This is an amazing place to stay. A huge carpark with power boxes dotted around so you can take your pick. In the middle at one end is a toilet block with showers and a dump station and potable water too. All this for $10 a night. They have made good use of an old red telephone box by making that the place where you pay and register for the night.
The Red Telephone box
The day we were there, the local pony club were practising. Its a great scene.
They are very careful about making sure the gate is locked behind you and for the night with the padlock. While we were there, 4 or 5 police cars raced by in different directions so they must have their reasons 🙂 .. Despite that, we all felt reasonably safe.
The neeaaaybours
HQ with the red telephone box
The toilet, shower block and dump station
The old Ngawha Springs pools are just down the road. I’m not sure if they’re still open though.
Power boxes everywhere you look
A fabulous place to stay in the North and at a great price!
The Netspeed Speedtest .. a long way from a tower! Download: 5.94 Mbps
Upload: 2.32 Mbps
Ping: 60 ms
What a beautiful place Pahi is. We’ve been here before I was doing this blog with friends just after some heavy rain. We had to park on the gravel so its not an all weather grassy surface.
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Looking down from up the road.
Pahi is about 15 minutes off the main highway through to Dargaville. It is at the end of a peninsula south of Paparoa.
A local anti Fouling his boat
When I arrived, I was met with a sign in the office to make myself comfortable in a park of my choice and they’ll catch up with me. For $10 (with NZMCA discount) per person per night with power, it is exceptionally good value and its in a lovely spot in the northern reaches of the Kaipara Harbour.
All tide ramp
Apparently it is one of the few all tide ramps in the whole of the Kaipara.
Just like in the travel magazines!
The wharf is great for a walk down or just for a look around. There are some really quirky little houses there dotted around the waterfront, almost like an old fishing village you see in the magazines.
The office
Looking across to Whakapirau
Looking north past Whakapirau
Just like in the travel magazines!
Close to the water
Dawn with Fog
Pahi Hall by the wharf
The camp is a Doc park with the staff being managed by a local committee and apparently it works well. There is an old Hotel which had its license transferred to the Paparoa pub in the 50’s. It is still in great shape but is now a private house. The camp has a dump stations and a recently renovated toilet and shower block.
Looking across to Whakapirau
A lovely spot which you could easily spend a few days at and run by some really nice people.
There was a good 3G Internet signal here but I forgot to speedtest it.
By walking down the street beside it reveals a nice private flat powered Motorhome park behind the hotel nicely planted out with Palms and with a nice outlook. It is $25 (for two)a night and includes the use of the nearby Backpackers Toilet and Showers. It also has a dump station.
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Solid ground too.The Backpackers with the Dump Station, Showers and Toilets.
We arrived early on a Friday and checked in for a weekend at Coromandel. Our friends Dianne and Gary were staying in a motel room in the Coromandel Top 10 right opposite so it worked perfectly.
We went for a walk down to the town which takes all of 10 minutes and enjoyed a cuppa at one of the many cafes down there and after checking into some of the shops wandered back to Rafe. There is a Laundromat there too.
Nicely setup parking and has a dump station and fresh water
The Laundry is easy to spot
Coromandel Town
I love the Husband Waiting chairs
That night it rained and we popped over to the Motel unit and enjoyed a few laughs and glasses of wine before heading to the Coromandel Hotel for tea. It was stunning. Gary and I had a carpetbag steak each, Fiona had a seafood chowder which had huge pieces of seafood in it and Dianne had the roast pork. The best was still to come.. liquorice ice cream with sambuca.. and it was huge. We all hooked in. This is really something to see and even better to eat.
Looking down the back
A neat place to stay and great place to eat as well.
I have done a blog on this before but this is the first time we’ve stayed here and I’m pleased we did!
One thing I did find interesting is like Simpsons Beach, I had to switch the router back to 3G. Although it worked on 4G, It was significantly faster on 3G.. see the speedtests below.
We were on our way to Whitianga and were told about the magic Mussel Fritters that come from the Coroglen Tavern.
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Jed and Michelle outside their Hotel
3 years ago, Landlady (In the traditional Coro St fashion) Michelle and her other half Jed, bought the pub from Michelles parents and are redeveloping it as they can.
As responsible hosts, they are providing an area for Motorhomers to spend the night after enjoying their hospitality. As Michelle said, “They haven’t finished here yet”.
The Motorhome parking area. Plenty of room.
The Coroglen Tavern is the local for a wide area of Coromandel and is a well known Saturday night music hotspot.
The music area
Inside the bar area
Rafe parked outside
We timed it beautifully with our arrival bang on lunchtime and it was very hard to go past the Seafood Basket and of course the amazing Mussel Fritters. YUM. This is a serious must do!
Mussel Fritters .. YUM!The Seafood basket
There is parking around the back or we just parked Rafe in front.
Rafe parked outside
Jed and Michelle and their staff were very helpful and as I said, the food was something out of this world. Try it 🙂
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.
The NZMCA App screamed out the Petone Club as a good place to be and we cruised in the late morning to this massive park.
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