As B&Brs from Waiheke and being in the hospitality business, Brian and Carol were ready to explore NZ in their 7m A Class Burstner Viseo . They’ve sold the House at Waiheke and now moved north.
Don’t forget to click on the images for Hi Res
Carol and Brian with their Burstner
I bumped into them at Rays Rest during a cup of tea and lunch stop as we swapped notes with their Burstner and Rafe. Both Dethleffs and Burstner are owned by the Hymer group in Germany and although they’re quite different, there are a few similarities.
The Living spaceThe Galley
They bought their Viseo from a dealer in Taupo in 2011 before the current importer was dealing with them. It has a 3l Fiat motor with a manual gearbox and plenty of room. Having a solar panel and LED lights makes it really easy to enjoy their freedom camping and the NZMCA parks which they’re really keen on.
They previously had a Mitzi Canter which they had had since 2005.
A great view
They’ve been all over the country in it several times and are thrilled with it. The favorite place was Lake Tekapo. .. I think Rays Rest is pretty good too 🙂
On our way north by the Hukerenui Pub is the Jack Morgan Museum. I was interested in this as my old Whalechaser Rorqual was built by a Jack Morgan in Picton and although I was certain there was no connection given the distance, one never knows 🙂
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The Museum
It turns out that the Hukerenui Jack Morgan was a real character and was a local identity an on retirement started his collection which now makes up the contents of the Museum. Some of the locals have done a great job of the gardens next door too.
The Museum
Parking
The Garen with the Pub behind
Nice outdoor seating
His parents owned the pub next door which is where he was born.
The Parking, plenty of room
A really interesting place and if you visit the Museum, you can stay for free on the grass behind. It is $6 a night otherwise. There are toilets there too.
Its well worth a look through with all sorts of knick nacks from years gone by and there is a café next door in the pub to finish off with a cup of tea.
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
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 laneFrom 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
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.
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.
Ian and Lynda’s XLI on the left, Rafe on the right.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
In Rotorua recently, I discovered by accident almost, the amazing new free overnight parking put in as part of the Motorhome Friendly towns scheme and by the Rotorua Council.
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Great Parking
What a great spot right in the middle of town really and in the Gardens area by the Polynesian Pools complex.
The Blue Baths building
Government Gardens
The lake
Sculpture park
Sculptures
Although it’s essentially a modified carpark, it has been done really nicely with the sculpture garden next door and surrounded by pools.
The view from the park
Well done Rotorua Council and I bet it’ll be well used by Motorhomers.
On a nice fine day, this is a lovely spot in Clive, right next to the river, and courtesy of the Hastings Council, you can stay here with a gold coin donation.
The River
There’s usually plenty to look at, rowers, people walking, sometimes the odd boatie. There were several buses there and a Motorhome and there was oodles of room for more. Motorhome Parking is under the trees but not in the carpark at the end.
Gorgeous spot!
With the sun beating down and people coming and going on the biking / walking path behind down to the beach, fantastic.
I was trying to upload some images for several blogs and for whatever reason, the uploads kept bombing out so I decided as I was in a bit of a valley, I’d move to Eriksen Park which isn’t that far from Clive.
There are toilets there too but I did see signs talking about it being prone to flooding with high tides and rainfall. Lovely spot but pick the weather.
It was nice to see Chris and Margaret and the others from the forum www.nzmotorhome.co.nz, many that I’ve never met before. Andrew and Debbie from Tauranga, nice to see you too. Given the weather was pretty naff, it was good to see such a good turnout.
Click on the images for Hi Res or a slide show
Motorhomes and Caravans as far as the eye can see. Click on the image to enlarge.Interesting power setup
Hundreds of vans parked everywhere and all shapes and sizes. I went for a bite of a wander to have a look for some of the more unusual looking or big/little Motorhomes.
It was also good to see my friends from Miranda, Marama and Rob and also Karen from the Motorhome Friends Facebook page with their Trailites. We were also joined by our fulltiming friends Chris and Gary. Good to see them too.
Many had multi day passes to the show and were in and out every day.
Chris and Margarets Jayco and the Forum Overnighters
Most were there for the full duration of three days. Nice too that so many recognised Rafe and came up to say hello and we could put names to faces. It’s always nice to meet you and get your feedback.
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.
Click on the images for Hi res or a slideshow
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.
A years ago or so, we found this spot and stayed here with our friends Rob, Helen and Chloe. With high cliffs all around with a river running through the middle, it’s an amazing spot. When we were there with Rob, Helen and Chloe in our way south. it was a bit warmer and there were people swimming in the river, a lovely spot.
The River
There is a swing bridge which takes you leads you along the valley for some great walks up into into the bush into the valley. Plenty of level parking, picnic tables, Barbeques, swings and slides and some loos too. The best part of all this is that you can stay for free overnight as long as you have that Blue Sticker of Self Containment.
The Viaduct
As you enter the park, you pass under the main trunk railway on a massive viaduct.
I just popped in for a look and to do a Internet speed test and get some photos but while I was there a train went through. You can hear it but being a couple of hills away, only just. To get there, head south out of Te Kuiti towards Bennydale and it’s a few K’s on the left. A nice spot to stay if you’re heading through that way.
The Netspeed Internet Speedtest
Test Date: 14/08/2016 2:30 PM
Download: 7.31 Mbps
Upload: 0.73 Mbps
Ping: 57 ms
Server: Christchurch
Fiona and her sister Sara had organised a girls trip to Wellington and I wasn’t invited 🙂
Danby Field
So I thought about a trip up around Coromandel for a few days on my tod. My first night was at Danby Field in Thames where there were plenty of holes free.
I met my neighbours and their friends with their new Trailite and Burstner Ixeo which was interesting. The new Burstner Ixeo is like one of the new Dethleffs where they’ve completely done away with a permanent bed and rely solely on a drop down bed from the ceiling. Instead of having a bed at the back, the whole back area is devoted to a shower, toilet area and storage. I’m not sure that it’s my cup of tea but it’s an interesting way of reducing the overall length of the Motorhome and still have plenty of space for a big social area at the front.
Morning in Thames
The next morning with it being windy, I had an early start and set off towards Coromandel town up the coast road. After having a couple of close shaves with reckless logging truck drivers coming the other way, I got to Coromandel quite early and headed straight to the NZMCA park in the town.
Looking towards Corormandel from the top of the hill
With all the rain we’ve had and with it being quite low lying land, it was a mud bog but after only a few minutes parked there, I met quite a few people who were all parked together on a tar sealed area on the side.
One caravanning couple, Rory and Henny, from Christchurch were traveling with their friends from Whakatane and the more I got talking to him, the more members of my family he knew, some probably better that me!Small world stuff. It turns out that Rory grew up in Diamond Harbour where my grandfather had the general store, was postmaster and the local real estate agent as well. He remembers buying ice creams off my grandfather when he was a kid and described him to a tee. .. Wow.. He also knew some of my Christchurch rellies on my Mums side too.
I also met a couple in a CI Motorhome that we’d previously met in the NZMCA Ngontotaha park and some others who had recently received their brand new Dethleffs Trend. It was nice to talk to them too.
Seeing the amount of mud there and with another good thunderstorm and rain due that afternoon, I thought it would be prudent to check in at a local Campground and spoil myself in preparation for the Illume festival that night.
On our way North, we stopped in at Warkworth. It’s been a while since I’ve been to Warkworth as its one of those towns that you tend to drive through rather than stop at and it never disappoints.
Remember to click on the images for Hi Res or a slideshow
The River
We parked down by the river where there is one big Motohome park which Rafe fits in like a glove. It must be 7.6m long 🙂
Our carpark by the river
We went for a walk along the river side and then around to a French cafe in the town. I couldn’t believe how many Cafes and Real Estate agents there are in Warkworth. The Cafes are pretty much all next door to each other too.
New Seating
The main street
After a nice lunch, we went for a walk around the shops and then we headed back down to the river to Rafe.
It’s all looking very nice. The council have done a great job with local business’s contributing to the costs. It seem to be enjoyed by many while we were there and is a really nice place for lunch or just a stopping off point.
Motorhome Parking
There is also motorhome parking at the end of the main shopping road within walking distance to the river.
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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