With the Covid Germ still out there still and it stifling our travel plans, I thought it would be a good time to revisit our month in Europe in a Motorhome following friends Gary and Dianne a few years ago… about 15 odd posts!
Enjoy
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The temperature had dropped from the 30’s down to a nice 20C so we set out for a walk with Fiona’s school friend from Exmouth, Hilary.
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Hilary and Fiona in Bath
Fiona and Hilary’s dads were both in the NZ and British Army in Terendak Military Camp in Malaya when they were both about 8 years old.
This was the first time they had seen each other since then so it was a real occasion for them both.
Escape route for seagulls under the bridgeThe shops on the bridge
We were heading towards the Bath Bridge for a look and maybe have lunch around that way. It is amazing with shops and cafes all built on the bridge over a weir and a canal so the boats can pass on the Avon river below. Stunning place.
Fiona and Hilary enjoying lunch on the bridge. A refection of a cyclist riding by in the window.
Shops on the bridge
A Tour boat on the Avon by the weir
Looking down the river
A canal boat cruising down the Avon
The Bath Bridge
People enjoying their afternoon
Back to the Abbey Hotel where we’re staying.
On the way back to the Hotel it was really nice to see people in deck chairs and just soaking up the views and the sun.
With the Covid Germ still out there still and it stifling our travel plans, I thought it would be a good time to revisit our month in Europe in a Motorhome following friends Gary and Dianne a few years ago… about 15 odd posts!
Enjoy
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32 degrees C and I thought they only have snow here. Its Hot!!
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We were up early to leave our London digs and to get to Paddington where the Bath train left from, we had to catch two Tube Trains. They are amazingly efficient and once you get your head around them, theyre fantastic. We were at Paddington with time left over for a thickshake and some free Wifi at McDonalds 🙂
The Bath Abbey
After an hour or so we arrived in Bath. We caught a Taxi to the Hotel which has to go round the back of Bath due to the one way streets to get to our Hotel, and then later in the day during our walk, discovered that the Station is only just around the corner. Oh well .. it was hot and we had a fair bit of luggage to drag around 😉
Just outside London. You don’t see these anymore but this is a full working Gasometer!
The Bath Abbey
One of the quirky shops
The Main shopping street
Main Street
We dropped off our bags and went for a wander around to check out the town. This is one very old town which I think was built by the Romans and like the other towns has the same stunning old buildings. Some of these though are really old.
The Roman Baths arch over the street
We spent the afternoon sitting out the heat under an umbrella with some cold drinks watching all the tourists board their buses outside the hotel.
Fiona in the Umbrella Street. I’m not sure what this was all about but it is a bit different 🙂
A lovely town with more to do with the rental car over the next few days.
With the Covid Germ still out there still and it stifling our travel plans, I thought it would be a good time to revisit our month in Europe in a Motorhome following friends Gary and Dianne a few years ago… about 15 odd posts!
Enjoy
————————————————————————————-
We arrived in London about midday and from the train station headed straight to our Hotel by the British Museum.
The Morgan, where we stayed in London
It was really handy to everything and only a block or so away from two of the Tube stations from significant lines.
The British Museum just around the corner
The next morning, we headed up the road to a bus stop for the Hop on Hop off bus or as many call it, “The round and round bus”. Armed with our London pass, we headed off down into the London traffic on an open top Double Decker bus and it was great.
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St Pauls from the traffic !
Down to Trafalgar Square and then we went left along the Strand and then to Fleet St. Here we hit the traffic and didn’t move for about 20 minutes!! It eventually let us past St Pauls and not long after that, we ended up at The Tower of London and the Tower Bridge.
From the Tower Bridge
Once we got across the Tower Bridge we hit the traffic again. It was almost gridlock and I think it took about an hour to get through to Southhampton bridge which is near where the London eye is.
Nice apartments opposite the Museum
The Shaftsbury Theatre
Cleaning with a view
Fleet Street
Crossing the Tower Bridge
The Tower Bridge
Big Ben
The Shard behind the Tower of London
There is a lot of construction going on down there with several new apartments blocks going up.
House of Parliament
We got across to Westminster where we got off the bus and headed for the Cathedral.
Fiona outside Westminster Abbey
What an amazing building and it just oozes history.
The audio tour is great and a must do but both Fiona and I struggled to understand what we were looking at as the Audio tour didn’t really line up with the map very well. We got there in the end and it was time to find a pub for lunch.
Just around the corner in Parliament St was the Red Lion pub which had an upstairs dining room. I had the biggest Cod and chips with mushy peas I’ve ever seen in my life with an English beer.
The fish was fantastic, the beer was fine.. it was called Londons Pride but not being a big beer drinker I was really just interested in a taste. I think I prefer Heinekin as far as beer goes.
Great service, resonable prices and nice food.. This was the first time I’ve had mushy peas and I loved them. Fiona had a chicken salad and that was great too. .. washed down with a quality English cider which neither of us can remember the name of.
The Household cavalry Museum
We left here looking for the Churchill War room but the queue was so long and in the heatwave sun, we decided to flag it and while Fiona headed for the Household Cavalry Museum, I headed towards the Marble Arch and got some images of Buckingham Palace and the arch itself.
Marble Arch
The Household Cavalry has a close association with the Coldstream Guards. Fiona’s dad served in Malaya with the Coldstream Guards under the then CO Sir Ralph (pronounced Rafe) Anstruther who Rafe is named after.
Buckingham Palace down the Mall
Fiona caught up with me at the Charing Cross tube station and we both headed back to the Hotel. It was hot. They were talking 30C! so we were pleased to get back to the air conditioning.
A good day and the bus is definitely the best way to see London.
After checking in with Leanne, the camp manager, she advised us that as they had huge amounts of rain, they still had some sites we could use but most of it was roped off due to mud and slush. This is normally a magnificent part of Coromandel and to see it like this was a real shame for them… its only water and will dry out but with the Covid thing and everything else, they needed that like a hole in the head.
I was given the option of two waterfront dryish sites to park on and we easily got in without skidding but the mud was out there 🙂
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At Long Bay
Tucks Bay
Tucks Bay from the headland
Once we’d plugged in and settled Rafe, we set off for a walk around the headland towards Tucks Bay. You can also camp around there as well. Its an easy 15 minute walk each way and is well worth doing. There is also the Kauri grove as well up behind the camp which is well worth checking out too but we didn’t get to do that this time.
The track back to Long Bay from Tucks Bay Tucks Bay
With the clouds blowing away later in the day, it was just amazing sitting on the side of the beach doing absolutely nothing but taking it all in.
Great sunset
A great destination with plenty to see and do… stick this one on your to do list.!
We’ve had a month or so of being housebound mostly due to Rafe’s Bumper project and also a full annual service. Getting it back meant we could escape !
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Rafe in the park with newly painted bumper!
Coromandel is somewhere we both thought would be great for a few days before Fiona had to return to work. We only had 4 days so we figured somewhere not too far and where we haven’t been for a while!
NZMCA park
The Thames Coromandel District Council are making some great improvements on the coast rd from Thames. Every time I come up here its different. This time they’ve widened the road north of Waiomu.. there are still plenty of narrow bits but I saw they’re dealing with some of those too.
Star and Garter pub
We arrived in Coromandel early in the afternoon on a Sunday so many of the shops were shut. The important ones like the bars and one of our favorite ones, the Star and Garter was open and they had a special on Gourmet pizza’s $10.. that was us for a late lunch!
After a walk around the town, we returned back to Rafe in the NZMCA park.
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Home of the first National Bank
Where i was introduced to my first Husband Waiting chair 🙂
Neat buildings
The local butcher shop
You never get sick of Coromandel, the charm of the shops, even though most were shut as it was a Sunday, there were people wandering around and all of them very friendly. It has a great atmosphere with all the old buildings and everyone seems happy to have a bit of a natter.
We called in to an Metal Art shop which backed on to the NZMCA park and bought an amazing sculpture of leaves made using recycled parts of copper hot water cylinders. Clever use of old materials.
Where i was introduced to my first Husband Waiting chair 🙂
Later, it time to go down to get Fish and Chips for tea and we headed back to Rafe for the night.
A great Day in Coromandel town, it never disappoints !
One of the nice things I find about getting out is finding all the little out of the way places you can stay for not a lot…. in other words very good value. They may not be perfectly flat or lacking in something but they make up for it in spades with their charm and beauty.
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Ekatahuna is one of those camping grounds. Great showers, toilets and with power and a well equipped kitchen for those who want them, it is surrounded on three sides by river and is just a stunner.
There is a Heritage walk to the town which is only 5 minutes away.
We arrived in the mid afternoon and checked in and we simply just parked in the middle of the grass. Fiona and I settled opened up some vent, plugged in and we were off to check out the walk around the camp by the river.
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Left ove Suspension supports
The walk to the River
Amazing Trees
The Ablutions block
Out on the Grass
The Park
The Council cuilding
The remains of one of the end supports of an old swing bridge that went across the river as a short cut to town is buried in the trees and can still be seen.
The River surrounding the park
There is a cabin there too which you can stay at and its all very casual and relaxed.
A great place to stop over and quiet too.
Rafe’s Tracker map to Ekatahuna Campground – Armada GPS
One of our favourite spots in the Hawkes Bay has to be Clifton Reserve. With Toilets and Rubbish recycling and right on the most amazing beach, it can’t be beaten and its a gold coin donation.
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Looking towards Napier
We’ve stayed here quite a few times and it is always fabulous. This time we were here so we could bike along to the Te Awanga Vineyard which was a few K’s down the road to have lunch. A perfect way to start a great day.
Great view
After settling down Rafe and getting the bikes down, we were off and heading down some great bike tracks towards the vineyard. Their driveway would probably be nearly a k long through the vineyards but its very easy and a lovely ride.
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Solitary Guitar
Great view at Te Awhanga
Fiona with her new Cider
Nice evening
Sundown
Parking in a bike rack not far from where we would eat, we were given a table which looked out over the vineyard towards Cape Kidnappers which was great.
Great spot
We must have spent several hours here eating pizza, drinking Chardonnay and Cider before we headed back to Rafe at Clifton. A fantastic spot and very reasonably priced. There are two other vineyards there too which we’ve been to as well. Clearwater and Elephant Hill. All are very good with different levels of food and pricing.
Sheltered
Arriving back at Clifton, it was starting to fill up but there was plenty of room for all.
Our friends from Christchurch, Rory and Henny were in town for the NZMCA AGM Rally with their friends from New Plymouth so it was a must for me to catch up with them as they had seen Fiona during a shopping trip, but I had missed them.
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Downtown Rotorua!
Rory and Henny and I met years ago when I was away on a blog hunting expedition on my own and we bumped into each other in Coromandel of all places. It turns out that Rory used to buy ice creams from my Grandfathers General Store in Diamond Harbour when he was a small boy. Later we worked out that he also knows some of my other cousins in Christchurch too.. small world 🙂
The UCC on the left and Rory and Henny’s new Burstner on the right
While parked down by the waterfront in a carpark, I thought I saw Rory and Henny roaring round the corner next to me and when I rang a few minutes later, it turned out it was them. They were heading for the supermarket and we arranged to meet after that.
Rory decided that we’d head over the a bigger carpark where we could comfortably fit three Motorhomes in while we had lunch without upsetting the car parkers.
Nice view
Rory had a plan and setup his near new Burstner Lyseo with Tony and Sheri from New Plymouth, with an area in between where could put out chairs and tables out for a bit a knees up for lunch.
It was really nice seeing them both again and also meeting their friends Tony and Sheri and their UCC Mercedes based Motorhome.
Lunch with a great view and there were lots of Motorhomes there, possibly having a break from the rally.
This was the main reason why we wanted to come to Rotorua. We moved Rafe to Cozy Cottage Holiday Park as it’s a bit less to bike! We’ve stayed here before some time ago and as they were doing a deal and because I’m a sucker for Hot Pools which they have, yippee, we’re in!
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Walking through Redwood Forest
Its also closer to the Redwood Park area. As it was Easter, the park was chocker but mostly with tents and a few Caravans.
The Tree walk
After checking in, we got the bikes ready and headed off to the Redwoods Forest area. Although we had a brochure with a map on the back of the Trail to get there was as clear as mud and we found ourselves having to stop and get directions a few times but got there and its a great ride just getting there once you know where you’re going 🙂
Fiona checking in
I waited with the bikes and got some pictures around it while Fiona did the walk. It looks great with platforms on the bigger trees with suspension bridges between. It takes about 45 minutes to an hour. There is also a night time walk you can do with the trees all lit up which comes free with the daytime walk.
Into the forest
After Fiona got back, we got on the bikes and opted to do the “Mokopuna” trail which takes you around an easy route through the trees and about 2/3rds of the way around there is an exit chute from the forest where you can head back into town for lunch which is exactly what we did.
Magical
On the way back we rode past the Racecourse where there were 600 odd plus mostly white Motorhomes enjoying the NZMCA Annual AGM. An awesome sight seeing so many parked in one spot.
After the walk and onto the ride.
After lunch we headed back to the Park for a hot swim after our 16 odd K’s ride.
Only 40 odd k’s from the centre of Auckland is the fantastic west coast surf beach called Muriwai and directly behind the dunes is a raised campground.
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The view
Being so close to Auckland it is super handy if you’re not looking at doing any serious miles and it feels like you’re miles away.
I checked in during the week as they have a minimum of $46.00 during the weekend. It was just $23 for 1 during the week. I wondered about the wisdom of doing this as a lot of people in Motorhomes do travel on their own and now there are no international tourists, it is excluding a large section of those travelling.
Cheryll and Denise were very welcoming and gave me a brief guided tour and allocated me a park up on one of the top terraces with a view over the sea.
Before I’d even plugged in I had met my immediate neighbours also both from Auckland !
New Showers
The campground is leased from the council and about 4 years ago, the council demolished the old tin shed toilets and showers etc and built brand new concrete and really upmarket new buildings.
BBQ area
I tried out the shower and all it has is a push button which once pressed, the shower delivers the perfect pressure and temperature and automatically turns off afterwards. You can turn it off earlier I’m told by simply pressing the button again… very smart… and super clean.
Its a simple hop skip and a jump over a small park and over the sand dunes to the beach.
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Nice Grounds
The Beach
Showers
The Gannet Colony
Looking North
While I was there, there were dozens of young people catching waves and enjoying the surf.
Great surfThe Gannet Colony
Muriwai goes for miles so if its a walk you’re after, there is plenty of scope for that too! I was impressed with the camp, its facilities and the friendly hosts.
Looking NorthEnd of the Day
A nice spot and if you like the beach, the perfect place for a long weekend.
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.
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