Tag Archives: History

Close to home, Hot pools

On Track

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Helensville is a neat little town and after spending a nice afternoon in the Hot Pools at Parakai, we took Rafe in for a nosey around.
We’ve been to the Railway Station before we had Rafe and it has a fantastic cafe which is where the original NZ Railways cafe was.

The Railway Station in 1910
The Railway Station in 1910

There is also a antique shop run by a nice lady who once lived in Auckland but escaped to Helensville a long time ago!
The Railway Station is owned by the Helensville Railway Trust and they’ve recently just done up the building including the loos. There is plenty of parking so it’s an easy place to park your Motorhome.

Just a friendly reminder, click on the images for hi res or a slideshow.

It was time for lunch so to the cafe. Still being ultra nice to my front tooth, I had to skip some of the real bready lunches and had a “Train smash” I think it was called which was basically a full breakfast.. Very nice. Fiona had an Angus beef burger.

My "Trainsmash"
My “Trainsmash”
Fiona's Angus Burger
Fiona’s Angus Burger

On the wall is a great photo of the staff at that particular time. Looking at the gear, they’re wearing, I’d say it’s late 1800’s or early 1900’s.

NZR café staff in the early 1900's . The lady in the middle was the manager who recently had her 90th birthday at the Café.
NZR café staff in the early 1900’s . The lady in the middle was the manager who recently had her 90th birthday at the Café.

The woman in the middle was in charge at the time and she recently celebrated her 90th birthday at the Cafe. A great story.
There are some really interesting pictures on the wall, one which looks like it might have been in France where a train jumped out of a wall on a second story. Oops!

Oops. Seen on the wall.
Helensville Railway Station with the Museum behind
In the Antique Shop
Antiques
Fiona at the counter in the cafe
The cafe
The outside Cafearea
Post office
The BNZ building
Rafe in the main street

After having a look around, we stopped for a look at the shops in the Main Street.

Main Street
Main Street

Some interesting buildings, everywhere you look  you see history.

Int'l Motorhomes

BMW Reisemobile

Jonas Ng recently took a team over from NZ to Germany to check out the new Frankia and Dethleffs models and their new features.

bmwWhile he was there, he visited the Hymer Museum and took these amazing pictures.  Hymer is the parent company of Dethleffs Motorhomes and Caravans.

bmwThis is the second of two posts.  Todays one is the one of the early BMW Motorhomes. I’ll let the pictures tell the story.

Click here to see earlier Dethleffs first caravan

Thanks Jonas!

Int'l Motorhomes

Wohnauto – Dethleffs first caravan

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Dethleffs NZ’s Jonas Ng has just returned after a week or two in Germany catching up with Dethleffs and Frankia to see whats coming soon with the new models.

caravanWhile he was there, he visited the Hymer Museum and took these amazing piccies of Dethleffs first caravan.

caravan

He also found an early motorhome.. that’s coming soon.

Click on the images for a slideshow.

Enjoy

Thanks Jonas for sharing these piccies.

Northland

The longest Pedestrian Bridge in the Southern Hemisphere

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While we had the car at Otamuri Bay, we thought it would be rude to not use it for a look around the area. 

The Whananaki Bridge
Fiona walking on the Whananaki Bridge

We headed back over the hill to Whananake North so we could answer texts and emails and the set off on foot to check out the Whananaki foot bridge which connects the southern shore of the estuary to the northern shore. 

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

The Whananaki Bridge with the school on the other side.
Fiona on the Whananaki Bridge with the school on the other side.

I had to stoop to hold the hand rail where I felt the need and it takes about 20 odd minutes to cross it. It would be fun for the school kids in a blow to get to Whananake North School! 

The Whananaki Bridge
Moureeses Bay
Moureseeses Bay

An interesting crossing so after that we headed back to Otamuri bay and beyond. The seal stopped on the road just past the Doc camp and a rather twisty, windy road takes you straight up and straight down again to a bunch of surf beaches.

Surfing at Moureeses Bay
Surfing at Moureeses Bay

We stopped at Moureeses Bay where some surfies were having fun. Another stunning Northland Beach which you would never know was there.

Northland

See you in a few days

With nothing happening in my diary for a few days, Fiona suggested I head north and catch up with our old Boating, and now Motorhome friends, Chris and Gary Parkes.

Fiona will join us with the car at the end of the week.
They’ve cashed up and are now full timing in their Mitzi Fuso, Ci Munro truck for the next wee while and seem to be really enjoying it.

The remains of the weather that hit Sydney’s beaches was, due to hit Northland so I thought I’d try a campground away from the gale north easterlies hitting our coast.

I arrived in Paparoa, on the road to Dargaville mid afternoon and checked in to the Paparoa Holiday Park.

Remember to click on the images for hi res or slideshow

The view of the camp from the entrance.
The view of the camp from the entrance.

This park was built from a paddock by the current owners and is all gravel with lots of small trees and cabins which offer good protection from the wind and rain. On my own, it cost $15 which is extremely good value with power.

Kitchen
Rafe in the corner
Small cabins
General Store
The river with the shops in the background
Part of the redeveloped Landing
The area redeveloped and now called the Landing. The National Bank building in the middle.

I got the bike of the back and went for a toodle into the Paparoa village for a look around. The Pub is just around the corner and the village is loaded with history. There is a river which comes up from the Kaipara which was used to get supplies up for the locals and dragged up a bank by wires from the boats. The old National Bank building is built into the shape of the corner which is interesting too.

One of the neat historic houses there
One of the neat historic houses there

A neat little town and a nice wee campground.

Waikato

Persimmon at Pirongia

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We were on our way home from Taupo after catching up with friends and we’d had a warning that the whole of the country was in for the bash from the weather.

The Café with the Motorhomes at the back
The Café with the Motorhomes at the back

Thunderstorms and strong winds meant hunkering down on some gravel with some power. Years ago when we had wee Rafe, the caravan, we stopped at a café in Pirongia which had some Motorhome parking on gravel out the back.

This sounded like a good destination and we would easily be there before the weather nailed us around 6pm.

Click on the images for Hi-res or a slideshow

The RV Park
The RV Park

We arrived with plenty of time, plugged in and decided to go for a walk into town for a look around before the rain hit. We’d just arrived in a café in town when the heavens opened up. Fortunately it was just a shower so we still had time to check the Alexandra Constabulary Redoubt which was a fort on a small hill overlooking the town. It has dug trenches around almost like a moat and is well worth a look. It also happens to be right over the road from the Persimmon Café RV park where we were staying the night.

On our way to town
The redoubt with the town behind. You can see the RV park with the grey building.
The redoubt, Pirongia behind
Mt Pirongia behind
The ablutions
The parking

A nicely set up RV park but it is really a carpark with powerpoints and a toilet block. The cost for us was $25 for the night. $10 for us and $15 for the power. If we wanted to use the onsite dump station, that would be another $15 and the showers another $5 each.
It was explained that the dump station had to be emptied on a regular basis and trucked into Te Awamutu hence the charge.
My thinking was that although it wasn’t waterfront or top ten standard, it was perfect for sheltering for the night or passing through. It is also very central with the town only a few minutes walk away.

We decided to use the free dump station at Drury as we were heading that way but there is also a free one at Te Awamutu and we used our own shower.

Not big
Not a big park but perfect for passing through.

It was nice being on the gravel and plugged in as the weather really laid it on. Lightening and thunder and lots of rain. It was an interesting night with some good puffs of wind and plenty of action from the sky but we felt nicely tucked in and sheltered.

Pirongia is a nice wee town and there is heaps of history there. Its well worth checking out the redoubt.  The town is spoilt for choice for motorhome parking  with the Clydesdale Café and if you’re an NZMCA member, at the Golf Course just on the outskirts of town.

Close to home, Northland

Parking behind the History

One of the great new secrets of Mangawhai is the Motorhome parking behind the history in the new Mangawhai Museum. 

Parked behind the Museum
Parked behind the Museum

It’s a huge area and perfectly flat and also has the dump station and for a donation, fresh water. 

One of the most decorated dump stations
One of the most decorated dump stations

We arrived here fresh from having a look around Bennetts chocolate factory and the old Mangawhai shops and were keen to check out the Museum. 

In a brand new purpose built building with a cafe, it is really well done and well worth a look through. There is a lot of history on the Niagara sinking and a huge amount of items donated by the founding families of the the area. 

Plenty of room
what a memory!
A model of the old wharf by the Hotel
Inside the museum

After visiting the Museum, we unhitched the bikes and went for a bit of a trek around the new housing areas opposite the Museum.  As we left, we saw our caravan neighbours from the pub carpark the previous night arriving at the dump station. 

Lots of room and dead flat
Lots of room and dead flat

Another great free parking discovery at Mangawhai and the Museum is one of the best!

Close to home, Northland

At the Pub

There were thunderstorms predicted and the showers on the road from Kaiwaka to Mangawhai were pretty heavy. We were going to stay at Scandrett but decided, given the weather, we’d be better off plonking the 4 odd tons of Rafe on gravel or tarseal. 

We looked at the Hakuru RSA on the way but as there was no one around decided we’d try the Mangawhai Pub which was an NZMCA Park over Property. Not my first choice on a Saturday night as we’d be sharing the park with pub patron cars. We thought we’d give it a go as there was a caravan who’d been there for a few nights who hadn’t had any trouble so we parked over in the corner as close to them as we could and headed in for a drink.

The pub carpark
The pub carpark

It’s a really nice old historic hotel right on the water. Everywhere you looked, it reeked with history and lots of character. As we settled down for our first drinks with a bowl of chips, a huge thunderstorm hit and lots of rain. I love a good thunderstorm, especially when you’re nicely tucked up inside out if the rain.

In front of the pub
In front of the pub

The rain didn’t last long so I went for a walk down to the beach in front and checked out the estuary for some piccies. I also did some more in the morning.

We settled down for tea and watched TV and about 11pm, we felt a few very gentle rolls of the van, like someone in the van had moved. Someone’s sense of humour as they were leaving the carpark!  We ignored it and a second later it stopped and we heard more cars drive away. No harm done. A nice spot and really handy to town and it is free after all. Maybe not Friday or Saturday nights though!

Don’t forget to click on images for hi res or a slideshow

Parked in the corner
The main street of Mangahwai. Bennett’s chocolate factory on the right
A character building on the main street
The café at Bennett’s
Bennetts Chocolate Factory
Behind Bennetts Factory

The next morning we parked around behind Bennetts chocolate factory.  I wasn’t aware but there is a huge large Motorhome friendly park behind the building.

I love carparks like this. Behind Bennetts Chocolate Factory
I love carparks like this. Behind Bennetts Chocolate Factory

After a cuppa at Bennetts chocolate factory café and some chocolate. we went for a wander around the shops in Mangawhai.

Mangawhai Estuary
Mangawhai Estuary

A neat little town and not too far from Auckland.

Auckland Parks

At the end of the road

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One of the few Auckland CSC Motorhome parks run by the council that we haven’t had a look at is Scandrett Regional Park. It is literally at the end of the road beyond Algies Bay overlooking Kawau Bay just north of Auckland.  It is simply stunning. 

Across Kawau Bay
Across Kawau Bay

With weather warnings and a forecast deluge of rain that didn’t really arrive, we were a bit cautious about staying here as the Motorhome parking is all grass but on a flat platform overlooking the bay. To get to this flat platform though is a not so flat uphill grassy paddock area back to tar seal.

The Motorhome parking
The Motorhome parking

On a fine day with no rain, it’ll be magic and there is lots to explore down on the beach.

The Scandrett family boatshed
Scandretts Motorhome parking at the end of the grass
Down by the beach
Along the beach. The bach at the end of the beach can be rented.
The fancy toilets

The original Scandrett family homestead is made of concrete which was quite rare and still stands, and all the sheds and barns, mostly built in the early 1900’s are also still there and in good nick. Auckland city has put explanations and signs on each and it’s well worth a look, even just for the day.

The Scandrett Homestead
The Scandrett Homestead

The CSC park costs the normal Auckland City $8 each and as the parking is clearly Motorhome only, you don’t have to tangle with the day trippers in cars which I really like. We’ve got it penciled in for the next fine day.

Classic Boating, Waikato

Motorhoming with the boats

Paeroa
The old post office building and the Paeroa racecourse ticket office.

On the way back from Waihi, we stopped in at the Paeroa Maritime Museum.
With my past involvement with Classic Launches, I was keen to see what was there. The main building is the ex Paeroa Post Office and is chocker with relics from the area. Apparently Captain Cook sailed up the Waihou and checked it out for Spars.

The old Paeroa jail house
Old outboards
The camping area, normally there are no cars here.

Paeroa didn’t see roads until the mid 1940’s and the main transportation method was ships up the streams to where the Maritime Museum is today.

Visitors going up the river
Visitors going up the river

They also provide overnight Motorhome parking with power for $15 and there are toilets and plenty to see and do.
You can also go for a ride in one of their two vessels up the Waihou river.