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.

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.

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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.

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.