We hadn’t long been out of bed on the Saturday morning when Fiona announced,” Let’s get out of town, what about Kaiaua”?
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The Bay View Hotel in Kaiaua
Kaiaua has become our easy bust out of the house destination being not far to drive with a great NZMCA park next door to a fantastic pub and the Fish and Chip shop from heaven 🙂
So, within a couple of hours, we were arriving in Kaiaua. Almost opposite us were full-timers, Kelly and Claire in their Autotrail Delaware. Small world stuff. It turns out that Kelly built a friend’s boat. Moored in the same place as the old family boat Rorqual.
We tootled over next door to the pub next door and there was an amazing band playing called Small stuffed Animals. they were amazing playing all the old favourites.
We also met Vicki and John who are just getting a Caravan ready to hit the road. Vicki grew up in Kaiaua.
I was told that there was a German Ompah band playing the next day and that explained why some of the staff were dressed in the appropriate costume, like the German beer festival. Lots of fun.
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Manu about to deliver some food to a table.
We pretty much spent the rest of the day there and then got fish and chips for tea at the Fish and Chip shop. While we were there, we stumbled on some Liquorice Ice Cream. We last had this with Sambuca over it years ago in Coromandel and it was unbelievable. Well, we’ve found it, and it is made by Lewis Road Creamery… I feel a visit is imminent with the freezer on 🙂
Manu with some happy customers.
The next day, Fiona went for a walk, and I went to chat to the neighbours and later we found ourselves back at the pub where the Herman band was laying. Barman Manu was in his German gear making the most of it and it was a fun afternoon.
Later in the day we checked in to the Pub for tea. I had an unbelievable Pork Roast and Fiona had a Fish Pie… both amazing.
It’s cold and the weather isn’t that flash, but it was time to give Rafe a fright by getting on a highway or two.
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Nigel no mates 🙂
My first destination was the Kaiaua NZMCA park and being a Wednesday afternoon, it was no real surprise to find there was only one other vehicle there, but we were joined by another Motorhome later in the day. It rained most of the day, but it was nice and warm and there were a few movie endings I wanted to see on Netflix to keep me going 🙂
Later I wandered over to the pub next door for a glass of wine and managed to catch the 2nd half of the NZ womans 7’s team winning a medal… fantastic.
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Quiet in Kaiaua
One of the main streets in Thames
The Paeroa Pub
The main street in Paeroa
In the morning, it was still pretty gloomy, but I went for a bit of a walk around with the camera. It is very different here mid-week with unfavourable weather, that’s for certain. Here’s what it looked like a few months ago.
Free parking in ThamesA place to see in Thames
After packing up and stowing things for travel, I thought I’d head for Thames to check out a spot for next year’s Dethleffs Owners group. Finding accommodation for 40 plus vehicles that also takes Dogs that we haven’t been to, is not all that easy.
Our new venue for the get together next year.
After ringing ahead, I later met Kevin who showed me around out next venue which is perfect and an easy walk or bike to the shops. Its in the diary and we’re all ready steady go for early next year.
Free parking in Paeroa
Feeling pretty pleased with myself, I thought while I was out and about, I’d pop out to Paeroa which is only 20 k’s away and settled into a spot in the council provided freedom camping at the end of the main street. A great spot and for $5 I had power too for the heater… it was cold!
The Paeroa Pub
The next morning after a look around Paeroa, I headed back to Auckland stopping at Ngatea for Diesel and the Dump Station. A nice couple of nights away. A flashback to a recent trip to Paeroa.
Rafe’s tracker map to Thames and Paeroa – Armada GPS
We left Auckland late on the Saturday morning on the way to our son, Alex’s new house in Mangere Bridge and it’s looking great. It’s really nice to see him in his own house and he is really chuffed with it.
After an hour or so, we thought we’d better hit the trail towards Kaiaua to avoid the worst of the motorway Kings Birthday traffic and cut across to Manukau and went out the back way through Clevedon. We celebrated with a coffee stop in a Clevedon Cafe!
The Kaiaua NZMCA park from up the hill.By the creek
An hour or so later we were rolling into the Kaiaua NZMCA park and there was plenty of room left. It’s a seriously nice part of the world here with the water just outside the gate and plenty of places to walk and a trail which runs from here all the way to Matamata via Thames if you’re really keen 🙂
We started off by visiting the pub and having a G&T out in the Garden Bar.
The Garden Bar
It was a fairly drab old day with the clouds hanging over us and the odd peep of sunshine coming through but not enough to seriously do any meaningful charging, so I was expecting to see it how the two new Lithium Phosphate, 150AH batteries went. They do have a Bluetooth arrangement where they connect to an app on the phone and show you what’s happening.
At 4:30pm, the Sail GP was on, so the TV was on through the Mi Box which we’ve recently installed. (better quality picture than the dome) This would bring a bit of a drain but with the sun popping in and out on the panels, we really didn’t use much.
By the time the Racing was over it was dark, and we headed over to the Fish and Chip shop for Fish and Chips. Really nice Fish too.
Back with Rafe, we watched a Netflix movie through the Mi Box again and at the end of the night when I switched everything off, we’d only used 20 Amp hours. Unbelievable. Somehow on the AGM’s we would have used heaps more than this and the voltage would have dropped too. The Batteries were showing 13 volts at the end of the night!!
My birthday was only a few days before this so lunch was a plate of Mussels with a G&T each at the Pub!
After lunch, we walked down to the pink dairy and checked out all the Motorhomes parked in the free parking by the beach. Fiona wandered over and bought Ice creams, so we sat there and soaked in the ambience 🙂 A lovely spot.
The Pink Dairy
We went back to Rafe to watch the Sail GP second day and then it was back to the Pub for a birthday dinner, and it was stunning. I had a Rack of Lamb which was melt in your mouth…!!
The Lamb.. yum
That night we didn’t really use a lot of power, early to bed so only the Router, the TV until about 9pm, the odd flash of the water pump during loo flushes and making cups of tea and a few LED lights but we did get a few peeps of sunshine during the day … about 8 Amp hours.
The next morning, I checked on the batteries and we were 20 AH down for both days!! Amazing.
The Bluetooth App showing the two batteries on the last morning before we left.
For all the people I discussed this with beforehand who all said, “It will change your life” and take the stress out of not being plugged in and the ability to use power without thinking about it. They’re all right. It’s amazing and I wish I’d done it earlier.
Enjoying the coast
By the time we got back to Devonport we were fully charged off the alternator, so the system works! A great weekend too.
After 18 months of open homes and saving madly for the 20% deposit you need these days, my son Alex has just moved into his first house. I can remember when Fiona and I first got ours and what a great sense of achievement it was to be there on the first night. Of all the open homes they looked at with his two sons, that was their favourite too.
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Big parking area next door for the busy periods.
After spending the Saturday unpacking boxes and watching the moving guys, we retired to Rafe outside for a tea which Fiona had made and heated up in Rafe. We then left him to it and set off for the NZMCA park at Ardmore where we spent the night.
Magic spot in the middle
Arriving at 8pm and opening the gate at Ardmore, we quietly drove in and looked for a park.
The parking spaces have all be changed since I was last there and there was little or no light at the time, so we popped into a site in the middle.
Front row views of the airfieldPart of the view from the front row
After a visit to the local Cafe for breakfast, Fiona left in the car and headed back to Alex’s to help unpack and set things up in his house. I left in Rafe and headed to Pukekohe for the night for my Monday morning appointment at Zion in Pokeno for new Batteries.
Rafe’s tracker map to Ardmore NZMCA Park- Armada GPS
One of the handiest new additions in the NZMCA parks has been Kaiaua. Its close enough to Auckland to escape the city and bunk down for a sprint somewhere further on with fantastic eating opportunities.
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Looking back from the bridgeGreat parking
We were heading to Coromandel but with forecast 80k westerlies that day, we thought we’d delay it a day and sit tight. We haven’t been to Coromandel for ages, so we were both really looking forward to going. It was to be the next day.
The sun came out but was still windy.
We arrived in Kaiaua around midday, pleasantly surprised that the holiday traffic wasn’t too bad.
Great FoodKaiaua Pub
The first thing to do was check out the Bayview Hotel. It’s my understanding that the chef that was at Fleurs in Moeraki has started working here so that’s exciting. We kept things simple and shared a pizza which was fantastic. Later in the day, we couldn’t resist the fantastic Fish and Chips at the Kaiaua Fish shop next door.
Backed on to the pub 🙂
After generally loafing around at the park and a walk around the marina, I caught up with part of the Dethleffs Owners Group, Andrew and Pip also in the park. Nice to see them.
We left Turangi early and headed up the side of the lake as Fiona was really looking forward to “doing the shops” in Taupo. We’ve met several people over the last few weeks have given us different views of the changes at Taupo and none of them are all that flash so we were a bit unsure of what we might find.
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Along the waterfront at Rotorua
Driving along the Taupo waterfront and hour or so later, there were thousands of people enjoying the sun and the lakefront and it looked fantastic. I got to the end of the waterfront to the town and suddenly out of the blue was right-hand bend into the back of the town.
Late afternoon at Ngongotaha NZMCA park
How to get to the day Motorhome parking on the other side of town easily. Too hard I thought with all the people, so we decided we’d skip Taupo and head straight for Rotorua.
Busy busy
An hour or so later, we were at Ngongotaha plugging ourselves in and getting ready for our first bike ride into Rotorua down the bike trail. We’ve done this before too but it’s always different and new things to see and do. Fiona’s favourite French Cafe was closed due to the silly season, so we had a lovely Cafe lunch just by the waterfront before biking up to a well know baby shop to look for some clothes for my year-old grandson.
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Along the waterfront
Ohinemutu
The Trail into town
Eat St
Pleasant day
Late afternoon at Ngongotaha
We had two nights there and after another night at the Ngongotaha park and some more riding around the waterfront, we packed up and headed back to Auckland.The park is looking good and is always busy which is good to see. It’s so handy to town too.
One of the nice things about going a different way is seeing new things or seeing them differently.
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Makatote ViaductRafe next to the Viaduct
After leaving Ohakune, we headed up towards National Park, stopping in at the new Kiwi Camp there by the old Historic Railway Station. The cafe was shut so after half an hour of walking around, we headed up the road until we came to the Makatote Viaduct. What an impressive structure and given when it was built, it wouldn’t have been easy.
National Park Railway StationFiona at the Historic Railway Station
Another half an hour and off we went again, this time we decided to head up and see the old Chateau. What a shame it has become a casualty of its upkeep. We stayed here with friends Gary and Dianne a few years ago in the campground there and had High Tea in the Lounge with all the service… most impressive. We still have the memories. 🙂
The Chateau with some rain coming through
The building is still impressive though. I hope someone can find a way to make it pay its way.
Turangi NZMCA park
We left there and headed for Turangi and stopped in at the mall for a Coffee and Lunch opposite in a Cafe then we checked in at The NZMCA park there.
Rain coming through in waves.
The park is looking fantastic. The forecast was for heavy rain and thunderstorms which we were all waiting for but didn’t happen. A great night there anyway.
We had just finished a great Christmas with our family, and it was time to head off to a long-awaited trip to Taranaki. Last year, I had done several trips to New Plymouth to meet up with old work colleagues from my days at the Herald and for a Hospice Auction. But it was all very quick and like a sprint from Auckland and back. This time, we could have bit of a nosey round.
The park
We left Auckland early, but it still took over an hour to get through the Takanini/Papakura area on the Motorway. The traffic was diabolical, and this was on the 27th.
A great hobby to take away.
After getting through there, it was easy peasy all the way to Otorohanga where we were meeting up with friends from the Dethleffs Owners Group, Steve and Rosemary. They had come down the day before and were very ready with a park right next to them at the NZMCA park which made things really easy. Here is an interesting link about their railway station 🙂
Rosemary and Fiona under the awning.Steve and Rosemary’s Esprit GT with the back of Rafe appearing behind.
We had a great night with them… It was really nice to catch up with them again.
The Railway station the next morningParking beside the Railway. Steve and Rosemary on the left.
In the morning we headed into Otorohanga town and had lunch in a cafe and quick look around before heading off towards New Plymouth.
First were the coffee carts who must have done a roaring trade both strategically parked at each end of the park and fantastic coffee too.
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Popular on Saturday morning
Then came tossing the Gumboot, Throwing the Hammer and throwing the Caber.
Throwing the GumbootThe CaberThrowing the Hammer
There was a 50-minute walk in 5 minutes and also some egg throwing too… 🙂
The walk
A lot of fun and in perfect sunshine. The Motorhomes parked around the grounds got their chairs out and watched in comfort with their morning teas and biscuits 🙂
The GrandstandThe Grandstand for the games
After this the Hamilton Pipe Band came on with the pipes and drums which sounded amazing. You can’t beat a good pipe band.
Hamilton Pipe BandHamilton Pipe BandHamilton Pipe Band
The games carried on then we had the ceremonial entrance of the Haggis lead by one of the senior pipers and with Chairman of the NZMCA Waikato group carrying the Haggis with the Whiskey following behind.
The Haggis being piped in.Michael with the Haggis
I’ve never tried Haggis before but it’s really nice and found myself partaking when I was offered seconds 🙂 Must be the McLean blood in me!
In the afternoon there was a jazz group called the Flaming Mudcats on the stage which I popped over to check out. They were really good with a chap on the double bass.
Check out all those Motorhomes
In the evening, it was back in the hall for another band called Landslide, a Fleetwood Mac tribute band where we sat with our Dethleff Friends from the group. Nice to see them again.
Saturday night with Landslide
After a lie in on the Sunday morning after the rugby, Fiona went for another walk into town while I chatted to our Dairy Farmer neighbours from Rotorua, Tony and Teresa. There were a lot of discussions about the rugby and that Brit in the bunker 🙂 as you can imagine.
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Hamilton Pipe Band
Hamilton Pipe Band
Hamilton Pipe Band
Hamilton Pipe Band
Hamilton Pipe Band
The Haggis
The Caber
Throwing the Gumboot
Throwing the Hammer
The walk
Throwing the Gumboot
Neal with his Highland gear 🙂
Harmonic Resonators on the Sunday night.
During the afternoon, there was an Accordion player, Annie Gong with come music sounds that she had made and versions of some well know songs, which sounded like a whole orchestra. It was well done. There were also raffles being held backed by NZMCA sponsors and others.
Harmonic Resonators on the Sunday night.
That night there was another band called The Harmonic Resonators which was essentially a family group which did some great harmonic singing. Think Crosby Stills and Nash but with some Te Reo as well along with lots of old favourites. They were fantastic and had great voices. Everyone in the hall were there to the end with a standing ovation. 🙂
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700 Motorhomes! see if you can find yours!
The weather was really starting to deteriorate with wind coming in but to a large degree, we were sheltered by Mt Te Aroha. The wind was coming around it though but that changed it to a south easterly which worked well as we were all parked pointing to the south. Over Sunday night, it blew dogs off chains, and we rocked and rolled. Some left later on Sunday to avoid the forecasted gloom 🙂
I was just pleased that the ground was so well prepared so there was little chance of getting stuck.
We were going to go over to the hall again for the final farewells and raffle results, but the weather was awful, so we decided to take advantage of a spell in the rain and head for the gate before the rush. Once we got to Ngatea, we refueled, emptied tanks and had a cup of tea.
The whiskey tradition.
Thanks for a fantastic weekend, great entertainment and as I said at the beginning, very well organised and we’re looking forward to the next one. 🙂
Rafe’s tracker map to the Te Aroha Romp – Armada GPS
The school holidays had rolled around, and our son Alex had two business trips to both Wellington and New York so it was down to Fiona and I to entertain the two boys. Ayden 14, and Liam 11.
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Ngongotaha looking a little dreary on the first day.
Our oldest son Drew and his partner Jenna and their 10 month old son Archie were going to meet us in Rotorua later and were staying in a boutique Hotel in Rotorua town.
The three cuzzies, Ayden, Archie and Liam by the waterfront.
Our first thought was to stay at the Speedway track which is somewhere I’ve never stayed before or Ngongotaha NZMCA park. Fiona had the idea that she would follow us down in the car so we could run around down there more easily.
We were off. Ayden sat in the copilots’ seat and Liam came down with Fiona a wee bit behind.
Liam and Ayden with the Hopscotch
We arrived in Rotorua early in the afternoon with passing showers so after checking out the Speedway which looked amazing, I decided against staying there only due to the power being 3 pin plug. Our 10 amp adapter is not weatherproof and the only spare 16 amp weather protected plug meant crossing some fairly boggy ground, so it was off to Ngongotaha.
I was pleasantly surprised that there were plenty of powered sites still free given it was school holidays and the park was quite busy. We plugged in and settled down until Fiona and Liam arrived in the car an hour or so later.
Down on the waterfront
It didn’t take long for the boys to check out the park and they quickly found the hopscotch right next to the powered parks. Later that day we headed into town to the park by the waterfront for the boys to run around.
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The amusement fair on the waterfront.
Down on the waterfront
The boys in the playground
Ayden and Liam on a swing.
People on the waterfront
Down on the waterfront
Andrew and Jenna texted so it was off to see them at their hotel and then we walked to the Lone Star for a meal. I haven’t been here for a while, so it was a quick reminder on how big the meals are there 🙂
Drews HUGE pork ribs at the Lone Star !
The next day after some more Hopscotch, we caught up again with Drew, Jenna and Archie.
Liam, Ayden, Archie with granny Fiona at the French cafe
After a nice lunch at Fiona’s favourite French cafe, we drove up to the Paradise Valley Animal Park for the boys, all three of them!
Ayden having fun with a DonkeyLiam feeding a Goat
They really enjoyed it and saw the Lions being fed which was amazing. The slabs of meat get thrown over about a 30 metre high French surrounding the enclosure 🙂
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Liam feeding a deer at the Animal Park
Trout at the Anima Park
Archie in his pushchair
Jenna, Archie, Drew and Liam in the background with a llama
Jenna, Archie, Ayden and Drew with the Llamas
Liam with a Goat
Ayden having fun with a Donkey
The happy Lion after a feed
There was a fair / amusement arcade setup on the fields behind the waterfront park, so we took the boys there. Ayden had broken his thumb playing rugby and was in cast so that reduced the Funtime activities for him which was a shame. Liam had a go at the dodgems and Ayden settled for some candy floss.
Liam on the Dodgems
The next morning, we were meeting Drew, Jenna and Archie at the Gondolas so that Liam could have a go on the Luge. He had a great time while we waited for him with cups of coffee in the Cafe.
Liam, Archie, Drew and Jenna on the Gondola.
Both boys came back with me in Rafe and we caught up with Fiona at Tirau.
Liam on the ride back up.
It was a fun few days and they really enjoyed it and it was a nice change for us too. Here is a look at a previous trip to Rotorua with the boys.
Rafe’s tracker map to Ngongotaha NZMCA park – Armada GPS
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.
So, within a couple of hours, we were arriving in Kaiaua. Almost opposite us were full-timers, Kelly and Claire in their Autotrail Delaware. Small world stuff. It turns out that Kelly built a friend’s boat. Moored in the same place as the old family boat Rorqual.
We tootled over next door to the pub next door and there was an amazing band playing called Small stuffed Animals. they were amazing playing all the old favourites.
We also met Vicki and John who are just getting a Caravan ready to hit the road. Vicki grew up in Kaiaua.
I was told that there was a German Ompah band playing the next day and that explained why some of the staff were dressed in the appropriate costume, like the German beer festival. Lots of fun.
Later in the day we checked in to the Pub for tea. I had an unbelievable Pork Roast and Fiona had a Fish Pie… both amazing.
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