Tag Archives: NZMCA

NZMCA Rallies

Kuratau Rally

We haven’t been to a rally for a while and with it being at Kuratau at the bottom of Lake Taupo, our friends from Taupo, Dianne and Gary were keen to go  so we were off. We left early on Thursday night and headed for the NZMCA Ardmore park so we could avoid the traffic on Friday morning which worked well as we were in Cambridge having a cuppa at 10:30.

Kuratau
Kuratau

By lunchtime we were cruising up the hill to Gary and Diannes place about to join them for a quick lunch and then were going to head down to Kuratau in convoy.  Gary lead the way as he knew the road and we headed from Taupo around the western side of the lake down to Kuratau.

Click on the images to see these in Hi res or for a slide show

Rafe and the Xli
Rafe and the Xli

An easy 1hrs drive and we were registering and settling Rafe and the XLI down and getting ready for Happy Hour.

From up above
From up above on the top plateau
Registration and raffle time. On the right, Fiona, Gary and Dianne
Registration and raffle time. On the right, Fiona, Gary and Dianne

The area was on a beautiful 6 acre property owned by Aucklanders Peter and Sandy, beside the river. They had a bach with a big open stone fireplace and their were two plateaus. We were parked on the bottom level next to the river. As the day went on, the area progressively filled up as more and more vans arrived. kuratauHappy hour is always fun and we met some new people and joined in for a couple of the raffles. I don’t remember seeing any of us (the 4 of us) win anything but its all a bit of fun and supporting the Taupo NZMCA.

Tea with the leaves
Chairman Geoff with his swiss cow bell
The wheel
Gary, Dianne, Fiona talking to Cyril and Gail.
Happy Hour
HQ for happy hour
Gary (right) coming out of Dethleffs corner

I met a chap who I knew but had never met from my old days as a newspaper photographer. He worked in Palmerston North on the paper there when I was in Auckland on both the Herald and the Auckland Star.   It was really nice to finally meet him as we had lots of common friends. Small world stuff.

Gary about to open the wine.
Gary about to open the wine… Hopefully!

The weather behaved itself, Geoff and Joyce and the committee did a wonderful job of organising it all and it was nice to see everyone having fun.

Rafe
Rafe

Kuratau is not somewhere we had been before and its lovely. We’ll be back there for sure. Thanks again to the Taupo committee for a well organised rally and to Peter and Sandy for letting us park on your front lawn. 🙂  It was great to catch up with our friends Gary and Dianne again.  A nice weekend having fun!

Close to home

A few hidden surprises

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Huntly is another town that has a few hidden surprises up its sleeve. I was keen to see what the holiday park looked like on the edge of Lake Hakanoa. 

Lake Hakanoa
Lake Hakanoa

Yep, Huntly has its very own lake with a Holiday park on the edge. It all looks very nice. We didn’t go in but stopped for lunch in the park next to the lake. The council have set it up well with nice planting and paths. I’m not a big bird watcher but there were some pretty unusual looking ones there apart from the swans. 

Lake Hakanoa
Lake Hakanoa

After lunch and a cup of tea, we headed off to another parking spot, I was keen to try on the edge of the Waikato river, the Huntly golf club. 

Click on the images to see hi res or the Gallery below for a slide show

Swans at Lake Hakanoa
Huntly power station fro Lake Hakanoa
A Nice big flat parking area.
From over by the river
The instructions
The last person to play for the day
One of the last holes

Our motorhoming friends Rob and Helen are the golf club experts and have stayed at lots but this was our first ever golf course and it looked like a purler! As we arrived, I got talking to a local who was keen for me to spread the word about motorhoming here as they’re keen to promote it. 

Huntly$10 including power and the use of their toilets and showers which I thought was very good value.  After plugging in and settling things down, we went for a walk through the golf course and went right across to the Waikato river. It was a bit grey and gloomy but still nice to be near the water.

Waikato River
Waikato River

After an hour or so, the last player finished and we were on our own.  Another great spot, not too far from home!

NZMCA Rallies

Wheels of the Freewheelers

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The view from the road
The view from the road

At the end of the week, it was time to think travel again and with a son with a birthday, Ardmore was the destination. After provisioning for the weekend at the easy to park in Countdown Takapuna, I headed to the Ardmore NZMCA park after getting some diesel at .91c a litre In Manurewa ! Fiona was driving out to join me after work.
I caught up with some if the regular liveaboards in the park which was great.

Our view of the Freewheelers.
Our view of the Freewheelers.

The Freewheelers were having their Christmas rally and were there in great numbers, all parked outside the NZMCA Ardmore park.

Click on the images to see them in Hi Res

Freewheelers enjoying catching up on Satruday morning

Freewheelers are single people out enjoying their Motorhomes and they’re a lot of fun.
They had a Its in the bag night in the hall and it sounds like they had a great time.

The crew looking happy on Saturday morning
The crew looking happy on Saturday morning

With more than a hundred people turning up in 80 vans, it was a fantastic turnout.

Inside the NZMCA park looking out towards the Freewheelers in front. Fiona's car next to us.
Inside the NZMCA park looking out towards the Freewheelers in front. Fiona’s car next to us.

We went out to tea in Takanini with our friends Roger and Marion which was great. In the morning moved around to son Alex’s family in Ardmore in the morning.

Ready to go

Time to celebrate !

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Nice wee spot in the sun.
Nice wee spot in the sun.

After hearing the great news yesterday that our property manager Downee received a contract from new tenants, I thought I’d celebrate by cruising down to NZMCA’s Ardmore Park at the Ardmore Airfield. We know where we’re going now after the false start from “the mad woman that was living in France”!

Busy busy
Busy busy

No sooner had I arrived, I met Roger who we met last year filling up his new AutoTrail Delaware with fresh water. It was nice to see him again and there is a plan to catch up for a cold one later.
Roger and Marion had the unique experience of having a 90 ish yr old woman beating their then brand new Motorhome with a broom in the middle of the night on the Devonport waterfront😱. There was amazingly no damage done. The police were called and apparently she has form for giving anyone a hard time that parks in front of their B&B! So when in Devonport with your Motorhome, watch out for a mad 90 something year old with a broomstick. 😳

It is a busy park but we suspect that because the nearby freedom camping area at Bruce Pullman park has a fireworks display on, that there more here.

The library and Check in Charlie hut.
The library and Check in Charlie hut.
Next door neighbours herbs n spices
Next door neighbours herbs n spices

Tomorrow I’ll get the bike out and have a ride around and see what I can find.
Alex and Sarah and the grandkids are next door to the airfield so might see them tomorrow too.

South Island 2015

Evans Bay Marina being reviewed for Motorhomes

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Evans Bay Marina 20th sec exposure at 10000 asa!
Evans Bay Marina
20th sec exposure at 10000 asa!

On Sunday morning a chap from Wellington City popped around in the Evans Bay Marina car park, with his clipboard. He was checking the CSC stickers for parking compliance. For those offshore, this is the self containment with black and grey water.

At Evans Bay
At Evans Bay the day before. Close to houses

Gary had a natter to him and he mentioned that the parking area was being reviewed. They’re thinking of moving it “up the “coast” which to me sounds like ‘out of town’.
One if the nice things about Evans Bay is its location and closeness to Wellington City.

Evans Bay Marina
Evans Bay Marina

There is also a dump station, toilets and water and a fantastic view.
I have to say though, Wellington definitely have more than their share of boy racers and people with sirens.
All in all though, it’s a great spot and it would be a real shame to lose it.

Does anyone know what’s happening ?

South Island 2015

Yippee. Wearable arts!

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Before we left Raglan, we had to check out the famous Raglan beach, then onto Hamilton to get diesel and the to check out a neat wee cafe that Dianne and Gary knew just out of Cambridge called the Red Cherry.

Gary, Dianne and Madam at Red Cherry
Gary, Dianne and Madam at Red Cherry

We decided on an early lunch and then after more goodbyes, set off for Marton. Gary mentioned going down the western side of Lake Taupo, turning off at Tokoroa. Great idea as there was no traffic to queue behind so Madam decided to have a drive. Now that Rafe is run in and everything has settled down, she found it a doddle.

Down the western side of Taupo
Down the western side of Taupo. This pic specially for Alan 😀

After stopping briefly at Turangi for a cuppa, went went all the way through to  Marton. We arrived about 5pm just before dusk and it was nice to see Gary and Chris again.

With Gary and Chris
With Gary and Chris
At the Marton MCA park
At the Marton MCA park

The NZMCA park at Marton is a fantastic facility set up with toilets, showers, water and a library. I think I also saw a kitchen there too. To those set this up, well done, a great place to stay.

The next morning, we were off again to Wellington, stopping briefly for diesel at Levin and  cuppa shortly after.  Arriving at Evans Bay Marina around 1pm, we had plenty of time to get ready for the show at 5pm.

Arriving in Wellington
Arriving in Wellington

Evans Bay Marina is near the airport and is a well know free camping spot with Potable water, a dump station, toilets and a great view.

The view
The view
Evans Bay Marina
Evans Bay Marina. It’s great watching the planes land.

Evans Bay is about 15 minutes drive from town, it is $7.50 each in a bus, so we got a cab at $25. Also much more convenient.

The show was fantastic, clever people doing clever things. Every Kiwi should see it. This was our third time going and I’d do it again.

Wearable arts before the performance
Wearable arts before the performance

We’re on the ferry to probably Nelson via Blenheim. More tomorrow

My apologies for the strange postings, I’ve been trying out an offline blog program and its been a failure!