After staying near our friends in Snells Beach, Rob and Helen for Robs birthday (a big round number!), in the morning, they spoiled us with a beautiful big breakfast. I’m not really a big breakfast person but this was amazing and such that I wouldn’t want to eat until late afternoon, despite all the tempting treats in the area.
A lone paddler at Snells Beach
We visited a couple of places a little before and after lunch but still couldn’t be tempted to eat🤗.
Rafe on the waterfront at Whangateau
We ended up staying at the Whangateau holiday park which is an Auckland City run campground like Orewa. They had an off peak deal happening where they were doing a significant discount so we were up for that! 😎 The tide was out when we arrived and it was a bit gloomy initially with the weather, but that improved to the point where stayed an extra night. A lovely spot right on the water.
The next morning it fined up with a nice blue sky so I went for a bit of a walk around the park. It is well set up, a nicely kept dump station, nice clean loos, everything anyone could want!
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
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
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.
$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
After an hour or so, the last player finished and we were on our own. Another great spot, not too far from home!
After a couple of nights catching up with our grandchildren in Ardmore, it was time to head off and check out some places we haven’t stopped at before but seen in the NZMCA bible. We did a quick visit to the Papakura dump station to empty the tanks and as we arrived, there was a mattress vanner, on his knees at the dump station washing his dishes under the tap! I’ve seen it all. Unbelievable!
Look at that view
With that, we headed of down the motorway south. We turned off at Te Kawhata and slowly made our way to the Te Kawahata domain where there are two big fields and a huge carpark with power points for Motorhomers dotted around the outside. You have the choice of staying on grass or asphalt. There is power, toilets, a dump station and fresh water as well, all for a donation of $5!
We pulled up at the edge of one field close to a power point where we were looking over Lake Waikare. The lake is massive and unless you’ve had a good look at the map, driving past through Rangiriri, you’d never know it was there.
One of the many mattress vans there.
There were two or three other vans there, all mattress vans but a Britz Motorhome turned up a bit later.
Great park
The Entrance to the domain
Nice new clean toilets
The Dump station and honesty box
Fiona and I went for a walk into the township, only two blocks away to check it all out. Being Sunday, most things were shut so it was very quiet. An Indian takeaway, a pub, a 4 square. All the things a good Motorhomer needs 😎.
Te Kauwhata’s main street
We headed back to Rafe and watched some TV and later, crashed. The only noise in the night was the siren for the volunteer fire brigade. A nice quiet night and although we found skid marks in the middle of the field the next day, it did feel safe. In the morning we went for a drive around lake Waikare to check it out, it’s huge.
Lake Waikare from further up the road
Another one of those places that we tend to drive last and not give a thought about but a nice easy place to stay and at the best price!
One of the great new secrets of Mangawhai is the Motorhome parking behind the history in the new Mangawhai 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
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
Another great free parking discovery at Mangawhai and the Museum is one of the best!
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
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
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
After a cuppa at Bennetts chocolate factory café and some chocolate. we went for a wander around the shops in Mangawhai.
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
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.
We came through here years ago and simply stopped for a drink but my old boating mate Alan, used to come here years ago for election night parties with his buddies.
Fiona enjoying the pool
It was on the market not so long ago and I believe it now has new owners and they’re really getting stuck in
The path to the pools, camping area to the right
The camping ground at the Okoroire Hotel has all been cleaned up and while it is not particularly flat, (bring your ramps) for its money it is good value. $10 a night each gives you power, loos and you’re right next to the track down to the newly restored hot pools by the Waihou river. There are three pools on the riverbank above the river. The pools are $5 each to use. An amazing setting.
Outside the Okoroire Hotel
The Hotel
Inside the hotel
The path down to the pools
Fiona in the pool
The river from the pools
Fiona in the hot “hot”pool
The hotel itself is just up the road a bit and was first built in the 1880’s and was setup as a stopping point for the stagecoaches from Auckland, heading south. You can also stay at the hotel and there is also a 9 hole golf course. What more could you want?
We arrived here directly from crowds of people at the balloon event so it was nice just to blob out with some peace and quiet but Fiona’s keen to stay another night so it must be good.
After the Covi Show, I picked up Fiona and we decided to head up north. Waipu sounded good and we with the weather looking good for the weekend, we knew we could probably stay at the Caledonian Park.
The trip was easy and we scooted up the motorway and up to Waipu arriving early in the afternoon. We were greeted with a No Camping sign which looked a bit flash but looked as though it might have been forgotten about and left out by accident.
It is such a nice place to stay that I thought it was worth a phone call to see what was up. The really nice chap on the other end said that it was because they had two weddings over the next two Saturdays and they didn’t want big motorhomes being in their faces just outside the window BUT ! .. if we were to park down the other end and and park end on, we were welcome to stay the night.. yippee !
Parked end on at the end of the field. Alan and Bev on the right. The wedding in the hall in the distance
$10 a night with power, just behind the main street in Waipu, fabulous spot and walking distance to everywhere.
Just after we got settled, a knock on the door from another motohomer asking about the sign. I gave him the number, explained about the weddings and he parked more into the trees than I was. Fiona wanted her TV signal so that prevented me from getting right underneath 🙂
Alan and Bev were English and had been here for most of summer and are retired camp ground owners and have been coming here to see their family. Nice couple and they’re currently trying to sell their motorhome to go back to the UK.
We decided we’d walk down to the McLeod Pizza barn where the pizzas are fantastic. Thin bases with heaps on them and very good value. I had been suffering from hayfever so was feeling pretty knackered so after that, we headed back to Rafe and crashed.
Under the trees in the sun the next day
The next morning, the sun was out and it was market day. Every Sunday, they have a market at the hall in the main street. Great vibes with local people doing their thing.
The sign
The Markets
At the Markets
Fiona bouight some Peaches from here . Yum
The Markets
Mosaic pots
As the day went on, Bev and Alan left to go down the coast and several new people came in with their vans. It really is a great spot in fine weather. The grass is solid but I’m not sure I’d want to be there after or during a heavy all day rain. Their is some gravel parking with power around the other side for that but being under the trees in the sun was very pleasant.
Later in the day, our water pump started making some funny noises like louder and a bit whiney. I texted Jonas the importer and he suggested we get it looked at as we passed the repairers at Silverdale. On the way home the following day, we stopped of at Vantage RV to get it checked out. Johan turned the galley tap on and looked at me with a “yuk” type face. “We won’t waste any time with this” as he left and went and got another pump and installed it there and then. The submersible pump showed signs of being on its last legs, with water creeping up the wire into the pump motor and Johan reckoned it was not far off seizing. It must have been a duff one from the start. The whole process took less than an hour and we were off back to Milford.
Dusk on our last night
Hats off to Jonas (Dethleffs NZ) and Johan and the team at Vantage RV for very prompt service.
The whines from the pump were bad, imagine the whine from Fiona if she had no water 🙂
On the way back from Waihi we stopped in for a look at the Karangahake gorge.
The two Batteries over the bridges. Power station in the middle. Karangahake at its best!
We are intending to do the bike trail but it’s all about gathering up more knowledge before we take this on.
The remains of the first batteryThe first battery as it looked at the time
It’s a really interesting area with several short walks that are not part of the trail. We had a look at a couple of the old power stations and batteries while we were there which takes an hour according to the sign. The walking doesn’t take anything like that and it’s well worth a look.
Click on the images to see them in hi res or slideshow
The overall map on the site
The first swing bridge
The second swing bridge with the battery ruins on the left
The River in the gorge
Fiona being a goldminer
The river
The second battery
The second battery at the lowest level
The second battery at the middle level with the huge wall remaining
The second level wall with the walkway across the river
Remains of the track for the ore
The battery end of the skyway ore buckets. (Flying fox)
Looking along the river with the road alongside
Looking back into Karangahake
Looking back to Karangahake as it was at the time
Karangahake was a small town which included all the things you’d expect to see in a town like Te Aroha or similar.
We walked across the swing bridges and up the hill past the power station, the two batteries built down the hillsides. The ore was swung across the river from the tops of hills in a flying fox type of setup before processing with cyanide. It really was a huge setup. It’s not until you’re up there that you realise the scale of it all and looking at the remains, what it must have taken to build the buildings themselves and the infrastructure to go with it.
The base of the power station
We walked all around and as the weather deteriorated, we worked our way closer to Rafe in the carpark. Another one of those feature areas that I’ve driven past lots of times and was really pleased we stopped for a look.
Isn’t just great having the NZMCA app now running on our iPads. Even though I’ve had the gps files installed in Rafes in dash gps, it’s really nice sitting in the deck chair with the iPad and figuring out where to next with the app.
Rafe behind the railway stationThe Motorhome parking behind the station
We found in the iPad, a great spot in Waihi that sounded fantastic. It’s at the Goldfields railway station at Waihi. For $10 per night, there are 6 powered sites and more space for others as well. There is also access to water and the Rail Trail toilets as the Rail Trail ends at the railway station. About 15 minutes walk away is the centre of town.
Click on the images for hi res or slideshow
Waihi station
The train with the Waihi station
Today’s driver
Nicely kept carriages
Rafe in the overnight area from the train
Pulling out of Waihi, off to Waikino
The traffic to waihi
Close to waikino
A nice Mitzi zooming past
Arriving at Waikino
Waikino station
Inside the cafe at Waikino station
Outside Waikino station
Shifting the loco
Allaboard
Back to Waihi
On the way back to Waihi
The Conductor watching at a crossing
We arrived and plugged in, paid for the park and we’re just in time for the last train ride to Waikino and back. The perfect way to check out the bike trails before walking or biking the Karangahape gorge trails.
Waihi station with Rafe parked behind
The train stops for 15 minutes or so, just enough time for a beer, glass of wine or just a coffee or ice cream. A great way to spend a couple of hours and fun too.
There are 3 return trips each day from Waihi.
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.
It is well set up, a nicely kept dump station, nice clean loos, everything anyone could want!
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