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
There is something different about Raglan. It has an atmosphere all of its own and sitting on the balcony of the Pub in the main street with a glass of wine, even though it was freezing, I was just enjoying soaking it up. 🙂
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The Pub
We left Auckland well after everyone else on the Saturday and arrived in Whatawata just in time for lunch. As I parked Rafe out of the street, I was just getting out of the truck when I met Hilary and Lyn who we last saw at a Dethleffs do at Miranda. They live just around the corner from the Cafe and it was nice to see them again.
After a cup of tea with them and some nibbles, we set off towards Raglan.
Due to the economic downturn and a cold winter, Raglan have been doing a pay for two nights, get a third night for free so we jumped into that with both feet 🙂
The Three Dethleffs, Us, The Grand Alpa and the Pulse.
Arriving in Raglan, we found we were parked right next to one of the biggest Dethleffs on the market and the newest, one of the XLI Grand Alpas with the rear Lounge. Our Globe 4 being one of the oldest Dethleffs in NZ, it was a bit of the old with the young 🙂 There was also a Dethleffs Pulse on the other side. 🙂
That afternoon, we decided to head into the town to check things out.
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Action in the street
Mt view of the world from the pub balcony 🙂
A neat second hand shop on the way to the wharf.
The wharf with the Silos you can stay in.
Boats comng back in
Looking towards the Campground from the walkway from town.
Walkers on the beach
After lunch, Fiona had a look around the shops and I went and had a glass of Chardonnay on the balcony overlooking the street and watched the world go by.
Looking out from a Restaurant we had Lunch towards the Sea.
The next day we had lunch at a Restaurant overlooking the water and then walked around to the wharf. There is a neat fish and chip shop there along with a Leatherworks, a Pottery Gallery which we’ve bought some things from before and are very good.
Walking towards the wharf. The Silos peering over the top.The wharf with the Silos you can stay in.
The Museum is well setup there and has a souvenir shop inside and it is well worth a visit. Lots of interesting images of how Raglan used to be.
The beach behind the campground.Lovely on the beach despite the lack of sunshine.
A fantastic three days in a neat spot. The weather closed in a bit on the last day so my trip to the beach looking for some images of blue sky didn’t quite pan out.
Sun going down.
It was very pleasant down there sitting on a log for half an hour or so watching the sun go down.
With the next Dethleffs get together coming up this weekend in Rotorua, Fiona and I headed off to one of our favourite wee towns, Cambridge. Staying at the Raceway on the edge of town, this was where we had last year’s Dethleffs do under and around a big tree.
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The Greyhounds under the tree’s where the Dethleffs do was.Great parking behind the grandstand
Getting down there with the Easter traffic was painful as we left it a bit late, and it took hours.
Looking out from the stand
This year, we left the bikes behind which was a mistake in hindsight, but we ended up having several big walks into and around town.
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The pub overlooking the town.
The Main street
Nice old Buildings
Cambridge Town Hall
There’s a big Cafe in the middle of town called the Deli which makes amazing coffee and also has some nice options for lunch. Being Easter, most of the shops were shut but it was still nice looking around.
Fantastic Cafe
The Racecourse also has a Bar and Restaurant called the Clubroom, which was open only on the Saturday night, so we headed there for a G&T. But there is an amazing Hamburger place underneath the Clubrooms all painted orange so you can’t miss it. Fantastic burgers and with the park being pretty full of NZMCA Caravans and Motorhomes, there were plenty of customers for them.
Cambridge Raceway
A nice weekend away and great parking in a nice place.
It’s a great area here but being spoilt for great food, we decided we’d better be sensible and make an effort on our last day here to walk off some calories, so after stopping in Downtown Coromandel, we carried on around the corner to the wharf.
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The last notable time we came here by boat. Two 12 metre launches with friends and while we parked out in deep water off the wharf, he was determined to get into the wharf for some fuel.
They got in ok but getting out again with the water running away was amazing with him sliding along the mud until there was enough water. I don’t know how he did it, but he was always a clever in this department and there must have been just enough water under him to slide with 🙂 Great yarn anyway but it is true. If it was me, I would never have made it 🙂
There were no clouds, no wind and little traffic so it was blissful just walking around looking at the boats. The wharf itself is tidal too so they sit on the mud when they’re in.
A great Bar and great food too
We dawdled back to the town and checked in for lunch.
As the sun goes down
After a quick look at a very clever Copper sculpture maker. We headed back to the Rafe for a G&T.
Our old neighbours from Devonport, Terry and Lisa moved to Wanganui quite a few years ago and lived directly across the road from us for many years. Terry was involved in the bag business for many years, and I photographed his bags for his catalogues, both on film and digital for many years.
My endearing memory of Terry was him on our doorstep in his dressing gown early on the morning of 9/11 getting us up and getting in front of the TV where we remained glued to the set for hours! It was a memorable day.
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Wanganui River
We last caught up with them a few years ago when we popped into Wanganui and had a meal with them at Carolines, a neat Restaurant that used to have an attached camping area which is sadly now closed.
Us parked next to Terry and Lisa’s new house.
Stepping back to the travel…. After leaving Tawhiti, we headed on to Terry and Lisa’s new House in Wanganui and a very fortuitous empty section next door 🙂
Fantastic to see them again and catch up with all our news. They’re a great couple and the meal was fantastic. Their house is really nice and perfect for them with minimal maintenance.
In the morning, Terry took us to show us his Warehouse for his Luggage business.
Lovely old buildings
After we left Terry and Lisa, we went on into Wanganui central to have a quick look at the river before we left via Marton to head for a favourite spot at Mangaweka on our trek home.
The tram rumbling by on the waterfront
Thanks again for having us for tea and it was lovely to see you in your new house.
Rafe’s tracker map to Tawhiti Museum and onto Wanganui – Armada GPS
One of the great discoveries here was the wonderful A&P Showgrounds parking for Motorhomes. Great level parking an easy walk from the town and the local Countdown supermarket. This is usually a town I drive straight through, usually in too much of a hurry to get somewhere.
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Mt Egmont behind
We arrived here on New Years Day after a great night at Ninia Park, so nothing was open except for the supermarket.
Looking back from the grandstand
After settling down, plugging in and opening vents, I got the bikes down and we went for a bit of a nosey trough the town. We found King Edward Park in the centre of Stratford with the Patea River running through it.
Patea River
There are several bridges and nice tracks through. After an hour or so of finding our way through here we headed back to Rafe via the supermarket for Tea.
Fiona on the bridge in King Edward Park
On the way out to Hawera, I looked at stopping in at The Stratford Pioneer Village on the southern side of the town. I had been here before and done a blog on it which you can see here.
Downtown Stratford
It’s a lovely wee town and very easy parking at the Showgrounds.
Rafe’s tracker map to Stratford A&P Grounds – Armada GPS
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
After the huge success of the Tokoroa Timber town Romp over several years, the move to Te Aroha was only going to be better. Michael, Des and the team from the Waikato NZMCA committee have well and truly done a fantastic job over the years and I was really looking forward to it.
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Sheltered by the Mountain
It was explained to everyone at the beginning that the show was only on with some strict rules from the council due to their sensitivity of have nearly 700 Motorhomes, Caravans and Buses parked on and around their footy ground. It probably didn’t help that some rain arrived on the morning before the parking got underway but the parkers did an excellent job getting Motorhomes and Caravans to vary the route through to the parks so there weren’t great big tracks created.
Rafe with the soccer field behind
We were parked in the middle between the soccer and rugby grounds on some very solid and what felt like well drained ground which I was pleased about as there were some dire predictions of what was to come towards the end of the weekend.
Ready for the Rugby
The event went from Friday through to Monday with the weather packing up on the Sunday night. Many people left before the weather deteriorated on Sunday.
The parkers heading for a beer after a busy Friday
After parking Rafe, we opened vents and then went for a walk into Te Aroha across conveniently walkway across the river. The first port of call was a cafe for a coffee and a scone and then Fiona walked further on to have a look at the shops.
One of a few sculptures in the street
We’ve been here several times before to a Waikato rally and for a look at the town. It’s a lovely spot. Check out these links.
After heading back to the park, I went for a walk around and bumped into old friends Tim and Pam who I haven’t seen for years. Tim and Pam were involved with the Classic Boats on Rotoiti, and we used to catch up every year down there when I was involved with the Classic Yacht Association. Great to see them.
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One of the sights
Ready for the Rugby
The White Goat band Friday Night
The White Goat band Friday Night
The White Goat band Friday Night
The White Goat band Friday Night
The White Goat band Friday Night
Dancing between the tables Friday night
Dancing between the tables Friday night
Dancing while sitting 🙂
Dancing between the tables Friday night
Great to see a good number of our Dethleffs Group here with their Motorhomes and having fun. I also caught up with Neal who with his team have parked all vehicles for years on these rallies and is stepping down from the role this year. He’s a real gem and a great character.
Neal with his Highland gear 🙂
Later on Fiona and I headed over to the Hall with some lubricant and settled down for a great night with a band called the White Goat band.
They were fantastic doing all the old favourites that everyone knew. Most were up dancing all night and were there until it finished.
Dancing between the tables Friday nightThe White Goat band Friday NightThe White Goat band Friday Night
A great night and we still had the Highland Games to come the next day ! Next post 🙂
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.
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