Tag Archives: Special events

The Wedding at the Fort

April 12, 2017 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com

What a fun weekend. Our old friends Mark and Tina’s eldest daughter Alisha was getting married to Tom and they had chosen The Officers Mess at Fort Takapuna as the wedding venue. A fantastic spot and where Fiona’s family had spent some years in the officers housing by Narrow Neck beach.

The roof of the old fort with the Officers Mess behind and the carpark.

Just as it says, The officers Mess has been converted into a Wedding Venue and Café and was the old Officers Mess for the Army and later used by the Navy as well. Its a lovely old building which looks out over the harbour towards Rangitoto Island.

Click on the images for Hi Res or a slideshow

Fiona’s dad Norm was CO of Fort Cautley which was then the HQ for the Army’s 3rd Battalion. There were officers and senior NCO houses from the current buildings all the way down to Narrow Neck Beach.

Narrow Neck beach. This grass is where all the officers housing was.

Fort Takapuna has a huge history. It was originally built to fend off the Russians in the 1860’s and later updated for the two world wars in case the Japanese or Germans got down here. It is now looked after by DOC and more information on it can be seen here.
Its well worth a look around and the carpark is huge, perfect for Motorhomes and Caravans.

When Friday came around, Fiona and I decided we would make a weekend of it and stay in Devonport on Friday night. We earlier met our old friends Dani and Grant at the Esplanade Hotel for a few cold ones and afterwards tea at the wharf.

One of the Gun Emplacements

The old Gun Emplacements and Rangitoto

A few words of wisdom from an old fella (Gary) to the groom 🙂

Proud Dad Mark with Alisha and MC Gary doing the sounds.

All ready for the Wedding in the Officers Mess

The Officers Mess

The view across to the city

Rafe and the Fuso in the carpark. Gary later moved right next to us.

Rafe in the carpark with the Barrack buildings.

The next day was wedding day and I packed up Rafe and headed off to the venue where we had permission to stay overnight in the carpark as guests.

I spent the day having a really good look around the fort while Fiona was getting her hair done. There was a soccer game on at the playing field there which was fun to watch. I have no idea who was playing but it was fun to watch and I really enjoyed shooting a few piccies of it. I haven’t photographed any soccer since my days on the Herald and the Auckland Star so it was fun. Soccer is one of the hardest games to photograph as so I was pleased that I got a couple or reasonable piccies from it being as rusty as I am.

The forecast rain held off so the ceremony was held outside looking out on the harbor. It was a bit of a catchup with old friends for us as Gary, Chris, Mark and Tina are all old Boatie mates along with Geoff and Bev who were also there. We were all put on Table 4! Our friends Gary and Chris were joint MC’s and they did a great job. It was nice to catch up with the extended families and old friends too, many of them had come over from Aussie for the occasion.

The wedding went well, the food was great and it was a fun night. We finished the night in Rafe with “Table 4” friends for a nightcap and cups of tea.

Rafe’s Track map

Bay of Plenty, Friends, My Motorhome

A little Bedtime reading :-)

April 1, 2017 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com

Saturday was a big day. Rob and Helen were off to collect their new Autotrail Tracker RB and they were beside themselves with excitement.

Click on the images for Hi Res

Their first Tracker RB had taken them and their daughter Chloe. all around NZ over the last 4 years or so.

The new Tracker is a different colour, has Automatic Transmission and has 180 horses. It has more room in the front lounge area, a separate Shower and Toilet area and lots of other little tweaks.

Having Rafe parked right behind, I was amazed with the changes in some of the vents, and other fittings which you see on Dethleffs and other makes. Even the tyres are different from the older models.. now Michelins.

We drove down to meet them at Athenree Holiday Park as a meeting point and to help celebrate their first night away in it.

The Bedroom. The bed runs the opposite way to the older one.

We hadn’t long checked in when the first glasses of bubbly were consumed. A nice afternoon in the sun with a swim in the hotpools later as well.

Its a lovely Motorhome and they’re over the moon with it.

Its a good thing that Rob is pretty handy and technically minded and likes reading the odd manual.

As the title says.. lots of bedtime reading manuals for Rob!

The Netspeed Speedtest for Athenree Holiday Park
Download: 42.01 Mbps
Upload: 26.18 Mbps
Ping: 54 ms
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&q=-37.448570,175.966467

Rafe’s Track to Athenree

Int'l Motorhomes, Shows

The 2017 Covi Motorhome Show

March 21, 2017 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com 4 Comments

It’s always an exciting time when either of the Motorhome and Caravan shows start to see what new knick knacks are available and what’s new. We were staying at the Ellerslie Racecourse NZMCA Rally with 500 or so others and they had put on a shuttle service to make it easy to get to there.

The Rally looks impressive from the entrance.. click on this to enlarge it.

I must have been on one of the first buses to the Showgrounds as the bus driver wasn’t too sure where to drop us off and we circumnavigated the Show grounds a few times before we got there, even a brief tour of Alexander Park too. 🙂

This year was the first year for the new Hymers and also the Cathargo. The Hymer has arrived in force with three or four different models including a 4 wheel drive model which was setup on top of a pile of rocks just to make the point. The Hymer in the piccies is the Starline 690 which is 7.9 metre is length, has a GVM of 5.3 t and has a 3l Mercedes rear wheel drive.

The Hymer Starline 690

With the drop down bed down

The Hymer galley

Hymer Bedroom

One of the new Cathargo’s

Yes, a motorbike in the garage.

Stephanie with her Stacks

The Poptop Camper interior

Poptop Camper from the other end

Poptop on the outside. 12 ft long.

The Jayco Stand

NZ made Allisee with slide outs

Inside the Allisee

The Allisee

The Cathargo was well publicised at last years Covi show but this year is the first time they’ve got several models here. A very smart looking wagon.

The Nomad.

The Nomad Kitchen space

The Nomad Bedroom and bathroom beyond

The Nomad with all its space and Doors for the Bedroom

The Shower on one side ..

And the Toilet on the other. Look at all that storage in the Nomad

Plenty of storage in the Platin

The Frankia Platin

Living Space – Platin

Kitchen Area – Platin

Toilet – Platin

Bedroom – Platin

The Electrics all in one spot on the outside on the Platin

The other interesting story is with the Dethleff Nomad Caravans represented by Central RV. Brett at Central RV sent off his design for a Caravan specially for the local market and this was the first one in. The amount of room in it is amazing and it’s the first caravan I’ve seen with doors on both sides of the bedroom giving complete privacy. The Dethleffs Nomad 650 RQT as it is known is 8.7 meters long, it has a 700kg payload and has a total weight of 2.5 tons so she’s a biggy! It also has an Alko chassis helping to make it tow nicely.

Jonas and Chris and the team at Frankia have received the first of the 8.4 metre Platin series. These really are the ultimate in Motorhomes. The electrical cupboard is a joy in itself having its own external locker with everything very tidily laid out and easy to get at. The inside is amazing as well.. The Platin at the show is 8.5 metres long and has a GVM of 5 tons with a 650kg payload.
Well appointed and is typical of the Frankia range known for its high standards.

Patricia and John with their Lilliput and Plymouth

The interior of John and Patricia’s Lilliput

It’s always nice to see the Lilliput Crew with their lovely old Caravans and usually matched by their amazing, beautifully restored cars.

Patricia and John were here with their caravan and their 1955 Plymouth Belvedere. It was their 55th Wedding Anniversary. They were also well colour co-ordinated for St Patrick’s Day 🙂

The NZMCA stand was huge. I got there fairly early so it was largely pretty empty given its size but it was nice to see the crew there and great to see most if not all of the Motorhome Friendly Towns all with their own stands promoting their areas.

A lot of the NZMCA regions had their own stands as well and nice to see them too.

I managed to get in and out without parting with too much hard earned loot which Fiona will be pleased about, settling for just a new ground mat for under our awning.

The Autotrail Stand

Inside the big Autotrail Comanche

Autotrail Comanche

The RV / Camec stand.. Where I bought my mat 🙂

NZ made Allisee with slide outs

Rob finishing off setting up the NZMCA Northland stand

Motorhome Friendly Towns

On the Dethleffs Stand

The Jayco Stand

Another great show with lots to see.

NZMCA Rallies, Rallies

The Massive Rally at the Races

March 19, 2017 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com

This is just bigger than Ben Hur.. There must be more than 450 Motorhomes and Caravans here and they’re still piling in.

Looks impressive from the entrance.. click on this to enlarge it.

Due to the weather being rather nasty last weekend, the Barfoot and Thompson Races were postponed to coincide with this rally and the races were on while the Motorhomers were crossing the track into the centre. … Between the races of course.

Click on the images for Hi Res or a Slideshow

All in good humour and as the day went on, little groups popped up all around the rally with gatherings for a few quiet cold ones while the horses galloped around the track. A great atmosphere.

It never ceases to amaze me how the good folk of the NZMCA who put themselves out there and go the extra mile for the benefit of everyone else. The Covi/Spoton team organised this rally from scratch and had a roster to make sure that everybody that needed some help or guidance got what they needed and were happily and safely parked.

Dusk on the first night

It was disappointing to hear that a few NZMCA members who failed to check whether their dogs were allowed, made a scene and got unnecessarily nasty for our cheerful volunteers.
Come on guys.. Common sense… Racecourse, horses and dogs don’t go together.. especially when there is a race meeting on. For those responsible for this display of bad manners, it’s nice to think that we could be be respectful and helpful for those volunteering and doing their best for the rest of us.

On the positive side, one of the volunteer Rally Marshalls, Jim was telling me that a couple of members who arrived with dogs just to see where they could go, were very thankful when they were redirected to another parking spot just around the corner where dogs were permitted… Nice !

The team also organised a great free bus service to the show which was fantastic.

A great rally, some nice people and thanks to Auckland Racing Club, Ellerslie racecourse and of course the Counties NZMCA team for having us there.

And from Rafe’s Tracker.. for those offshore

Ellerslie Racescourse for those off shore

Covi show story next up.

Friends

The Grape Escape and the birthday

February 14, 2017 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com 2 Comments

We were off to Taupo to celebrate Fiona’s 60 something birthday with our friends Dianne and Gary. It was all a bit short notice but when Fiona finished work at 6, we were off heading down towards Hamilton and then Taupo.
I’d had a look through the NZMCA App and bible for possible places to stay and I found a place we hadn’t stopped at called the Grape Escape in Cambridge, just off the new motorway.

Click on the images for Hi res

It looks like it is part of a lifestyle farm own by Andrew and Karlene and they provide power, toilet and laundry facilities at a great rate.
Its $5 per person plus $5 for power and $2 if you want to do your washing. All very reasonable. They also have a couple of permanents down the back which is great.

We rang to introduce ourselves and after stopping for tea at Hampton Downs, eventually arriving at Cambridge a little after 9pm, just as it got dark. Andrew was out there, helping us to park and handed me a power cord, all very easy and very nice people too. A really handy spot to know about. The track from Rafes tracking unit is below.

The next day, we headed off to Taupo and headed for Gary and Dianne’s place. We were parked in their driveway next to their garage and I’m pleased we were as it blew. This was the night Auckland got blown inside out with huge power outages.
It was nice to see them again and after a “Happy Hour” Glass of something, we headed into Taupo for me to buy some decent clobber to wear, and then to celebrate Fiona’s birthday at a Restaurant. I bought a shirt which I will call “my special occasion shirt”. Others call it many other things 🙂 but I like it.

Fiona (Birthday Girl), Me, Dianne and Gary .. taken with phone

It was a great night and nice to see them again. After a slightly wobbly night with the wind, we set off northwards the next morning. As I said, if it wasn’t for being parked in Gary’s courtyard with the garage for protection, it would have been a really interesting night 🙂

Classic Boating

Classic Boats on Lake Rotoiti – Lots of images

February 6, 2017 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com

Every year at Waitangi weekend for the last 4 years , Alan and I have hit the road in Rafe and headed down to Lake Rotoiti and joined the Lake Rotoiti Classic Boat Association, who have a parade with their lovely boats and a picnic day out on the beach. Its a great occasion where the public can watch from the shore or any other vantage point they can find and enjoy the spectacle.

Click on any image for Hi Res or a slideshow

Rafe with Tim and Pams Chev and boat on behind.

We left Auckland in the middle of the day on the Friday to try and avoid some traffic. We were half successful and we arrived around 4pm and set Rafe up at the Lake Rotoiti Holiday Park. We were given a park right next to our friends from Taupo Shawn and Cathy. Just around the corner were Tim and Pam with their Chev and Miss Belair which they parked right next to us.

Shawn and Cathy's car on the left with Tim and Pams boat in the middle with Rafe — Shawn and Cathy’s car on the left with Tim and Pams boat in the middle with Rafe

After registration, a few drinks and a meal at the Pikiao Rugby League club we returned back to Rafe for a few drinks with our friends and neighbours, Tim, Pam, Shawn and Cathy.

The next morning, we were up early as it was parade day. The previous Commodore of the Classic boats, Fraser had offered us the use of his Tender as a platform for taking some images from the water. Alan was driving so I could concentrate on getting the images and we could use them both here and on his blog, Waitematawoodys.com

Alan on the helm with Frasers house behind — Alan on the helm with Frasers house and boat behind

Fraser came and picked us up from the campground and after a look around his amazing waterfront house on the lake, we went and got settled with the boat.

Enjoy the images.. Click on an image below for a slideshow.

Shawn and Cathy’s new boat

Tim and Pam with Miss Belair

Time for a selfie

Friends from Auckland

Fraser’s Guests watching the parade

Vantage spots

It was a great day with lots of the Classic crews ready to show off their lovely boats and most were dressed in period costumes for the occasion. The winner of the costume award went to the crew of Alberta.

Winners of the costume awards — Winners of the costume award

After the parade, everyone headed over to Wairau Bay for a picnic and catchup. It was great to catchup with old friends and meet some new people and see their boats.

The Barge at Wairau Bay

People getting ready to picnic

One of the things about the lakes is there are no tides so they run their boats up in the sand and step off their bows with ladders onto the beach. Some choose to anchor and get picked up by the barge.

rotoiti-2017277www — A tough day at the office 🙂

A great day on the water finished off with a beer at a bar which was accessible by boat and then back to the camp.

There are lots and lots of pictures duplicated on Waitematawoodys.com taken by me with Alan on the helm.

Rafes Track back from Lake Rotoiti.

East Coast 2017

High Tea at the Chateau

February 2, 2017 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com 4 Comments

We arrived at the Whakapapa Holiday park with 10 minutes to spare to make our pre booked High Tea at the Chateau. I quickly plugged in Rafe and we locked the door and we headed off down the road.

Click on the images for Hi Res

It’s was an interesting experience as I’m not very practised at these High Tea things. There are three tiers of goodies to eat. Dianne and I shared one platter (if that’s what they’re called) and Gary and Fiona shared the other.

Apparently you start from the bottom with the cucumber Sammies and work your way up to the sweet things on the top level. All very interesting.

The Chateau is an amazing old building. Although it has been well looked after, it reeks of another time. It’s a shame that all the joinery has been changed to aluminium but I suppose that’s so they can double glaze and so on but it has been done nicely.

The campground is quite interesting in that it hovers over a river from further up off Mt Ruapehu.

The river behind the parks. The parks are on the left in the trees.

The Motorhome parks are all in between carefully cut out parks in between trees with rock and wood boundaries and all nicely flattened.

Dianne and Fiona heading back. Rosie can be seen through the trees.

There is an amenities block just down from the parks.
Nobody was terribly interested in having dinner after all the goodies from the High Tea so we had a few drinks in Rafe until around 9.30 and then all retired for the night. There was no Internet but we were given free access to the camp wifi. An interesting park.

And Rafe’s Track to get there..

Rafe's Track to Whakapapa Holiday Park — Rafe’s Track to Whakapapa Holiday Park

East Coast 2017

UB 40 At Martinborough

January 17, 2017 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com

We’d been in Martinborough about 2 hrs and it was time for a nice glass of Chardy with Rob and Helen to fortify ourselves for the bus trip from the Top 10 Campground and Luna Estate on the other side of Martinborough where the concert was being held.

The bus arrived at 3:30 approx and we were greeted with a huge line down the path to the Vineyard. At 4pm, the line had moved and at 4:30 odd, we finally made it into the concert to find that due to the bad organisation of getting people through the gates, most punters had missed most, if not all of the first act which was Boh Runga. We got the last 10 minutes or so and she was very good. Rob gave the officer of the day a good dressing down for the delays and things started to change :-). Go Rob !

They were expecting 5000 people which is not a lot in terms of concerts these days and everywhere you looked, the actions of the volunteer troops shouted disorganisation.
Anyway .. Beyond that..the bar service was great.

Fiona, Chloe, Rob and Helen and the crowd.

The music and the mixing of the sound was sensational. Ub40 sounded like they always do.. Brilliant and given that most people brought foldout chairs and whatnot to sit on, very few people sat on them as they were dancing and shaking around for most of the night.

The weather had been threatening to rain but thankfully held off..
A great concert despite the delays at the beginning.

East Coast 2017

At Wallingford with Wonderwoman

January 5, 2017 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com

Wonderwoman being Jen. She’s the one in the photo with Alfie, her dog. She’s absolutely amazing. She pretty much runs Wallingford Homestead on her own with the help of Charlotte the chef and her helper Sue, but it’s really all about Jen.

Click on the images for Hi Res or a slideshow

We had all driven down during the day from Clifton beach and we’re staying the night in the carpark after spending the evening there. Wallingford house is a special place and we were all looking forward to it.

The Tracher, Rafe and Rosie outside Wallingford — The Tracker, Rafe and Rosie outside Wallingford

Wallingford Homestead was built in 1831 by Jen’s late husbands great great great great(not sure how many generations) grandfather JD Ormond.

Rosie, Rafe and the Tracker outside Wallingford

Jen and her late husband John moved to what was pretty much a derelict and rundown homestead 15 years or so ago and gave it some real love and turned it into what it is today. She showed us a picture of it with trees growing out it.
On 1800 acres with a full sheep farm and Truffles too, it is now 1400 square feet and comes with 14 bedrooms and numerous bathrooms.

It is used as one of the local meeting places for the locals in the area on a regular basis, the local hunt club and others too.

Not long after we arrived.. It’s still raining!

A nice old shed outside

The poolhouse and the pool

Chloe in the pool in the rain

In the poolhouse. Gary, Fiona, Dianne and Helen

In the poolhouse by the fire. Helen, Gary, Fiona and Dianne

One of the 14 bedrooms

The Kitchen

Wallingford Homestead

Gary getting the bubbly ready

Rob looking for some music

We arrived early (too early) and parked out of the way until a 70th birthday wrapped up with its 50 visitors. Around 4pm, all 7 of us were sitting in Rafe in pouring rain, having cups of tea when Jen knocked on the door and popped in to say she had prepared the poolhouse for a few drinks. The fire was going, some nice piped classical music, the pool was warm and Alfie the dog wanted to play. A great start to the day. Gary spent half an our or so entertaining Alfie with a ball before pouring some bubbly.

An hour or so later, Jen popped over and we got to enjoy this huge fire in the lounge and then into the dining room. It was just like we’d stepped into a history book with Trophy Cups and old pictures and family collectables all around us.

Helen, Fiona and Dianne enjoying the ambience and fire

Charlotte came out to carve a beast and with Jen, they presented a beautiful country home cooked meal for all of us. It was out of this world.

Us tucking in.. L to R, Helen, Fiona, Rob, Chloe, Dianne and Gary

After tea, Jen gave us a tour around this huge house. It was really something special and I felt very lucky to be invited into their home. Just a wonderful experience and Jen was just the perfect hostess.

Wallingford is about 29k’s south of Waipukarau in the central Hawkes Bay.

Rafe's Track to Wallingford — Rafe’s Track to Wallingford

There was no internet or cell phone reception but you can get wifi from Jen if you’re staying there.

Rallies, Waikato

The old and the new at the Museum

November 14, 2016 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com 5 Comments

It is always a great occasion once a year when the nations Dethleffs owners get together for a catchup all in one spot. Its a good opportunity to see what others have done to their vans to make their motorhoming more fun.

Click on the images to see them in Hi Res or a slideshow

This year was the biggest yet with 75 motorhomes and caravans which made life interesting to yours truly and my old friend Gary from Taupo to get them all parked. We had a lot of fun as we did it with little walkie talkies that Gary had. The hard part was not being able to have a chat with everyone as they came in, that had to wait for later. As they all had the same sided habitation door, we decided we’d park them in rows with the doors facing together on a 3 metre space and the opposite side being a 4 meter space so that people could escape without skittling tables and chairs etc and it worked really well.

The first 40 odd arrived on the Friday and everyone settled in, met old friends and checked out the car museum. The car museum is fabulous. We visited this last March and had a good look through. You can see that here. There are all those cars that we had as kids, the Mark 1 Zephyrs, the Prefects and a lot older. It really is something to see. Outside is normally a NZMCA POP where you can stay overnight and it was nice to see friends Marama and Karen pop in for the night.

The Cord

Dodge trucks

The Auburn

Inside the Museum

The front of the Auburn

Fiona’s favourite, the Messerschmitt

Corvette

An Alvis

A car I had as a teenager, a Mark 1 Zephyr

The back of the Auburn

The next day after a good breakfast in the Juke Box Diner onsite, we caught a bus to a local Tea Estate and got to taste and learn about locally grown tea which was really interesting and on the way back popped in for lunch at the Hamilton Gardens Café. Some decided to walk off their lunch around the amazing gardens.

Off to check out the tea

Arriving at the tea place off the bus.. Fiona, Gary and Dianne

Sussing out the Tea

Gary Aroma checking

Dianne smelling the aroma

The Gardens

Lunch at the gardens café, Graham from Tauranga, Fiona, Gary and Dianne

The latecomers on the other side and the Marquee

Open homing

Bev in her and Bernies Esprit

Peter and Bernie on their tables!

Fush and Chups

cell phone pic

After getting back to HQ at the museum, it was open home for motorhomes so a quick vacuum and a tidy up of Rafe and it was visits all around. Lots of fun and it was nice to see people we hadn’t seen for a long time.

At 6pm it was time for a drink in the Marquee and a feed in the Diner which was immediately followed by a great display of the local rock n roll dance club and they were fantastic.

We finished up the day with Dianne and Gary with friends Ian and Lynda in their XLI right next to us. A lot of fun and we had some great laughs.

catching up with friends — Ian and Lynda’s XLI on the left, Rafe on the right.

A great day and well hosted by Mr and Mrs Dethleff in NZ, Jonas and Irene Ng. Thanks guys and thanks to Dianne for organising a great day out.

And the Netspeed speed test from this site.
Test Date: 12/11/2016 5:14 PM
Download: 40.43 Mbps
Upload: 12.35 Mbps
Ping: 34 ms

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.

	Chris Miller - Bugge… on Cruising to the 2026 Dethleffs…
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	Warmenhj on Cruising to the 2026 Dethleffs…
	Warmenhj on Cruising to the 2026 Dethleffs…

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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.