While had the rental car we found that we weren’t really that far from Stratford on Avon so we’d do a trip up there for a look around.
Shops at Moreton on Marsh
On the way we stopped at a neat wee town called Moreton on Marsh and also had a walk around there.
Moreton on marsh Hotel
We noticed one of the pubs there was doing specials around the Sky showing of the Lions V the All Blacks so we asked if we could watch the Americas Cup as a back up plan and they were very welcoming. We managed to get our Sky Go app and internet issues sorted so it wasn’t necessary but very kind of them.
Stratford on Avon was an amazing town. It was chocker with people having fun everywhere and again some more of those lovely old buildings. These looked even older but more Thatched roofs and from basic building practices.
The Canal was busy with a couple of Narrow boats set up as Ice cream shops doing a great trade. There were canal boats parked on the river and moving in all directions along with tour boats and a larger restaurant barge left while we were there.
We had a good wander up through the shopping streets to look at some of the old buildings.
The Oldest House
There is one house there that is said to the oldest house still lived in. Part of it has been turned into a museum. It is just great seeing all these towns and they’re all different.
The temperature had dropped from the 30’s down to a nice 20C so we set out for a walk with Fiona’s school friend from Exmouth, Hilary.
Click on the images for Hi Res or a slideshow
Hilary and Fiona in Bath
Fiona and Hilary’s dads were both in the NZ and British Army in Terendak Military Camp in Malaya when they were both about 8 years old.
This was the first time they had seen each other since then so it was a real occasion for them both.
Escape route for seagulls under the bridgeThe shops on the bridge
We were heading towards the Bath Bridge for a look and maybe have lunch around that way. It is amazing with shops and cafes all built on the bridge over a weir and a canal so the boats can pass on the Avon river below. Stunning place.
Fiona and Hilary enjoying lunch on the bridge. A refection of a cyclist riding by in the window.
Shops on the bridge
A Tour boat on the Avon by the weir
Looking down the river
A canal boat cruising down the Avon
The Bath Bridge
People enjoying their afternoon
Back to the Abbey Hotel where we’re staying.
On the way back to the Hotel it was really nice to see people in deck chairs and just soaking up the views and the sun.
32 degrees C and I thought they only have snow here. Its Hot!!
Click on the images for Hi Res or a Slideshow
We were up early to leave our London digs and to get to Paddington where the Bath train left from, we had to catch two Tube Trains. They are amazingly efficient and once you get your head around them, theyre fantastic. We were at Paddington with time left over for a thickshake and some free Wifi at McDonalds 🙂
The Bath Abbey
After an hour or so we arrived in Bath. We caught a Taxi to the Hotel which has to go round the back of Bath due to the one way streets to get to our Hotel, and then later in the day during our walk, discovered that the Station is only just around the corner. Oh well .. it was hot and we had a fair bit of luggage to drag around 😉
Just outside London. You don’t see these anymore but this is a full working Gasometer!
The Bath Abbey
One of the quirky shops
The Main shopping street
Main Street
We dropped off our bags and went for a wander around to check out the town. This is one very old town which I think was built by the Romans and like the other towns has the same stunning old buildings. Some of these though are really old.
The Roman Baths arch over the street
We spent the afternoon sitting out the heat under an umbrella with some cold drinks watching all the tourists board their buses outside the hotel.
Fiona in the Umbrella Street. I’m not sure what this was all about but it is a bit different 🙂
A lovely town with more to do with the rental car over the next few days.
We arrived in London about midday and from the train station headed straight to our Hotel by the British Museum.
The Morgan, where we stayed in London
It was really handy to everything and only a block or so away from two of the Tube stations from significant lines.
The British Museum just around the corner
The next morning, we headed up the road to a bus stop for the Hop on Hop off bus or as many call it, “The round and round bus”. Armed with our London pass, we headed off down into the London traffic on an open top Double Decker bus and it was great.
Click on the images for Hi Res or a slideshow
St Pauls from the traffic !
Down to Trafalgar Square and then we went left along the Strand and then to Fleet St. Here we hit the traffic and didn’t move for about 20 minutes!! It eventually let us past St Pauls and not long after that, we ended up at The Tower of London and the Tower Bridge.
From the Tower Bridge
Once we got across the Tower Bridge we hit the traffic again. It was almost gridlock and I think it took about an hour to get through to Southhampton bridge which is near where the London eye is.
Nice apartments opposite the Museum
The Shaftsbury Theatre
Cleaning with a view
Fleet Street
Crossing the Tower Bridge
The Tower Bridge
Big Ben
The Shard behind the Tower of London
There is a lot of construction going on down there with several new apartments blocks going up.
House of Parliament
We got across to Westminster where we got off the bus and headed for the Cathedral.
Fiona outside Westminster Abbey
What an amazing building and it just oozes history.
The audio tour is great and a must do but both Fiona and I struggled to understand what we were looking at as the Audio tour didn’t really line up with the map very well. We got there in the end and it was time to find a pub for lunch.
Just around the corner in Parliament St was the Red Lion pub which had an upstairs dining room. I had the biggest Cod and chips with mushy peas I’ve ever seen in my life with an English beer.
The fish was fantastic, the beer was fine.. it was called Londons Pride but not being a big beer drinker I was really just interested in a taste. I think I prefer Heinekin as far as beer goes.
Great service, resonable prices and nice food.. This was the first time I’ve had mushy peas and I loved them. Fiona had a chicken salad and that was great too. .. washed down with a quality English cider which neither of us can remember the name of.
The Household cavalry Museum
We left here looking for the Churchill War room but the queue was so long and in the heatwave sun, we decided to flag it and while Fiona headed for the Household Cavalry Museum, I headed towards the Marble Arch and got some images of Buckingham Palace and the arch itself.
Marble Arch
The Household Cavalry has a close association with the Coldstream Guards. Fiona’s dad served in Malaya with the Coldstream Guards under the then CO Sir Ralph (pronounced Rafe) Anstruther who Rafe is named after.
Buckingham Palace down the Mall
Fiona caught up with me at the Charing Cross tube station and we both headed back to the Hotel. It was hot. They were talking 30C! so we were pleased to get back to the air conditioning.
A good day and the bus is definitely the best way to see London.
You have to hand it to the Whangarei Council. They really have pulled out all the stops at the Bascule Bridge Parking area.
Click on the images for Hi Res
Very civilised parking
There are white vertical strips on the fence to mark the parks with a number in the middle of each park. The parks are wide enough to get a decent sized 8 plus metres vehicle in and still be able to create a 3 metre or close gap between each Motorhome.
The opening bridge
I haven’t see this recently so was pleasantly surprised to see how well it was setup. I immediately went to a Hot Dog cart that was there and celebrated with a Hot Dog on a stick and some chips for lunch 🙂
Brightly painted loos
The Hot Dog man was telling me how the Rally was setup over the road and they were starting from the bridge that night with a special stage on the other side of the bridge. The cars were due to line up on the bridge by 5pm and then set off at 7pm.
The walkway into town
I thought I’d hang about and watch the action.
The rally cars on the bridge. This was as far as I could get without paying!
By 4:30pm, the car park was chocker but it was all very gentlemanly and apart from the rally cars noise until around 9pm, it was all good. I went for a walk down to the foreshore around 8pm and met a local couple with their young kids. They had just come down for a look.
The Rally start on the bridge
A great place to park for free and there are some nicely painted up new toilets too. You can also walk or bike into town along the pathways along the waterfront.
The Netspeed Speedtest for this site Download: 14.70 Mbps
Upload: 2.40 Mbps
Ping: 58 ms
What a great place. Perched on a hill looking over Waihi Beach looking out to Mayor Island and views right down to Bowentown.
Mayor Island
We were helping friends Rob and Helen celebrate picking up their new Autotrail Tracker. The campground volunteered that the RSA courtesy van was coming and we could get a ride to the famous Gunners Restaurant.
Click on the images for Hi Res or a slideshow
Rob, Helen and Fiona arriving in the van.
It was a Saturday night so their overnight parking was pretty busy but not full and looked fantastic. The NZMCA card admitted us to the bar and to the restaurant. We opted for the carvery at $18 a head and it was absolutely amazing. There was also a salad bar which was great too.
Parking on the Saturday
Rob in the queue
The food .. Yummy spuds
The Beef Carvery
After a few drinks, we headed back in the courtesy van to the campground. A great night
The Razza parking area
The next day, Fiona and I decided we would have to give the parking at the RSA a go so after having had a good look around the area, we arrived around 3pm and clocked ourselves in for the overnight stay and for a drink at the bar. A perfectly fine day, views for Africa it was an nice place to be. We’d both vowed that we wouldn’t do the carvery again but I ended up eating that anyway 🙂 ..and every bit as nice as the first night.
While there is no cost for overnight parking, it is expected that you at least buy a drink or even a meal. You won’t regret it either 🙂
Not far to walk home:-)
In the morning, we were woken up with a knock on the door. It was an RSA person asking us to move to the carpark so the diggers could tear up the grass to turn it into a gravel park as it turns into a mud bog in winter. No worries.. the lady at the bar had told us this was coming but no one knew it was the next day.
The Grass getting dug up
It was an easy move but I felt a bit for the Caravanners but it was received with good humour .
A wonderful place to stay, eat and drink and for friendliness they are unbeatable.
Fiona had left Bland Bay and was heading back to town to do other things .. and work so she suggested that I spend another night out on the way back. We stopped in Waipu and had lunch and then Fiona went on to Auckland.
Click on the images for Hi Res or a Slideshow
The cricket pitch with the campground behind
I rang the good folk at one of my favorite spots when the weathers good, Whangateau by Matakana. A great campground run by Auckland City.
In the Grandstand
Today was a bit different as when I arrived, the tide was out and there was a friendly game of cricket with two families involved. One was from Whangaparoa and the other from the UK visiting. They were having a ball. I had to get some piccies.
Looking out to Omaha
Kids enjoying the pontoon
The Estaury
It is a fascinating place to watch as the tide comes in really quickly covering hundreds of metres of exposed mud in just under an hour… Amazing to watch.
The water is coming in
A nice campground if you’re looking for somewhere not to far from Auckland. See my earlier Whangateau post here.
We were all quite looking forward to checking these out as apparently, they’ve been used in one of Peter Jacksons movies. I’m not sure which one.
Click on the images for Hi Res or a slideshow
The march up to the Pinnacles
We left Martinborough early and set off south towards the Pinnacles. They’re about 30 odd K’s from Martinborough so they’re a good hour south.
The South West was blowing at around 30-40 knots and we were getting some good puffs on the road. The road is pretty good being sealed all the way but as you get closer, it is quite exposed and at one point, there is a causeway where the waves were virtually crashing on the edge of the road with plenty of debris lying around.
We were pleased to get there. Rob, Helen and Chloe had beaten us there as we had stopped for Groceries and had a look around Martinborough before leaving.
Our park in the corner of the Doc camp
Rob had a spectacular spot at the Doc camp there, tucked into a corner, protected by trees and bush with plenty of room for Rafe.
After settling down with a cuppa and getting organised. We set off up the valley towards the Pinnacles.
Rob resting 🙂
Doc suggests a 1.5hrs easy walk round trip. I would say this is understated and would be a 2 hr trip with the last K being a good uphill slog in gravel. Those who know me will tell you that I’m not the fittest trooper on the planet but if I can do it, anyone can but it is a wee bit more that what Doc say it is. It is spectacular and is well worth the slog mostly up the side of a stream. I commented to Rob on the way back that I felt a bit like Daniel Boon given the slightly eery almost desert like landscape similarities.
Daniel Booning down the stream
We set the chairs up behind Rafe and the Tracker out of the wind, wheeled out some portable music and started on a wet debrief of the day’s activities as you do :-). A nice day in the sun checking out some neat stuff we’d never seen before.
It was our last night at Castlepoint and the puffs were really building. The forecast had been for the wind to drop around 9pm but it still seemed to be building.
Us on the top row with sheltered by the hill behind. Those at the bottom rows had the wind funnelling up the valley behind.
The Coastguard app on my phone was showing a steady 40 knots gusting at 60 at the lighthouse which was just across the bay from us.
Gary and Dianne had left earlier that day but we’re coming back later in the week to rejoin our wee convoy but I was quietly pleased he wasn’t there with his extra height and length.
Just as it was getting dark, Rob decided he would shift the Tracker and point it more Northwards into the wind coming around the hill so I followed suit and also brought Rafe back further to escape more of the wind.
About 1.30am, we were woken up by some huge puffs and Rafe was really rockin and rolling. I saw Robs light go on but didn’t get up to see what was happening.
I looked at the Coastguard app again and it was 55 knots with 73 knot gusts.. The local paper later recorded this as 120k ! So much for the forecast. By 3am it had dropped right back to less than 30 knots.. What a wild night !
In the morning, I found out that Rob had gone for a wild windy walk around the campground to find absolute devastation on the bottom level. Tents shredded and boogie boards flying.. It was mayhem apparently and we were better off where we were. Apparently many abandoned their sites and went home. The camp management talked about dumping a ute full of tent bits later.
Don’t forget to click on the images for Hi Res or a slideshow
Both pointing into the wind 🙂
In the morning it was bright and sunny and very calm.. Amazing..
After an easy breakfast and a cuppa, we left together and headed towards Martinborough.
On the way we stopped at Greytown at a French bakery which Fiona is a bit partial to and then back to Carterton to head towards Stonehenge Aotearoa.
Fiona looking at the Seven Sisters
Stonehenge is about 11k’s east of Carterton on someone’s farm.
Very cleverly done with Audio visual explanations and basically, it is a huge Sundial with extra options 🙂 .. I’m sure there’s a lot more to it that that but it’s an interesting setup. Well worth looking at if you’re in the area with a Motorhome friendly carpark.
Dusk at Martinborough
We arrived in Martinborough around Midday in bright sunshine and settled Rafe down for a few days at the Vineyards 🙂
And our track to Martinborough from Rafe’s Tracker
We left Dannevirke camping ground around 10 am and after a quick top up with diesel and to the Dannevirke Supermarket, we were under way. We had just gone through Woodville when Fiona noticed a gift shop that might have some old plates to update our ones in Rafe. About 15 minutes later, Gary and Dianne came around the corner in Rosie and stopped.. They had just been through the Manawatu gorge and back after missing the turnoff :-). Fiona had just come back when they were away again.
Click on the images for Hi Res
We hadn’t gone very far when we arrived at the Tui Brewery. For those overseas, Tui is well known for the quirky billboards with clever advertising.
Fiona with the girls!
It’s also well known for their TV ads with the hot girls who are the workers so we had to get Fiona in on the act with their board with Employee of the month. With the old building covered in scaffolding, they must be giving it some love. There’s a great big carpark there so easy Motorhome parking and they look like they do great lunches. You can also do tours of the brewery too. A good place to stop.
We cruised on and stopped just outside Masterton and made our own lunch before heading on to Castlepoint. I’d booked the three of us into the Holiday Park there and they had allocated us an amazing park for three on the top of the hill looking out over the beach.
Our wee spot in the world. Rafe, Rosie and the Tracker
We were all blown away. The weather was amazing so we were going to have a great night. Click here to see the earlier post on New Year’s Eve.
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.
Stratford on Avon was an amazing town. It was chocker with people having fun everywhere and again some more of those lovely old buildings. These looked even older but more Thatched roofs and from basic building practices.
Bugger It, we are off - www.buggeritweareoff.com 
You must be logged in to post a comment.