Mobile home for a month

Touring the North Island

Well, our long-planned 3-month trip to Europe was knocked on the head by COVID-`19 and the associated cancellation of travel and trips.

We decided we’d make the best of a bad deal and take in some of the site of our beautiful New Zealand and at the same time catch up with our NZ family and friends.

Cue 1 Campervan and a fast-tracked plan to tour the North Island. As Tiina researched our routes and options, we quickly realised there are a lot of hidden gem

12 June 20 Whangarei to Onewhero

Onewhero holds a lot of memories for us, For many, many years, we have been regular visitors to this small town just around the corner from Port Waikato. Our grand tour couldnt start better than a roast dinner and a few drinkies at the farm with our great friends, Bob and Di. Our home for…

13 June 20 Onewhero – Blue Springs – Lake Arapuni

These are the beautiful Blue Springs at Putaruru. Lots of crazy facts to read up on,such as that it takes up to 100 years for the water to travel from its source at the Mamaku Plateau to reach the springs. The water is so pure through natural filtration that it is used for around 60%…

14 June 20 Lake Arapuni to Three Sisters and Elephant Rock

Today we started a long tikitour to see a few less visited natural sights beyond Waitomo Village. First stop – Marokopa Falls A short 600m walk from the carpark (after a winding small road that took ages to navigate) takes you to these amazing 35 metre high waterfalls. These falls are counted amongst the most…

15 June 20 The Three Sisters and Elephant Rock – New Plymouth

We woke up to a beautiful morning and low tide, perfect conditions to check out the famous rock formations on the beach, the Three Sisters and Elephant Rock. Some other campers told us that there is also a penguin colony here, but we must have missed them before they headed out to sea. Next stop,…

15 – 21 June New Plymouth with family

A great week spent with all the family down in New Plymouth Highlights of the week included: Spending time with and babysitting little Wolfe (6months) and Noah (23 months) Living in the driveway of Helayna and Anthony’s house and many lovely evenings with them Curry night! Roast pork dinner, roast beef dinner, pizza’s at Ms…

21 June 20 New Plymouth- Hawera – Waiinu

A little sad saying bye to Helayna & Anthony, Chloe & Dan and the littllies Noah and Wolfe and Kym. I forgot how crazy life is with the girls and miss them already.. Quite interesting keeping an eye on Mount Taranaki. driving anti-clockwise around the mountain then seeing it from the South after spending a…

22 June 20 Waiinu Beach to Manakau (and lessons learned)

Waking up to a stunning morning at Waiinu Beach A brisk walk down the beach looking for seals – but in vane.. Tiina claimed to see dolphins, Orka, and a mermaid I think – nothing to be seen when I looked. So onwards now towards Foxton via Wanganui and Bulls Whanganui – who’da thought it?…

23 June 20 Manakau to Whitby, Porirua

Waking in the morning and not discussing the previous evening’s sticky situation of the bogged down campervan, we two intrepid explorers made plans for the day ahead which would deliver the stunning Kapiti, an amazing collection of vintage cars and culminate in a catch-up evening of food, drink, double-entendres and chaotic discussion – a typical…

24 June 20 Porirua to Wellington (and Weta Workshop)

Thanks to Dave and Sharon for their previous evenings hospitality and the morning’s ablusions; god how lovely it was to be showering in something larger than a shoebox. A drive into town made us realise that town-driving and a 7,5m campervan do not go hand in hand; a wrong turn and here we are driving…

25 June 20 Wellington to Martinborough

Enjoyed a free bus ride into Wellington where they have waived fares due to COVID until 01 July. Watching the different quirky houses in Wellington City is so interesting! After popping into Moore Wilson’s for a few speciality groceries and a general nosy we had breakfast at Gypsy kitchen and returned to pick up the…

26 June 20 Martinborough to Putangiruru Pinnacles

Enjoyed nice long showers at the Top10 campground (felt like daylight robbery paying for parking there so might as well make the most out of long showers!) Headed to the i-site to get some advice about the road to Cape Palliser and headed off after a coffee and filling the tank. A short drive brought…

27 June 20 Putangiruru Pinnacles to Masterton

You might recall from our post yesterday, we’d parked up in the incredible entrance to the pinnacles. Totally isolated and the only sound to be heard was the burbling River right next to us. That was until we were lit up by the headlights of a second campervan and then the continuous opening and closing…

28 June 20 Masterton to Castlepoint

If you ever wake up to shreeks like someone was being strangled.. just check out the window first as it could also be geese as it was in our case waking up at Henley Park beside a lake! We had success finding the best cafe in town for a late breakfast, found a lovely New…

29 June 20 Castlepoint awakening

Pure luck got me up in time to view this amazing morning and sunrise on our first morning at Castlepoint! (Tiina) Later we climbed up some of the rocks near the lighthouse

30 June 20 Castlepoint to Dannevirke

We couldn’t resist the cafe in Masterton we discovered yesterday so we enjoyed late breakfast there after escaping the storm in Castlepoint. Our next stop was Pukaha Mt Bruce, National wildlife centre. A really worthwhile place to visit, they’ve done a great job in creating authentic bush, close-up access to various birds and native NZ…

01 July Dannevirke to Napier

Dannevirke is an intresting little town which highlights its Viking roots. We saw the same kind of theme further north in Norsewood (of course!) There are some quickly little walks with signage in what looks like could be old Norse script – but fortunately with translation to English for those of you who can’t read…

02 July Napier to Wairoa

Enjoyed morning coffee with an old PDNZ colleague of Tiinas before we set off to our next location of Wairoa. It was a scenic and hilly journey on winding roads. Wairoa is a small town with a population of about 4500 people and has a feel of a small town too. It used to have…

03 July 20 Wairoa to Mahia Peninsula

The morning started lovely and sunny in Wairoa. We had a look at the town centre with new eyes and made it to the cafe which was recommended to us, finally now it was open. It’s a little sad that Wairoa has become quite run down. That said, the locals remain super friendly. There’s a…

04 July 20 Mahia Peninsula

Alas our plan to watch the latest Rocket Lab launch was scuppered – allegedley due to winds but we woke to a stunning calm and sunny morning – really not sure why they didnt launch. But no matter – we got to see a completely different looking beach to yesterday We decided to go up…

05 July 20 Mahia to Tokomaru Bay

A night of suspense turned into morning and the rocket launch was still going ahead… We took a spot by the road with a clear view to the hills we expected to see the rocket from. Mal had his laptop with live feed running from Rocket lab with him as well. As the countdown reached…

06 July 2020 Tokomaru Bay to Te Kaha

Our usual routine of a lazy start to the day brought us coffee/tea and a small bite in the campervan and by 9.30 we were on our way towards Te Kaha via a long loop around the top of East Cape. A common theme was very very rough seas (probably enhanced by the inbound weather…

07 July 2020 Te Kaha to Kohutapu Lodge

Another stormy night behind us with the van shaking about all night in the wind we were finally woken up by logging trucks and their engine braking starting at 5.30am (one even honked their horn to make sure all campers have noticed them!) We headed off towards Opotiki for a coffee and morning tea. The…

08 July 2020 Kohutapu Lodge to Rotorua

Our morning started with the usual lazy start but with the bonus of a “proper” shower provided by Kohutapu Lodge. Our host, Nadene (Nades) met with Tiina last night and promised to look into a guided tour; true to her word, around 10am we were greeted by the smile of Heme who was to be…

09 July 20 Rotua to Tauranga

The morning started with a cool wake up with the temperature being close to +1 C. Fortunately our central heating kept us nice and warm inside the van! We werre unable to book a last minute tour in Rotorua in the morning, so we headed north towards Mount Maunganui. A stop at Okere Falls woke…

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