We parked up at Peter & Wendy’s in Albany for a week which has been lovely, we had plenty to keep us busy and a few days after we arrived, P&W arrived back from their Easter break away.
Parked side by side before the great washing of vehicles took place.
Peter washed his vehicles after being near the sea to get all the salt and sand off, whilst the water blaster was out we also washed both of our vehicles, then we watched Pete expertly backed his RV into the barn. I don’t quite know how he does it as the van is tucked into one corner of the barn avoiding all the other vehicles and obstacles.
We are here for a few more days until we go housesitting, but first we have to take the van into RVRepairs for an insurance assessment, you see there was a little bit of an oopsie a few weeks ago when a guard rail at an unmanned fuel station leapt out and caught the side of the van.
Ooops!
The van will be going in to be repaired hopefully soon, another thing off our list of things to get done over the next few weeks.
Peter & Wendy have been extremely generous in allowing us to leave the van with them whilst we are away, it’s good to know it’s safe whilst we are away housesitting and later when we go to England.
We enjoyed our stay with them and especially the peace and quiet however we will still see them over the next few weeks as our housesitting stint is only 14minutes away and there is bound to be bits and pieces we have forgotten to pack.
Time to leave Uretiti and head south, not too far though, just to Ardmore on the southern side of Auckland as we have a few appointments and other things to do. We needed to get a COF sorted for the van as well as a COF for ourselves!!
We stay at Ardmore purely because it’s convenient, close to Antony, and close to our chosen garage etc if issues arise for the van. We had a lovely time getting things done and enjoying some catching up time with friends and family, time seems to slip away so quickly these days.
With trips out and about to get things done, train trips (see previous blog entry), visiting friends and family there is always plenty to do and to keep us busy. Fellow full-timers Carol & Glen came over to visit one day, it was lovely to catch up with them and all their news and we always manage a laugh or two.
We had to get a COF for the van and after a few days of sorting out bits and pieces it was all done.
Waiting in the queue
Time to head off again, this time to friends Peter & Wendy for a couple of nights for a breather before we make our way to Shakespear for the summer. Peter was having some concreting done, which was fun watching all the activity of trucks coming and going.
Peter on his tractor moving a bit of metal in front of the barn.
Soon it was time to leave and head to Shakespear and set ourselves up for the summer.
The entrance way into the camp with the Pohutakawas putting on a great show this yearAll set for the summer
A quick pack of an overnight bag, house tidied, everything securely locked, and we were off. Where were we off to? Not too far, just back down to Auckland to pick up the van so it can be delivered to RVRepairs in Rosedale, for a bit of TLC.
We arrived mid afternoon with a list of items to pick up from the van whilst we are here, including the step stool to aid in my access to the bed!! We ventured off late afternoon to park up outside the repair shop ready to hand over the keys at 7am the following morning.
What are we having done? Well, for starters a new toilet is being installed, the old one has passed its use by but when you think that these things are only meant to be used periodically for vacations and we have been using it full time for 12 years so it’s done pretty well. The new toilet has a porcelain bowl rather than the plastic one we had so it should be easier to keep clean as well.
What else? Well, all the external joints are being resealed, this is preventative maintenance as NZ’s sun is notorious for breaking down sealants as well as being continually outside in all elements, it’s time to treat it to a bit of cosmetic surgery. It’s something we would have tackled ourselves (which we did many years ago, 9 years to be precise), but as we get a bit older and wiser, we’ve decided that we would much rather someone else climb ladders as neither of us want to appear as an occupant of an orthopaedic ward. Oh, and they are going to wash the roof for us as well.
We “stealth” camped in the street in an industrial area ready for an early morning handover. Neither of us slept much at all. I cannot recommend stealth camping due to a number of issues; the van wasn’t level, we didn’t put the stabilisers down therefore the van was a bit rocky as well as being on a tilt, it was very noisy with businesses working all night, it was very lit up area plus we were parked under a street light, and it was cold even though we had the heating on.
We woke to a frost as well as thick heavy fog, no wonder it was chilly! We met Peter the owner as he arrived at work at 6:45am when we walked through all that was needing attention. They will give us a call when it’s completed, no worries, we tell them, we aren’t living in it atm so take your time. By 7:15am we had the car packed with everything that was on our list and we were on our way. But first a quick breakfast stop, followed by a grocery shop then on our way.
I must admit I was feeling rather jaded on the drive north so we stopped in Wellsford for a wake-up caffeine fix. Whilst there, Garry phoned to see if we would like to meet up in Kaiwaka at Eutopia café for a catch up, and more caffeine. Sure, see you shortly, we responded.
Now we have passed this café numerous times but have never called in, what an interesting, quirky, and fascinating place.
Eutopia café
You have to admire the work, detail, and clever use of materials in the many areas that you can choose to sit, be it inside our outside, at the front or the back, there are many, many interesting and quirky things to see. Oh, and the coffee was good too!
It wasn’t too far to travel now and we were back at the house soon enough, unpacked the car and all the bags before having a bite to eat. Shortly after that we may both have had a nana nap, but that would be telling!
The past 5 weeks seem to have flown by, I’m not sure what we have done really apart from try to stay dry from the seemingly never ending torrents of rain. However, we have enjoyed being here in the peace and quiet, something we both needed.
We’ve had a few friends come to visit and also caught up with a few friends as well, I have not taken a single photo of any of the encounters. Wade & Lindsay called in a couple of times on their way north, it’s always lovely to catch up with them and have a good laugh as well as solve the worlds problems whilst we are at it.
Carol & Glen (fellow full timers) also came for a couple of visits, and we returned the compliment by visiting them at their park up at Carol’s parents. We also met up with Skip & Mindy and Alison & Selwyn for lunch one day, these two couples are longtime volunteers at Shakespear whom we’ve got to know quite well over the years. And of course we met with lots of people at Asa’s funeral service, some whom we haven’t seen for years, as well as having smaller group catch-ups.
We’ve tried to get a few chores done but the weather just has not been conducive to doing too much and certainly not outside work.
We did have a couple of fine days when we took the opportunity to turn the bus around and move it across to the other side of the parking area so it would get more of all day sun. I took the opportunity to have a practise drive to move it around, just to keep my hand in.
Getting ready to move Moved into the all-day sun, to dry out the awning but that was soon a waste of time as it had to be put away and hasn’t been back out since.
Well, the sun did come out for a day or so before the rain started again which it seems to have never stopped since. Even poor Remington, the auto lawnmower, has been confined to his little house for weeks.
We have booked the van in to get some work done on it whilst we are housesitting in August, we would usually undertake the work ourselves but it requires the use of a ladder and quite frankly we’ve seen too many friends have falls from ladders recently. The subsequent injuries and recovery is not great for some of them thus it becomes a life changing accident, something we wish to avoid at all costs. Besides, I always say that I was built short for a reason, I wasn’t meant to tackle heights!
Peter & Wendy have a collection of vehicles, Pete got a few of them out one day to give them a run and yes, I did go for a ride in one of them….the blue one!!
A few of the cars out for a run!
The RAV4 was due it’s Warrant of Fitness, that was soon sorted by a local garage, and the van needs an oil change, filter change and a grease which we were very fortunate that Peter has offered to do it for us, he’s very adept at such things.
No, Roy has NOT run someone over! He is keeping a watchful eye on Peter whilst he does the oil change
From here we shall head off to do some fishing before we settle into our next housesitting appointment at Whakapirau for Jacky & a Chris so watch out for those updates.
Sit down, make yourself a cuppa, and I’ll tell you a little story, albeit a true story that scared the bejeezus out of me.
We were safely parked at the Papakura club, we have stayed here many times in the past and we had been here for a day or two when on Sunday night at around 12.30am I was woken by a burglar alarm going off and what sounded like the rubbish bins being emptied. That’s strange, why are the bins being emptied at this hour of the night? I got up and snuck a look out the window and saw what looked like a camper (a small white van with a luggage pod on top) parked up outside the side entrance of the club right opposite us, only about 25m away.
Now the carpark is well lit with floodlights, in fact it’s like daylight at nighttime!! and lights are on the outside of the building. I thought to myself that’s an odd place for a camper to park, I could see the sliding door on the drivers side was partly open but didn’t have my glasses on to see clearly. So I headed back down to the bedroom for my glasses. Next minute there is an almighty smash, lots of shouting and yelling, I raced back to the front of the van and looked out the window to see numerous figures all dressed in black running into the club….s*#t, this is a robbery in progress so I raced back to the bedroom trying to wake Roy (he couldn’t hear a thing) grabbed my phone and rang 111. By this time when I got back to the front of the bus to my sneaky look out point, (I did not want to draw any attention to us), the engine on their vehicle was revving up and lots of yelling and shouting as they all climbed back into the vehicle, the vehicle tore out of the car park at a great rate of knots but it sounded like they were dragging something along the road. The vehicle stopped at the carpark exit as whatever it was was causing them trouble. Oh no, they haven’t spotted me have they? But no, they dragged whatever was hanging out of the door inside the van as they took off down the road. At the same time as all this was happening I’m talking to the police call handler, my heart is pounding. and I have to admit I was very scared. The phone call handler was very good, as I was telling her what was going on she was trying to get the helicopter up to follow them (apparently it was busy elsewhere), but she’d already had a patrol car on its way. She took all details, asked good questions and didn’t go thru the who are you? what’s your address? Phone number? information until til the very end of the conversation which by that time police and security had arrived.
It wasn’t until around 2.30am that the police left, I’d gone back to bed at this stage but couldn’t sleep, I guess the adrenalin rush was still there plus I kept thinking about every other (im)possible outcome, you know, all the “what if” scenario’s.
Security stayed on site throughout the rest of the night but I was woken at every little sound I thought I heard. At 4am security changed over personnel – very loudly too I might add, off course I didn’t really sleep as every little noise I got up to have a sneaky look, check on things or I peeked out of the bedroom blind.
Arrow indicates the doors that were smashed to gain entry, further doors and furnishings were smashed in the senseless raid.
In the light of day things became a little clearer, the forensics team arrived to do their job then the clean up could commence. I spoke with the club manager who was very grateful that I had rung police. It seems that the getaway vehicle had been stolen earlier in the evening and subsequently dumped nearby, there were 8 people involved and they caused around $75K worth of damage just to get away with a bit of alcohol, the tills which contained no cash plus a few other random items. It seemed that what I heard them dragging along the road was probably a till and when the opened the door to collect it they dropped and smashed numerous bottles of alcohol onto the road.
The smashed doors.
My blood pressure has now returned to normal, the heart rate has dropped to its usual pace and life goes on. However, I can assure you I don’t wish to witness anything like this ever again.
Although we were booked in to stay another night we moved on as I was a little apprehensive to stay. I think the thing that has stuck with me is the noise of it all, whilst it probably lasted less than 3 minutes, I’m on hyper alert for any noise. The whole episode was senseless, I hope that they are held to account, if not now, at some stage in their lives.
Yes, we have finally left Shakespear for the year with a few of the usual chores to do along the route to our destination today, Ardmore.
Todays route, from one end of greater Auckland to the other, it should take around 2hrs not including stops.
After being farewelled by the Rangers mid Wednesday morning our first port of call was to fill with LPG at Dairy Flat then it was onto the motorway to continue our journey. We had to detour slightly to visit a workshop in East Tamaki as we need to get the underside of the van cleaned, de rusted and sprayed with protectorant – is that a word? Anyway, it’s stuff that they apply to stop any further rust and protects against damage. The business we are heading to (Turin Panel & Paint) was recommended by another garage we have used. The usual business we would have used has unfortunately closed down due to the retirement of the owner. After getting a date to deliver them the van we were on our way again.
A quick stop at Bruce Pulman Park to empty all the waste tanks before arriving at the NZMCA park at Ardmore. After carefully choosing our parking space well away from anyone else we were soon set up and could relax.
The following day we both had our regular Drs appointment where we both got our flu jabs. Roy hasn’t been well the past week with a terrible cough (definitely not Covid as he tested negative 4 days running) so he’s been on antibiotics, steroids and inhalers which are working a treat and he’s on the mend. We were also going to get our Covid boosters but apparently it isn’t 6 months yet since we had our last one however it is only a few weeks away until we can get them done.
We came back from our appointments to find that our magnetic personality is obviously still in play as we had been surrounded by other vehicles, despite there being three other completely empty rows of parking available.
Surrounded again including parked very close behind our bedroom window. What really makes me laugh is that once people have parked beside/behind us they immediately close their blinds one the side facing us!!
We did catch up with a few friends who just so happened to also stay at Ardmore, first was Roger & Ruth. Roger is one of Roys old mates from when they started school together, we had an epic trip with them on their barge in France, you can catch up on that trip starting here . Jim was also around and he came for a visit. It was lovely to see them all and catch up with their news.
There were a couple of other chores we had to get done whilst we were at this end of Auckland, both of them required parts which we collected from the RV Supply store. A new catch for the fly screen door was quickly put into place as was the new screen/blind for the bedroom roof vent.
New roof blind for the vent in situ
We were only at Ardmore for a couple of days as the van was due to go in for its beauty treatment on Monday. We will be staying with Antony for the week whilst the work is completed, lucky fella!
What is the number one bugbear of this lifestyle? It’s when when people park /camp right next to you. There can be a whole empty parking area but as sure as eggs you can guarantee the next person in will come and park right next to you. Why? Are you afraid of being on your own? Do I have a magnetic personality? Am I having more fun than you and you want to join in? If anyone can explain why this phenomena occurs, then please let me know.
The above motorhome parked directly in front of us at Shakespear when there was plenty of other space to choose from.
Since we moved from our usual parking spot at Shakespear to a more central position combined with the influx of schools into the camp, the issue raised its ugly head again. It seems that those who pertain to be in charge delight in letting the kids camp directly next to us.
People forgot that tents are just flimsy material that afford little in the way of noise deadening, yes, we can still hear your every word, snore…..and more!!!Camped right up against our fence.
But later on it got worse, so bad that we decided it was best to leave before cross words were spoken. When tent pegs are being hammered in under your awning then that’s getting a bit too close for comfort, and the tents on the other side are so close that we cannot drive the car out, then you know it’s time to leave. The above instances involve schools on camp, I have no idea they want to be so close to the camp hosts but it seems they do.
This phenomena is not just an occurrence at Shakespear but it happens all over the country in many different locations from DOC camps, to NZMCA parks to POPs. In fact when we were last in the South Island, we had the same bus turn up and park right next to us in three different towns. In each instance we were the only vehicle in large parking areas and they choose to park directly next to us.
Here we are in Lowburn, South Island, on our own, the following day a bus came and parked right beside us, and no I didn’t take a photo.
I can understand close parking if you are in a freedom camping spot, or carpark, or a commercial camping spot with designated areas but I just don’t get it in other places. Even when we travel with friends we don’t park on top of each other, we always give each other a bit of personal space and freedom.
I can recall one occasion when we were at Spirits Bay at the top of the north island, we were there with friends and we were the only two vehicles in on a very windy day. Now Spirits Bay is a huge grassed camping area, enough room for hundreds of people. Two young German tourists arrived in their car, they drove around the camping area trying out different places to park. In the end they came over and asked if they could park behind our bus to get a bit of shelter from the wind. No problem, we said, thanks for asking. Well, what we didn’t expect was for them to park their car directly underneath our slideout! They were so close I could almost hear them breathe. Bless their little cotton socks, it was only for one night and I felt for them, it was a howling gale.
I’m sure I’ve written about this previously, but I cannot find a reference to it, please folks, I’m happy to wave to you and pass the time of day and even have a cuppa with you but please please give me a bit of space!
Wednesday 1 February 2023….woke this morning to find the van surrounded by water, not just ponding water but a raging torrent of water, the whole campground was under water. I shall let the pictures tell the story….
6am, what a wake up call!!An hour later and the water is starting to go down The shower tent thinks it’s now a bath! And the garden is getting well wateredLakesThe creek overflowed a little….just as well we cleared out both ends of the culvert yesterdayLooking toward the back of the camp with the gate through to Pink BeachThe road out of the camp looking toward the main gateBefore and during…now already just 4hours later it’s back to the before picture.Now safely parked on solid high ground. Although I have to admit that we did need some assistance in getting out, one rear wheel could not gain any traction even after I put the rubber mats by the tyres. I didn’t take any pictures of the tractor pulling us out,in fact I didn’t even watch!!
And now, just 8 hours after being woken to floods we have brilliant sunshine and blue skies.
Parked in our new safe spot, with our usual place in the background on the right.
Long may the blue skies remain, we need a break. However, we got off lightly, the shower tent and pump is damaged beyond repair and I lost a Croc (shoe) but that is all. We are safe and dry as is our home, we are very lucky. Our thoughts are with all those people who have damaged homes and livelihoods, some have lost everything including loved ones, our heart goes out to them all and we wish everyone all the best.
We left Auckland and headed northwards for a week or two before we get back into the groove at Shakespear for the summer. We decided to head to Te Arai, another one of the Auckland Regional Parks just south of Mangawhai.
The days drive, but of course it took us much longer than what Mr Google says.
The last few kms to Te Arai are on gravel road, which is usually not a bother for us but this road is probably the worst road we have ever been on, potholes like we’ve never seen before and in between corrugations that shook us to the bone. I think the last 10kms took us at least 30minutes. But once we got there, we relished the fact that we were once again by the sea.
Aaah, the view from the bedroom window. It’s so nice to be back by the sea.Another view from the bedroom window The path to the beachA panoramic view of the beach
We settled ourselves in and relaxed for the rest of the day being entertained by the large number of surfers trying their luck in the rolling surf. The following day Garry came down to have a fish with us, as he lives not too far away on the outskirts of Mangawhai.
Roy and Garry contemplating the intricacies of fishingDeep in conversationMy view, watching the rod!Setting out the line
A couple of fish were caught but so was a lot of weed, so much so that after a couple of days we decided to hightail it out of there and head further north. On our last evening at Te Arai we could not believe the number of vans trying to get into the parking area, we have never seen it this popular before. On speaking to the others we discovered that most of them were German tourists. Ahhh, that makes sense of course, we’ve had two summers without tourists and they are now back to experience a kiwi holiday.
Our last night, when it seemed everyone wanted to be here….we’ve never seen it so busy here.
Off to try our luck further north, but where is summer? Hopefully it will turn up soon.
The long Easter weekend was looming and with that hoards of campers would be arriving at Uretiti for their last opportunity to camp before winter. In anticipation of the hundreds of campers coming in we decided to move from our hideaway spot to another of our usual parking positions closer to the road. A move of less than 100metres! as we didn’t want to get hemmed in.
The old parking areaParked in the new spotCarol & Glen parked up behind us, they moved earlier in the week to escape the potential of being caught out by potential flooding. Arrow indicating our previous parking spot
We settled in for our last few days here, Roy & Glen went out fishing a couple of times with Roy coming back with good catches. By late on the Thursday afternoon the camp had started to fill up with tenters, caravans, motorhomes and every other sort of mobile accommodation imaginable squeezing in to every available space. Are we ever pleased we moved in readiness to leave on Easter Saturday.
Happy hour
The camp certainly did fill up, with a couple of large groups taking up significant portions of the camp. It was entertaining watching people put up their tents, manoeuvre their vehicles into position, and generally set themselves up for a good weekend break. We listened intently to the news and weather forecast and it seems we chose a good day to leave as the traffic reports for Thursday and Friday were of very slow traffic movements in and out of Auckland and weather warnings were subsequently issued for Sunday and Monday.
There was a bit of a commotion in camp on Friday afternoon when a helicopter began circling overhead before landing on the beach in front of the camp.
Helicopter landing
It appeared that a young man had got into difficulties in the strong surf and had been rescued from the water. At the time of leaving we hadn’t heard how he was doing, we trust he was being well cared for in hospital.
Saturday morning rolled around and we packed up ready to leave, just as well, as there were heavy rain warnings for the north due to arrive later in the day.
It was an uneventful drive down to Auckland, although we did get held up in traffic heading into Warkworth, a known bottleneck. It wasn’t until we got through the traffic lights that we realised that our queue was a minor one compared to the queue of northbound traffic.
In the queue to the traffic lights in Warkworth.
Further south around Puhoi the traffic heading north was at a standstill coming out of the tunnel, as we wizzed through the tunnel and came out the south side the queues of traffic waiting to enter the tunnel were just as bad.
North side of the Johnsons hill tunnel
The south side of the tunnel. Excuse the view through the dirty windscreen, it will be cleaned!
Apparently the queues on Good Friday were much worse so we were very pleased to have chosen a better day to travel.
We arrived at Ardmore in good time and parked ourselves on the newly tar sealed parking area. The tar seal had been painted with areas marked out for parking, we chose a spot to park away from other people before setting ourselves up then heading on round to see Antony. Later, when we returned we found ourselves no longer on our own, with others parking directly alongside us and behind us.
No longer on our ownBut with all this wide open space available, why do people think that they need to park directly next to others?
I’ve never been able to figure out why people need to flock together around others, I guess I have to just put it down to our magnetic personalities 😘.
The Vanninis' Manoeuvres 