Innholdsfortegnelse for November - December 2019 i RV Travel Lifestyle

Recently there have been changes within our publishing business, one of which has been the merging of our popular NZTODAY title with its sister travel title RV Travel Lifestyle. This merger will have some excellent benefits for you as a regular reader, with our great team of writers and our regular columnists such as Keith Quinn, Peter Williams and Allan Dick, continuing to entertain you, while taking you on a journey to the heartland of our country. Of course, the magazine will continue to include regular, informative and entertaining RV Lifestyle articles, reviews of products as well as associated RV industry news. WHAT IS AN RV? YOU MAY ASK. RV is an abbreviation for Recreational Vehicle, taking in such things as caravans, motorhomes, buses, campers and the like. The RV…

My day in the national newsroom of Radio New Zealand on Wednesday November 28, 1979 passed without incident. I knew that the Air New Zealand scenic flight to the Antarctic was taking place, amid much hoo-hah and publicity ballyhoo. But like everyone else I had no reason to think that it was anything other than safe. After all, this was Air New Zealand, our airline, an airline that had never suffered a crash. (NAC had had accidents and fatalities, but not the international airline.) Shortly after 6pm, I caught a bus home as usual. My wife was a secondary school teacher at the time, and she had a parent–teacher evening. I knew she would be late home. I settled down in my comfy chair and listened to the 7pm news…

It takes less than four hours to drive from Geraldine to Alexandra on the conventional route. But having had two thoroughly enjoyable four-wheel-drive tours with Robbie and Connie Crickett of NZ Adventures Ltd last year, we booked early for the 2019 Big Sky trip, a mostly mountainous excursion through Otago, Canterbury and a little bit of Southland. At the briefing in Geraldine the evening before the trip, we met up with two other couples that we travelled with last year and learnt that most of our fellow travellers on these well-organised tours are previous clients. Robbie warned that dust was likely to be an issue due to the recent prolonged dry spell, and suggested that when on the dusty roads our convoy spread out a bit to minimise any nuisance.…

GEOGRAPHICAL HISTORY Grovetown lagoon is one of the few natural wetlands remaining on the Wairau plains in Marlborough. Geographically speaking the lagoon is an ‘oxbow lake’. This type of lake is formed over time when a river creates a curving, meandering path which eventually nearly cuts back onto itself. (See aerial image). As the ‘neck’ of the meander becomes narrower and narrower it becomes susceptible to breaching during the next major flood, which in this case occurred in 1861. The high waters and fast flows broke through the narrow piece of land which in effect straightened the river’s path leaving an isolated curved lake where the river once flowed. THE LAGOON As the Wairau river continued on its new, straighter path, the Grovetown oxbow lake’s water remained clear and fresh,…

Golden Bay, in the Nelson Tasman region, is a remarkably beautiful part of New Zealand. The area has long offered rich opportunities for tramping, rock climbing, sailing, kayaking, caving – a vast range of outdoor activities to be enjoyed within a stunning natural setting. All were catered for bar one notable exception, one that has also arguably become New Zealand’s most high-profile recreational exercise: cycling. Winding, narrow and surprisingly busy roads (particularly in the summer season) often turned road biking into a dangerous sport, while opportunities for mountain bikers were virtually non-existent. When Wellington software developers Phil Castle and Beth Burdett moved to Takaka in 2002 they quickly became aware of this shortcoming. “I strongly believe there should be places close to where people live where they can go and…

When Allan Dick was here in 2009 (he’s been everywhere, man!), he called this mill a time capsule and “one of the most remarkable places in New Zealand”. It’s also our heritage. New Zealand was virtually built on timber, mutton and minerals, and the Endean/Ottaway sawmill near Waimiha typifies the way a mill town would have looked in the middle decades of last century. New Zealand’s only surviving native timber sawmill operated at Ongarue Stream Road from 1927. Like most mills of its day, it was steam driven, and there was no shortage of wood to stoke the big boiler that powered the mill before three-phase electricity arrived in the early 1960s. Named after the first owner Jack Endean, the mill had several managers including George Ottaway who eventually purchased…

Extracted from Rick Stein’s Secret France, published by Penguin Random House UK, RRP$60.00. Text copyright © Rick Stein, 2019. Photography copyright © James Murphy 2019. Design copyright ©Woodlands Books 2019. WIN with Road Kai We have one copy of Rick Stein’s Secret France to be won. To enter, post or email: Vol 2 Road Kai, PO Box 220 Martinborough 5711 E: subs@rvmagazine.co.nz Tell us your favourite recipe shown here and supply your full contact details. Entry closes Dec 30, 2019 RV76 Road Kai Winner Better than a Bought One, Jo Seagar Diane Smith New Plymouth Leek Tart From Picardy flamiche Many versions of this leek tart or pie from Picardy exist, some with a top of puff pastry or brioche or with added ingredients like cheese or lardons. Being something of a…

Classy motorhomes are a speciality for Zion Motorhomes, who operate from their equally classy sales centre in Pōkeno south of Auckland. If you attend motorhome shows you will know what we mean about classy. Jonas Ng at Zion is the authorised distributor in New Zealand for some of the best quality German-built RV brands on the world market – Dethleffs motorhomes and caravans, Frankia, Niesmann+Bischoff and MORELO motorhomes. The luxury liners from MORELO and Niesmann+Bischoff have all the bells and whistles imaginable, while the Frankia and Dethleffs range of motorhomes boast entry-level prices and spec’d options from the ex-rental McRent stock, all with low kilometres and a price point under $125K. Brand new models across the brands cover a wide range right through to those with luxury top-of-the-line options. Zion…

No room at home to park your motorhome, boat and caravan? Coastal Motorhomes & Caravans offer secure self-storage on-site at their Whakatāne dealership. Easy access, no city traffic to negotiate, 24-hour surveillance, on-site repairs and parts shop available. More and more people are wanting to enjoy life with boating or motorhoming/caravanning but don’t have the space at home to ‘park the toys’ so why miss out when you can pay a small fee to park your boat/RV in a secure spot, hassle free. Short and long term, no problem. No charge when your boat/RV is out being used. Contact Coastal Motorhomes & Caravans Self Storage 021 613 881 or 0800 737 010…

Please send your feedback, letters and suggestions to editor@rvmagazine.co.nz and win a magazine subscription Hi Robyn Really enjoyed Allan Dick’s reminiscences of his trip to Queenstown in the summer of 1955/1956. In 1955 our family shifted to Queenstown from Invercargill. I was five at the time. My first memories are of going to Queenstown on the gravel roads most of the way from Invercargill. The house my parents rented was in Shotover Street until our new house was built – complete with rats. I can remember a double adapter going into the ceiling light so the record player could be used. Radio reception was useless. We were glad to shift into a brand-new house in Thompson Street, complete with a Shacklock 501 coal range made in Dunedin. My father and…

The 40th Anniversary Commemorations of the Erebus tragedy, New Zealand’s worst accident, and still the worst air accident in the Southern Hemisphere will be marked in New Zealand this November 28. A civic service at Auckland’s Holy Trinity Cathedral will be held at 5pm on Sunday November 24 with Governor-General of New Zealand, Dame Patsy Reddy as special guest. All are welcome to a service of music, prayers and special remembrance. On the anniversary day, Thursday November 28, the Ministry of Art & Culture is planning a ground breaking event at the new National Erebus Memorial site at the Dove-Meyer Robinson Park in Parnell at 1.30pm, with Prime Minister Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern (the memorial is likely to be completed and dedicated in May 2020). On the evening of the…

Since the mid-90s the Southern Hemisphere Proving Grounds near Cardrona have provided winter testing facilities for the automotive industry including vehicles, components and tyres. SHPG offers winter-based test tracks that meet strict industry testing requirements to OEM companies during June, July and August, providing opportunities for these manufacturers to test counter-seasonally and obtain year-round winter testing. SHPG is the only location for winter testing in the Southern Hemisphere, and during the aforementioned months the only location in the world to provide a secure, safe environment operating 24/7 set in a unique and stunning location. The ability to provide year-round winter testing has a number of advantages, from speeding up development and getting products to production quicker, to resolving issues in development that would have been delayed until the following winter.…

• Lagoon loop track on SH1, travel 3.1km north from the Blenheim information centre to Fell Street turnoff. Follow Fell Street for 700 metres, turn right onto Steam Wharf Road. Car park and information board 400 metres. • Grade: easy (walk) • Time: one hour • Distance: 4km • Birdlife of note to see: mallard and grey ducks, black swan, grey teal, Australasian shoveler, pūkeko, NZ scaup, kingfisher, cormorants, white heron, royal spoonbill, welcome swallow, many introduced species • Walk, bike or kayak Tips: remember your lifejacket if using your kayak • take the time to watch bird life from the birdwatching hide • keep your eye out for a sighting of the elusive marsh crake or bittern • between May 1 and July 31, duck hunters may be present…

The Hangatahua (Stony) River has always been a special river to the people of Taranaki. The river is referred to in Māori mythology with the arrival of Mt Taranaki and is commonly regarded as the most sacred river in Taranaki. I remember summers in the seventies and eighties, returning from surf trips and stopping at the Stony River bridge to dive into a refreshing clear pool. It was an invigorating ritual. The bubbling mountain water tumbles seawards over large rounded boulders from its source in the mighty Ahukawakawa Swamp between the Pouakai Range and Mt Taranaki. After a journey of 28 kilometres, down through forested mountainside, across lahar fields, past Okato, the Stony reaches the ocean at the eastern end of Komene Beach. A dive into the mountain water of…

At nearby Te Kuiti. John Pitcorn of Pitcorn Engineering hopes that by the end of next year he will have finished restoring a 1650 Climax steam loco that he’s had at the shop for seven years. Now owned by the Climax 1650 Steam Trust it came to New Zealand in 1923 from the United States. It worked on the Ellis and Burnand tramline at Ongarue from its arrival at Ongarue in 1923 through to the closure of the mill tramway. Then in 1958 the tramlines were washed out during a big flood and bulldozers took over hauling the logs to the mills. The loco was parked up at Mangapehi before being rescued by Trust members Once the Climax is up and running, it will be one of three operating Climax…

Last season High Country Journeys introduced two new fully guided six and seven day tour options namely the ‘South Island High Country Grand Slam’ and the ‘Great Mackenzie Country Explorer’. High Country Journeys is owned and operated by Ranfurly based John Mulholland and he has been absolutely rapt with the response, especially the ‘Grand slam’ Tour that starts in Blenheim and takes in Molesworth Station. These packages are an adventure as well as a holiday that combine fine hospitality in very comfortable rural farm stay’s, good food, farming tales, high country yarns and four-wheel-driving through stunning scenery with passionate local guides. Drive your own 4WD vehicle and travel at a more relaxed pace as part of a smaller more personal group of vehicles, all with radio contact. If you have…

I was welcomed to Welcome Rock long before the trail of the same name appeared on the high-country hills behind Garston. It just so happened several years ago that our neighbour was the sister of the station owner, and she invited me to their farm after I returned from overseas cycling adventures. I soon learnt from meeting Tom and Katie O’Brien (the owners) that his father Des had the vision to destock a thousand hectares of their high-country land for a conservation reserve over 30 years ago. Their family had a dream that one day they could share their scenic highlands with others. After brief introductions, I was driven up the hill in a trusty old Landrover to assess the recreational potential of the area … and potential it had…

Sometimes in life, you meet characters that fill you with wonder. Richard Spark is one such individual. At 75 years old, he appears on first impression like a friendly dairy-farmer-type, doing the best he can to support his family. He keeps busy in retirement running the popular Rossburn Receptions function centre on his property just outside Rangiora, North Canterbury. However, after spending some time with Richard and visiting his Northbrook Colonial Museum, my eyes were opened to the incredible enthusiasm and dedication of this one man. The story starts in a fairly ordinary fashion. In 1982 at the age of 38, Richard decided that he wanted to find himself a hobby. “I didn’t want to play golf or go to the pub. With six children, I had to find something…

It was just over a year ago that I decided to give the RV lifestyle a try, and contrary to the dire predictions of several mates, I found that I enjoyed every moment of it. Well, almost every moment. So sure were my friends that I would probably only tolerate it for little more than a couple of days, I emailed them all after three days to tell them I was absolutely hating it, and was desperate to abandon the trip. A week or so later they realised I was pulling their legs. I then wrote a two-part article for this magazine, and concluded by saying “Would I do it again? Absolutely. I loved every minute of it.” And so it was that by mid-year I had booked the same…

“These are our newest babies,” Robyn Smith gestures to two little goats and a Highland cow with her calf at foot. “We’re feeding her stock-food pellets to try and get her used to us,” she explained, unfortunately thwarted in this plan by the sudden arrival of a Belted Galloway heifer who knows only too well what stock food is all about. The animals are part of the attraction for visitors to the Smiths’ farm and eco-home lodge at Orwell Creek, Ahaura, roughly halfway between Greymouth and Reefton. Robyn and Malcolm Smith have owned the property that is surrounded by DOC land since 2007 and in that time have risen to the challenge of living off the grid, farming cattle and protecting the land and its history, but not without the…

I do have a favourite place to visit in our country to see where some New Zealanders pay deep tribute in an almost private way to their own much-loved sports star. This stop wasn’t on our recent drive around the North Island, but I have visited it twice in the past. It is a sacred Māori place which honours the memory of the great and gifted All Black fullback of the 1920s, George Nepia. To get there you have to make the drive up the North Island’s East Cape. That is a beautiful journey too. You start from Gisborne and travel north. On the way you will pass through timeless history and culture of New Zealand via places like Tolaga Bay, Tokomaru Bay and Ruatoria. Then just north of Tikitiki,…

Ranger the Kaimanawa Stallion Kelly Wilson RRP $19.99 Penguin Kelly Wilson’s heartwarming picture book is a tale about a stallion rescued from the 2012 Kaimanawa muster, and his real-life journey from wild horse to show horse, illustrated by Jenny Cooper. Ranger is a wild horse living in the rolling Kaimanawa Ranges of New Zealand. The lead stallion of a large herd, he protects his mares and foals from danger and takes them to safe places to graze among the tussock. This will be his very last day in the wild. But it’s also the first day of a completely new life – a life that Ranger at first finds frightening and confusing. But, with the gentle and patient care of the three sisters who have rescued him, it’s a life…

Based in Howick, Auckland, Cover World (New Zealand) is probably the only company that offers a five-year guarantee on their products. Manufacturers of all manner of vehicle and boat covers, Cover World are also one of the few suppliers of covers for Class B motorhomes. A one-stop shop for all your cover needs, Cover World can also supply quality covers for Class A and C motorhomes, caravans and fifth-wheelers as well as BBQ and boat covers. Cover World are only a small business so you can be assured of personal and friendly service. As a special offer to readers of our magazine, Cover World are offering a 15 per cent discount when they order a cover. Simply telephone Roger at Cover World and quote ‘Lifestyle Gift’ to get your discount.…

For Vern and Julie Walker the decision to purchase the successful Nelson Caravan business in February 2019 was an easy one to make, especially as they had recently purchased a new Swift Challenger 580 from the company. With the experience gained through a career in the motor vehicle industry spanning around three decades, Vern was well placed to research the company, quickly recognising the quality and value that the Swift brand represents. Since taking over, Vern has found the caravan business very rewarding, satisfying new and accomplished caravanners through their purchase decisions. Nelson Caravans are also New Zealand agents for Lunar caravans, a brand that also represents great quality and value for money. Other brand partners include Isabella, quality manufacturers of Danish awnings, and they have stock arriving of Isabella…

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SUPPLY – REMOVING THE MYSTIQUE FROM SOLAR POWER A reliable power supply is important when using the broad range of electrical appliances that have become a part of modern caravanning and camping living, making life easier, more comfortable and safer while on the road. Solar energy is an abundant power source and combining this free energy source with a vehicle charging system makes a virtually self-sufficient auxiliary battery power system possible. There are varying factors that influence the amount of charge that we can extract from the sun, including ambient temperature, amount of cloud cover or shading from obstructions, as well as the angle that the panels are inclined toward the sun. UNDERSTANDING THE DIFFERENT PANEL TYPES Crystalline solar panels (mono and poly) by their nature gradually lose…

It has been busy time again – I had to go to work with da mama and papa at another motorhome show. It is so cool I am allowed to be at some of these shows coz I get so many people come to visit me, pat me and some even take me walkies, it is terrific. But I must say after three days of it, even I was happy to get home. I slept for a couple of days mama reckons. I have a new ‘Lion’ haircut, what the woof that means I don’t know. All I do know is my butt got cold because my fur was too short there, while the hair around my neck was long and too hot. I don’t know what these guys are…

Robyn Dallimore Editor - Writer - Publisher Allan Dick Writer - Photographer 55 years a journalist, including 25 years as a radio talkback host and 15 years at Radio Pacific. Founder of Driver magazine, as well as NZ Classic Driver and RV-NZTODAY Lifestyle, Allan is passionate about living in New Zealand and has visited pretty much every corner of it. Dunedin raised, Allan left Auckland nine years ago for Oamaru, a move he’s never regretted. Jane Dove Juneau Photographer - Writer A professional photographer, Jane loves exploring and capturing images of New Zealand, so for Jane contributing to RV-NZTODAY Lifestyle is a perfect match. Our coastal wilderness and native forests are unique in the world and it is up to us to treasure and protect them. janedovejuneau.com Gary Patterson Writer…