New Zealand or Bust

[Two on Tour]

A few more number plates that we have seen.

On a Jaguar XF

 

[bobnick]

NOBS love it.

 

[funflair]

NOBS love it.

Or is it NO BS I did see NO USE on an electric something, might have been a 4x4 BYD or GWM.

 

[Two on Tour]

Or is it NO BS I did see NO USE on an electric something, might have been a 4x4 BYD or GWM.

Yes, we read it as no bull sh×t due to the letter spacing.

 

[funflair]

Yes, we read it as no bull sh×t due to the letter spacing.

Either way they have some really good ones

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[Two on Tour]

After leaving Rotorua we had a look around the Classic Flyers museum at Tauranga Airport before moving onto the McLaren Falls.

 

[bobnick]

Aussie is the same. I took lots of pics of regos. Liked this one based on the car it was on and outside a big fancy house.
East Perth.

 

[nicholsong]

After leaving Rotorua we had a look around the Classic Flyers museum at Tauranga Airport before moving onto the McLaren Falls.

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Pic No. 6 of the cockpit has a real mish-mash of instruments.

I can identify the six primary flight instruments to the right of the control column, but those are usually located in the centre of a pilot's view, not off-set.

 

[Two on Tour]

Pic No. 6 of the cockpit has a real mish-mash of instruments.

I can identify the six primary flight instruments to the right of the control column, but those are usually located in the centre of a pilot's view, not off-set.

The cockpit is a de Havilland DH100 Vampire.

There were several donated Vampire's used for aeronautical engineering training at the college I attended when I was an apprentice at Courtline Aviation, and I spent many hours stripping and rebuilding their Goblin engines.

 

[Fat Albert]

Pic No. 6 of the cockpit has a real mish-mash of instruments.

I can identify the six primary flight instruments to the right of the control column, but those are usually located in the centre of a pilot's view, not off-set.

Function over form. There is a control column in the middle which would block the pilots scan view of the ADI /HSI (Compass in that era of aircraft. Less significant dials turn and slip (top dial below I can't see) are place in non scan area but with a bit of head sideways nodding could check them. After all it was a 50's fighter not a commercial flightdeck with 2 pilots and a cup holders

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[funflair]

Just to finally wrap up our trip, I think it was KiwiKampers who wanted to be kept up to date with any response from Thl MAUI re our issues with "the shed" I said that when we returned it the guy on the desk offered $100 which was his maximum but he encouraged me to write to customer care and suggested rather than promised that we would be be offered a refund, well they have just come back and offered an apology and $1500 refund which I have accepted case closed.

 

[Flairy]

Well done Martin,welcome home

 

[Mikey RV]

Thanks for the trip and photos, really enjoyed it and bought back a lot of memories of when I spent three months touring out there.

 

[Fat Albert]

Enjoyed reading your posts of the trip. It's been 10 years since we were there and it served as a memory jogger

 

[bobnick]

Just to finally wrap up our trip, I think it was KiwiKampers who wanted to be kept up to date with any response from Thl MAUI re our issues with "the shed" I said that when we returned it the guy on the desk offered $100 which was his maximum but he encouraged me to write to customer care and suggested rather than promised that we would be be offered a refund, well they have just come back and offered an apology and $1500 refund which I have accepted case closed.

Maybe i've got too soft.
The shed we had this/last year certainly warranted a written complaint. Listening to your issues ours was probably worse....including 2 new tyres, no ouside lockers that would lock..........blah blah........but i didn't so my loss, kali wali.
Good result for you.

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[Langtoftlad]

offered an apology and $1500 refund

Was that a reasonable percentage of your total van hire costs?

 

[funflair]

Was that a reasonable percentage of your total van hire costs?

Around 10% I think so happy enough, they could have just stuck up two fingers

 

[KiwiKampers]

I am pleasantly surprised by the response you got from Maui and it did seem reasonable. I suspect a lot of their customers don’t pursue their complaints.

 

[Two on Tour]

We have had 10 weeks of glorious sunshine for the most part, but the weather has broken with continuous heavy rain for the past two days, with reports that areas of the State Highways are closed with land slips and some to be closed off over night tonight due the the amount of rain that is forecast to fall.
I looks like you have had some heavy rain down your way as well KiwiKampers ?

 

[KiwiKampers]

We have had 10 weeks of glorious sunshine for the most part, but the weather has broken with continuous heavy rain for the past two days, with reports that areas of the State Highways are closed with land slips and some to be closed off over night tonight due the the amount of rain that is forecast to fall.
I looks like you have had some heavy rain down your way as well KiwiKampers ?

Yes, I can hardly hear myself speak above the sound of the rain on the tin roof!
We are all very nervous in the Nelson region because we all remember the last “atmospheric river” we had in August 2022 when hundreds were evacuated and whole hillsides came down with mud slides pushing houses off their piles. We had a retaining wall collapse but consider ourselves lucky compared to others.
I went into Founders Heritage Park today and the volunteers were putting out buckets to collect the rain water that was dripping at a rapid rate through the roof of the historic windmill. It’s a regular thing for the Nelson Museum staff to also put out buckets and tarpaulins to protect the archive collection from rain coming through the roof.
We have had such a long, dry summer and now this deluge.
I’m glad you’ve been able to appreciate the good weather during your ten weeks and I’ve really enjoyed all your posts. You probably know New Zealand better than most Kiwis.

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[funflair]

Yes, I can hardly hear myself speak above the sound of the rain on the tin roof!
We are all very nervous in the Nelson region because we all remember the last “atmospheric river” we had in August 2022 when hundreds were evacuated and whole hillsides came down with mud slides pushing houses off their piles. We had a retaining wall collapse but consider ourselves lucky compared to others.
I went into Founders Heritage Park today and the volunteers were putting out buckets to collect the rain water that was dripping at a rapid rate through the roof of the historic windmill. It’s a regular thing for the Nelson Museum staff to also put out buckets and tarpaulins to protect the archive collection from rain coming through the roof.
We have had such a long, dry summer and now this deluge.
I’m glad you’ve been able to appreciate the good weather during your ten weeks and I’ve really enjoyed all your posts. You probably know New Zealand better than most Kiwis.

Sounds a bit different to how we remember it, stay safe.

 

[bobnick]

Going to be MAD hot here in Cheshire today.......................well 18c ish

 

[Two on Tour]

Heading north towards the Coromandel, we stopped off at Owharoa falls on the Ohinemuri river near the Karangahake gorge, and as it was a sunny day there was a rainbow in the spray coming off of the waterfall.

Just a short distance from the Owharoa falls is the Victoria Battery which was the largest gold ore crushing battery in New Zealand and used cyanide in large vats to extract the gold from the crushed gold bearing ore.
Built from 1897 – 1898, the site continued to operate until it ceased operations in 1952.
Little remains of the site now as most of it has been demolished.

A little further along the Ohinemuri river in the Karangahake gorge are the mines that supplied the ore for the Victoria Battery.
There are a couple of different walks to do and we chose the one that goes to the mine and through what's called the "Windows tunnel", where you get good views of the gorge through the openings in the tunnels wall.
It was quite a tough walk, crossing 2 suspension bridges both ways, and walking up and down lots of steps. We had hoped to do the loop that walks back along the old tramway path along the side of the gorge but unfortunately it sustained some damage in a recent storm and so it's closed, which meant going back up loads of steps and back through the Windows tunnel.
The scenery was lovely though and made up for the extra effort.

 

[Holly's mum]

Yes, I can hardly hear myself speak above the sound of the rain on the tin roof!
We are all very nervous in the Nelson region because we all remember the last “atmospheric river” we had in August 2022 when hundreds were evacuated and whole hillsides came down with mud slides pushing houses off their piles. We had a retaining wall collapse but consider ourselves lucky compared to others.
I went into Founders Heritage Park today and the volunteers were putting out buckets to collect the rain water that was dripping at a rapid rate through the roof of the historic windmill. It’s a regular thing for the Nelson Museum staff to also put out buckets and tarpaulins to protect the archive collection from rain coming through the roof.
We have had such a long, dry summer and now this deluge.
I’m glad you’ve been able to appreciate the good weather during your ten weeks and I’ve really enjoyed all your posts. You probably know New Zealand better than most Kiwis.

How is it in Nelson today? I hope you didn't have any flooding or land slips.
We're currently in Whangarei and had a lot of rain yesterday, overnight last night and again today, although it was lighter during the day today and now appears to have stopped. It's supposed to be sunny again tomorrow

 

[KiwiKampers]

From what I can see we have got off lightly. The main river through Nelson burst its banks, a few roads were closed, there were the usual silly drivers who thought their cars were amphibious craft and had to be rescued by the volunteer fire service, but it was not nearly as bad as in August 2022. The expression about getting all four seasons in one day is very apt for New Zealand. By 5.00pm there was brilliant sunshine and I had to open all the doors and windows.
Thanks for asking Holly's mum
While you’re in Whangarei, now would be a good time to see the Whangarei Falls!

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[Holly's mum]

From what I can see we have got off lightly. The main river through Nelson burst its banks, a few roads were closed, there were the usual silly drivers who thought their cars were amphibious craft and had to be rescued by the volunteer fire service, but it was not nearly as bad as in August 2022. The expression about getting all four seasons in one day is very apt for New Zealand. By 5.00pm there was brilliant sunshine and I had to open all the doors and windows.
Thanks for asking Holly's mum
While you’re in Whangarei, now would be a good time to see the Whangarei Falls!

Glad to hear you are ok.
We have bright sunshine this morning too.
We visited the Whangarei Falls yesterday and they were flowing well.

 

[Two on Tour]

A few photos of the Whangarei Falls in full flow yesterday.
There was a lot of spray from the falls, so the front on photos look a bit misty.

 

[Two on Tour]

Our next stop on the way up the Coromandel peninsular was the Rapaura Watergardens.
My knees were giving me merry hell from the previous days trek around the Karangahake Gorge, so I sat this one out and Yvette toodled off to explore the gardens.

From the gardens we drove the stunningly beautiful coast road on the west side of the peninsular up to the town of Coromandel.

After grabbing some lunch we had a look around the School of Mines museum which is a bit oddly named as there is very little to do with mining on display.

 

[KiwiKampers]

I hope I can remember all these wonderful places you've visited. I want to follow in your footsteps next summer, all being well.
Rapaura Watergardens look wonderful.

 

[bobnick]

Ditto. Been making notes all through this thread. Think we may have to go for 3 years.

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