January - February 2024

RV Travel Lifestyle

Motorhome journeys that inspire you to explore New Zealand

RV Travel Lifestyle3 min read
Hot Summer Days Ahead, Well Hopefully!
Dear Readers, What a whirlwind of a year 2023 has been. It’s true what they say: time seems to pick up speed as the years roll by. I found myself delving into my diary to piece together the mosaic of moments that made up the past year. It’s astonishi
RV Travel Lifestyle8 min read
Crossing the Hokianga Harbour
If the Far North is laid back with its own slow pace of doing things, the Hokianga is the same but more so. Things were different a century ago; with timber mills operating on both sides of the harbour in the early 1900s, it used to be a noisy indust
RV Travel Lifestyle1 min read
RV Travel Lifestyle
EDITOR Robyn Mountain robyn@rnrpublishing.co.nz ADVERTISING MANAGER Bruce Mountain bruce@rnrpublishing.co.nz 021 657 090 SUB-EDITING & PROOFING Thiers Halliwell, Allan Walton DESIGN Cameron Leggett CONTRIBUTORS Allan Dick, Kathy Catton, Cecilia Huang
RV Travel Lifestyle2 min read
2024 Wildfoods Festival
Hokitika’s annual Wildfoods Festival is a celebration of the West Coast’s unique wild food and lifestyle, accompanied by premier entertainment. Visitors can sample a wide array of local natural foods, ranging from some of the weirdest and most exotic
RV Travel Lifestyle5 min read
Hokianga Hats
Few are more talented or content than hat maker Judy Cartwright who has built a successful business over 30 years and believes she’s living in the best town in New Zealand. Despite having taken her first sewing lesson when she was in Form Three, Judy
RV Travel Lifestyle5 min read
Exploring the East Side
Every summer that we’re in New Zealand we travel to the Coromandel Peninsula and take up residence in our family bach at Wharekaho. My parents bought the bach in the sixties, and like many New Zealand families it is traditional to spend Christmas at
RV Travel Lifestyle6 min read
A Life Less Ordinary
Kyle Mulinder, also known as ‘Bare Kiwi’, has dominated the online influencing scene for 14 years, showcasing his adventures with style and innovation. Recently named Jayco’s first New Zealand ‘vanbassador’, Kyle explores Aotearoa in a Jayco Outback
RV Travel Lifestyle6 min read
13 Fun Things To Do In Sunny New Plymouth
On the North Island/Te Ika-a-Māui’s western cape is the volcanic cone-shaped mountain named Taranaki Maunga. Beneath the mountain on the north side is the coastal city of New Plymouth or Ngāmotu, which means ‘the islands’ in reference to the nearby i
RV Travel Lifestyle6 min read
Liquid Gold
Since the earthquakes, Christchurch has welcomed a wave of new craft breweries and the city is fast carving out a reputation as the home of flavour-filled, diverse beers. According to Ralph Bungard of Three Boys Brewery, it’s probably thanks to the c
RV Travel Lifestyle3 min read
Te Kopikopiko O Te Waka
The West Coast’s new Tohu Whenua site, (formerly known as Peak View), was developed in 2022. This special destination presents the creation story of Te Waipounamu/the South Island. Te Kopikopiko o Te Waka is the first South Island Tohu Whenua site th
RV Travel Lifestyle7 min read
A Great Ride Harbouring A Gentle Adventure
I love riding cycle trail loops. You get to return without support, plus it’s satisfying to come back to the familiar. One of my favourite day loops is the Coppermine Trail, a NZ Great Ride in Nelson that starts in the city and climbs high above to o
RV Travel Lifestyle8 min read
On The Road
I’ve found myself regularly reading Facebook posts that come from a page called NZ Travel Tips where people ask questions about proposed holidays in New Zealand/Aotearoa! The questions range from the sublime to the “how do they ever get out of bed in
RV Travel Lifestyle4 min read
Book Reviews Win Books
Spike Milligan RRP $28 Penguin Badjelly the witch is coming to get you! Badjelly the witch can turn children into sausages or chop them up to make boy-girl soup. She can turn policemen into apple trees or bananas into mice! Tim and Rose’s terrifying
RV Travel Lifestyle3 min read
Food Recipes Road Kai
Serves: 4–6 Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 1 hour Fridge life: 3 days Freezer life: not recommended 3 cups of vegetables of your choice. I love pumpkin, but parsnip, carrot, kumara or even zucchini or cabbage. This is a great way to use up whatever
RV Travel Lifestyle2 min read
Fishnets, Fascinators & Fashion On The Field
Wellington played host for the recent Lower North Island Rally, with around 280 people and 149 vans gathering together at the Māori Ōtaki racecourse over Labour Weekend. The theme for the weekend was based on horse racing with members encouraged to d
RV Travel Lifestyle1 min read
Club Members Celebrate New POP Park Opening
We were in Masterton briefly in late November, hoping to attend the Wings over Wairarapa event on Saturday afternoon, and in the morning we joined our local NZMCA Wairarapa at the new Masterton POP park for the official opening ceremony. The private
RV Travel Lifestyle3 min read
Upcoming EVENT GUIDE
When: Saturday Feb 3 and Saturday Mar 2 Where: The Square, Martinborough www.martinboroughfair.org.nz One of the largest and most popular craft markets in the southern hemisphere. When: Tuesday Feb 6 Where: Tauherenikau Racecourse, Tauherenikau Www.t
RV Travel Lifestyle3 min read
Retro Reno Pop-up part 3
First good news is that the caravan has a WoF and can now be legally towed. The making of the new 12mm plywood cabinets advanced well. As with my last bus project, I used beech-veneered 12mm ply for visible faces and 12mm pine plywood for hidden surf
RV Travel Lifestyle4 min read
Countdown to 2024
Another round-up of the latest news from the caravan and motorhome sector in the UK and Europe from our International Journalist and Chair of the Caravan Writers’ Guild, John Rawlings. With only a few weeks left of 2023, I think we can safely say we’
RV Travel Lifestyle2 min read
Top You Tube Video Picks
It was a coup for the designers of the Romotow T8 caravan to be included in the Time Magazine Best Invention Award list for 2023 recently. I checked out how the Romotow T8 video was tracking and saw it was #1 viewed video for the last month and in th
RV Travel Lifestyle2 min read
Kiwi Built Models
KIWI BUILT OVERALL – ACM Hino Platinum Custom 4x4 truck (vol21) This Hino truck-based motorhome with the luxury living space on the back was built by ACM in Auckland. Custom manufacturers of motorhomes from small to this large, they work with clients
RV Travel Lifestyle2 min read
Australian-built On And Off-road Caravans
OFF-ROAD OVERALL – Cub Frontier Camper D&E Outdoors (vol15) This Cub Frontier compact camper trailer has taken the eye of many – the quick set up and great fit-out is enticing. D&E Outdoors in Ashburton handle the distributorship for Cub Campers trai
RV Travel Lifestyle1 min read
Kiwi Built Models
KIWI BUILT – Leisureline Caravan Factory (vol11) We featured New Zealand caravan manufacturer Leisureline and the Bates family in Vol 24 as they celebrated the 2000th caravan coming off the production line recently. Quite the achievement for the fami
RV Travel Lifestyle2 min read
Australian-built On And Off-road Caravans
OFF-ROAD OVERALL – Jayco All Terrain Campervan (vol21) This Jayco All Terrain campervan is a ripper, based on the Mercedes Sprinter chassis and under 7 metres, and beautifully fitted out with all the off-grid necessities you might need with water, co
RV Travel Lifestyle2 min read
Australian-built On And Off-road Caravans
OFF-ROAD – Titanium Hardcore ATX 20.6 (vol24) Latitude 37 Caravans in Mt Maunganui are the New Zealand distributor for the Titanium caravans from Melbourne Australia. The display of Titanium caravans at the NZMC Motorhome Caravan Leisure show in Sept
RV Travel Lifestyle2 min read
Australian-built On And Off-road Caravans
OFF-ROAD – Royal Flair Family Flair 2022 (vol20) We caught up with the Levin RV team in Vol 20 and checked out this Royal Flair caravan before the new owners took delivery. Levin RV has been well established since owners Brian and Varee Anderson took
RV Travel Lifestyle2 min read
Lightweight Caravans (under 2000kg GVM)
LIGHTWEIGHT OVERALL – ERIBA Touring caravan (vol20) It was a delight to see the ERIBA touring pop-top caravan at RV Mega in Mt Maunganui. This little beauty had won first place in the UK Caravan of the Year 2022 compact caravan class, and we could se
RV Travel Lifestyle2 min read
Big RV – Tiny Home
TINY HOME Cedar Creek Cottage (vol24) Wow was all we could say after looking over the Cottage – all that for under $200k, ready to go, no building permits required, and more space than you would normally dream of in the concept of a tiny home. A much
RV Travel Lifestyle2 min read
Lightweight Caravans (under 2000kg GVM)
LIGHTWEIGHT – UK Swift Celebrate caravan (vol23) The UK-manufactured SWIFT RV brand is well-known in New Zealand for both lightweight caravans and their popular motorhomes. There are dealers around the country both north and south, who are knowledgea
RV Travel Lifestyle2 min read
Ask our Experts…
Here are some key points to consider: What is an inflatable awning? Inflatable awnings are becoming more and more popular with holiday makers around New Zealand. They are compact, lightweight and easy to put up and pack away. This makes them perfect
RV Travel Lifestyle3 min read
Game Zone
Word Search Winner Sandra Barrie, Porirua Clues across: 7. Te ------or “The Long Pathway” is the 3000km walking trail opened in 2011, covering the length of New Zealand (6) 8. The noun describing a town or city noted for holidaytime activities and at
RV Travel Lifestyle1 min read
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RV Travel Lifestyle4 min read
New Year ahead
Woof-woof my fabulous readers! Can you believe it? The end of the year came arf-arf fast, faster than a bird dodging through the backyard. My humans, da mama and papa, were busier than a cat in a room full of laser pointers. When they weren’t working

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