Southpacific

2011-08-23T20:27:00.002+12:00

As always with good intentions I wanted to regularly update this blog site but you just seem to get busy with life and the next thing you know another year has passed you by!.
Well whats new?, we had plans of converting the backpackers part of our business to more Motel units but this plan is now on hold, we have instead decided to make the place a bit more up-market instead.
This way we can still offer rooms at a lower rate but have a quality product for people to enjoy so out go the old style dorm rooms etc and in with very nice double and twin bed rooms, cant wait for it all to be done, My mission at the moment is painting through the lounge which is almost done, then the kitchen, bathrooms and bedrooms. Our plan is to have a trendy cafe style place where people feel comfortable and like to hangout. If you have any ideas we would love to hear from you.
Well back to the biking, as I mention in my last blog Trish and I were training for the round taupo 160k bike ride!, indeed yes we made it, in pretty good time but not record breaking. It was a great day and the atmosphere is incredible. If you are considering doing this make the commitment and get into it, you wont regret it. It is however a big ride and a big commitment, our thoughts were just after finishing "never again" but after a couple of months we decided it wasnt that bad afterall and here we are 2011 and training for it again!. on top of this we have both entered the K1 around the coromandel, it is pretty much a local event and another must do, who knows maybe next year the K2!!.
Have also managed to get a couple of days skiing in, the biggest snow the north island has seen for around 20 years!, yeehaa. great times not only for all the riders but for all those businesses down there.
Lastly there are a couple of cool events coming up here in Whanga, the run walk festival is in a couple of weeks, 10th Sept, Midge Marsden is apparently coming to play in our little town on the 1st October and who could forget the rugby world couple starting up in a couple of weeks, although not a local event here I am sure there will be plenty of people getting involved watching the games.
See ya out there!

2010-10-27T12:55:00.002+13:00

Isnt it amazing how timne flies by, here we are another year gone by since the last blog!!!. I am struggling to think of what has happened over the past year to report on?, the big news really has been that things have slowed done a bit since last year, I guess due to the worldwide recession....well it cant last forever and I have a good feeling about the next 12 months. Summer feels like it is here to stay and we have definately been alot busier over the past few weeks, it is also great to see our overseas guests arriving!.
On a personal note Trish and I have been busy spending alot of our spare time training for the upcoming round taupo cycle ride, 160ks!!...we had entered a few events over the past few months with the last one being 100 k, we made it through that OK !, this coming weekend I have entered the K1 which is a 86 k ride around the Coromandel, hills, hills, and more hills, apparently the toughest ride in the southern hemisphere!!...more on that later

2009-09-24T15:49:00.004+12:00

Yeah.......have managed to finish the painting, all done, over, finito, its only taken a year but finally.....you cant guess at how relieved I am and the place looks really good. The final part had to be done using a giant boom lift that could be driven around the place and I than able to get to all the places that couldnt be taken care of with a ladder, or as I done some of the lodge roof, hanging from a rope.
So now we are all set for summer, right now all we need is some sun, overcast and wet at the moment but not for much longer and we will be back into it.

July School Holiday

2009-07-13T13:48:00.003+12:00

Here we are in the middle of winter and things haven't slowed down much, we have been kept busy with a really good deal in the Motel which is 2 nights for $150.00, basically half price which is great if you want to get away for a couple of days without breaking the budget.
Speaking of getting away we managed some family time down at Turoa ski field for a week which was great fun, a few hadn't skied before but by the end of the week were blazing down the hill no problem so a great time was had by everyone....definately have to do it again.
Not all the time was spent on the mountain though, we had a couple of days where the weather wasnt so kind so we went or a bit of a wander around some of the tracks they have near Ohakune, its amazing how you can go there so often but not really see the place for what it is, an amazing amount of interesting history surrounds the area and is well worth a look. Of particular interest was the old route between Auckland and Wellington that cut through the central plateau, the old coach rd near Ohakune is a track well worth a visit part of which comes out at the new viaduct which is right beside the old one that you can still walk across, also never dissapointing is visiting the army museum in Waiouru. Plus to top the history lesson off the memorial to those who lost their lives in the Tangiwai rail disaster.

2009-06-27T10:47:00.008+12:00

How time flies, April since the Beach Hop and half the year is gone already. Its still been pretty much all go here, have managed to get the units looking good with the refurbishment complete, its great....

A very cool event was the annual Police surfing competition, held in Raglan this year, the mecca for surfing and true to west coast style it was big!..but great fun and it is not often you have Manu Bay to surf with only three others out. Everyone had a ball with enough size on the second day to have a jet ski out helping keep everyone safe and make life a bit easier in the paddling stakes.

2009-04-23T08:54:00.005+12:00

here is just a small portion of the cars coming past for the cruise over to Onemana, there were hundreds of them. A few of the school kids got time off to come and watch the parade which was great for them with most of the noise being from the kids rather than the cars.
The weather was perfect for the whole week which made it another very sucessful event, next year is the 10th so should be a big one, if you want to see more checkout www.beachhop.co.nz

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2009-03-26T15:06:00.002+13:00

Cordula from Germany giving us the thumbs up!!, had a great week doing Harley tours and surfing....

2009-03-24T15:24:00.015+13:00

Danyelle after mountain biking parakiwai track

Mo Bros...

falls at the end of parakiwai track

Cordula surfing for the first time

Prize giving at the annual Police surf comp Whangamata,

Some photos from the 19th annual HOG rally in Wellington this year

Diving,fishing working on a boat for a couple of weeks out from Whakatane, the photo of the prop shows how clear the water was, 2nd is a shark caught nearby the same day we were diving under the boat and a shot of White Island....great spot.

Just before the big raft trip down the Rangitaiki river......

Another day another river, this is the kaituna falls near Rotorua, great fun!!...

well been a while since I updated this so here you go, we are just in the middle of "Beach Hop' and will have some pics from that soon, anyway here are some photos of what we have been up to over the past couple of months.

2008-12-19T07:51:00.002+13:00

Jet, Elisa & Kyra came all the way from Europe to end up surfing in Whangamata, they were standing up in no time doing extremely well.....great fun to have around on a perfect day

2008-11-21T16:45:00.000+13:00

Some of the crew we had staying during the festival, great people having a great time.

2008-11-21T16:42:00.003+13:00

doing my own blues number during the festival....an audiance of one puppy (Rusty) that is currently walking off!!, never mind, can only get better.

2008-11-21T16:40:00.002+13:00

Just had the jazz art and blues festival here in Whanga, what a great weekend, this bus was used to cart people around town to the different venues the bands were playing at......roll on the next one

2008-11-21T16:38:00.000+13:00

New colour for the Motel, almost done painting looks really good.......goodbye horrible green!!

2008-11-02T14:07:00.002+13:00

The girls taking surf lessons in the middle of winter this year, doing pretty well.

2008-11-02T14:01:00.001+13:00

One of the many days of great surf we had over the summer, this day there was only about 6 people out....the bonus of living at the beach

2008-11-01T14:01:00.000+13:00

New years eve 07

2008-11-01T13:52:00.000+13:00

another hard day at the office

2008-11-01T13:51:00.000+13:00

all the girls doing the surf lesson thing, part of surf jam 08.....

2008-11-01T13:48:00.001+13:00

Our fantastic Canadian friends who stayed with us for over 3 months, very sad day to see them go.

2008-11-01T13:47:00.000+13:00

Nice relaxing spa..........

2008-11-01T13:44:00.001+13:00

Summer 2008, one of the groups coming through, these guys all the way from Brazil.

2008-11-01T13:40:00.002+13:00

One of the cars parading through the mainstreet during Beach Hop 2008, a great local annual event that thousands arrive for.

2008-11-01T13:37:00.001+13:00

kayaking into the cave at the middle island Whangamata, a great little trip from the beach into this wilderness.

2008-01-17T15:22:00.000+13:00

Into the summer in full swing, have had three weeks of perfect weather and it looks like it is set to continue.
the surf this week is playing the game with a 3 mtr swell and a light offshore, that looks like it set to be around for a while as well.......

2007-09-03T15:54:00.001+12:00

Yay spring.....Here we are in Whangamata, been busy lately as the weather warms up here, getting ready for another summer season.
We have done alot of work to the grounds and added another large room which has so far been used as a conference centre but we plan to also add a bar so guests will have space for a few drinks, also on the cards is a data projector for watching the big screen.
The surf here has been a bit dissapointing with not too much swell over the last few days so the boards have been sitting tucked away waiting for the next session.
Its going to be a great summer.