shopping

Buying stuff.

NZ: Tauranga to Rotorua

After spending a couple of days at Mum & Brian’s house, where we had quality time with the fam and got some basics for the van, we were going on an adventure!

I'm going on an adventure!

Just the two of us, heading towards the place where the scene in that GIF was filmed: Hobbiton. Then on to Rotorua for the night.

An interactive map of our route (with the origin vague for privacy):

We stopped at McLaren Falls for a second breakfast, crossing a one lane bridge:

McLaren Falls one lane bridge

The van parked; it fit in a normal spot fairly well:

Van parked

Second breakfast at the Falls Cafe:

The Falls Cafe

Scones and flat white coffees (of course; that’s the only style of coffee we had the entire trip):

Scones and flat white coffees

McLaren Falls Park looks like a nice park, but no time to explore it; we had places to be:

McLaren Falls Park

The falls:

McLaren Falls

McLaren Falls

Heading downhill:

Heading downhill

Arriving at Hobbiton, with (of course) lots of camper parking:

Camper parking at Hobbiton

Sausage roll and coffee for lunch:

Sausage roll and coffee

Hobbiton selfie:

Hobbiton selfie

I feel that Hobbiton deserves its own post, so I’ll do that tomorrow.

Sheep when leaving Hobbiton:

Sheep when leaving Hobbiton

Corrugated iron sheep in Tirau:

Corrugated iron sheep in Tirau

Tree tunnel:

Tree tunnel

Arriving at our first campground of the trip, Willowhaven Holiday Park:

Arriving at the campground

Campground map; we were in site 3 (but not tent site 3 or cabin 3; their map is a little confusing):

Campground map; we were in site 3

Lakefront view from our site:

Lakefront view

We just stopped there to register before the office closed, then headed out again, towards Rotorua. Past the home of Zorbing:

Home of Zorbing

You can tell that Rotorua is a major tourist town when even the grocery store has camper parking:

Camper parking at grocery store

Grocery shopping:

Grocery shopping

Then we headed to Polynesian Spa for a relaxing soak:

Polynesian Spa

We enjoyed a private lakefront thermal pool:

Polynesian Spa private pool

Afterwards, we had a lavish charcuterie platter and fruit smoothies for dinner:

Charcuterie platter

Then back to our lakefront site:

Back to our lakefront site

Our campervan

I hadn’t mounted the Starlink dish on the roof yet, so I placed it in front of our site:

Starlink dish in front of our site

It was a great day. I’ll post about the Hobbiton stop tomorrow. Before that, stay tuned for a timelapse video of our travels; I will have a video on the same day as each travel post.

NZ: internet and cellular connectivity

While in New Zealand we of course wanted internet connectivity, for navigation, planning, entertainment, and work — Jenn worked for the first week of our trip, and I kept in touch with my customers and clients.

Like in the US, coverage can be mixed in NZ, with some areas with limited or no reception. To ensure we could get connected when needed, we planned four options: Starlink, cell-based Wi-Fi in the van, and two phone cell plans.

The van rental came with a Wi-Fi hotspot, which had an unlimited (but rather slow) plan on NZ’s 2degrees cell network. We didn’t use this very often, since it wasn’t very fast, maxing out at about 12 Mbps down, 10 Mbs up, but typically much slower. But it was definitely nice to have.

Jenn and I each got a travel eSIM for our iPhones. To maximize coverage, we each got different networks; I had a One NZ 40 GB travel plan, and Jenn got a similar Spark travel pack. I figured that 40 GB was plenty of capacity, and it was; we each used a bit less than half. These plans were designed for visitors to the country, so lasted for 90 days then expired, rather than a regular prepay account. They included voice, text, and data; there are international providers that just have data, but we wanted the safety net of voice and text, though only used those features a few times. These cell networks of course varied depending on where we were, but I measured them at around 90 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up.

Finally, we also used Starlink satellite connectivity. I brought our Starlink Mini dish and its cables in my carry-on suitcase. It may seem silly or futuristic to bring a satellite dish in a suitcase, but it’s really small, about the size of a laptop, and was super useful. Like in the US, we used Starlink as our preferred network when around the van. I measured it at around 250 Mbps down, 30 Mbps up.

I mounted the Starlink Mini dish on the metal roof of our campervan, using a magnetic mount that I had delivered to Nev’s place:

Starlink Mini

I wasn’t sure about getting powerful magnets through airport security (the guidance I read wasn’t clear), so felt it was safer to order one for delivery to NZ rather than bringing that too… plus less bulk in the suitcase.

I routed the Starlink cable across the roof and down the side, held in place with Command Strip clips (that were easily removed at the end of the trip, without leaving any residue), then through the passenger door:

Starlink Mini cable

The Starlink cable was plugged into a 12V to 24V step up adapter:

12V to 24V step up adapter

Which was in turn plugged into the 12V socket on the Ecoflow battery, so it would continue to run when the van was in motion:

Ecoflow battery

At least until the battery ran flat; it only lasted about five hours running the Starlink; it was a rather small battery. We could have plugged it into the 12V outlet on the van, but five hours was enough most of the time, and we could fall back to cellular options other times.

Between the Starlink dish and three cell plans, we usually had internet coverage when we wanted it.

RV maintenance

I thought it might be helpful for other RV owners to write up a list of RV maintenance tasks, grouped by frequency. Of course, these are for our 2017 Tiffin Allegro Bus 40SP motorhome; other RVs may have different requirements, and may not have some features like water softener, dishwasher, etc. But most items would apply to any RV. If I missed anything, or you have any corrections or other comments, please let me know!

  • Weekly:
  • Monthly:
    • Run the generator under load (e.g. with ACs running) for an hour; good for a travel day.
    • Empty air tank drain valves.
    • Clean dishwasher rim and filter.
    • Spray electrical cord contacts with DeoxIT.
    • Wash coach exterior with Wash Wax All or similar.
  • 3-Monthly:
    • Backflush water softener.
    • Replace house and fridge water filters; I have 3-stage filters plus the built-in one and fridge filter.
    • Lubricate window slides with Plexus.
    • Lubricate entry door hinges with silicone lube.
    • Invert fire extinguisher and shake to loosen dry chemicals.
    • Remove shower drain cover and in sink to remove hair.
    • Check Aqua-Hot antifreeze level; should be at HOT level just after shutting off; top up if needed.
  • 6-Monthly:
    • Replace ceiling AC filters (two different types).
    • Sanitize fresh water tank.
    • Vacuum dust under fridge; a couple of screws and clips to remove panel under front of fridge.
    • Clean dryer vent from outside.
    • Polish wheel rims with Purple Polish.
    • Apply 303 Protectant to tires.
  • Yearly:
    • Replace dash AC filter. Accessed via generator compartment on rear wall.
    • Make sure emergency exit in bedroom opens easily.
    • Get waste tanks professionally cleaned.
    • Get roof seams and joints inspected at service center.
    • Get engine, generator, chassis lube, slide-outs, and Aqua-Hot serviced.

I hope this is helpful, Let me know of any updates!

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2025 special posts

While most of the posts on this blog are about modifications, travel, campgrounds, and attractions, I sometimes post about other topics. This is a summary of those posts from 2025. (See also those from 2024, 2023, and 2022.) These posts have the special category (with earliest or latest posts at the top).

You can also see all of these summary posts together via the Special Summary tag, with the earliest posts at the top, or the latest posts at the top.

As with previous summaries, for each I include a link to the corresponding blog post, and a sample picture; see the post for details.

Completed visiting all contiguous states:

Jenn adding last state pin

Completed visiting all contiguous National Parks:

National Park stickers on slide of motorhome

Spending a month exploring New Zealand:

New Zealand route

After visiting all National Parks in the 48 contiguious states, which are our most and least favorites?

NPS tier list

Back from New Zealand:

Van on beachfront with lighthouse in background

Entry steps stuck

Our entry steps have been dodgy for a while, making horrible noises when extending and retracting, and sometimes not fully retracting until they are nudged. I tried cleaning the tracks and lubricating several times, and even got a couple of techs to look at it, without improvement.

Recently, it’s been getting worse, where it sometimes wouldn’t move at all until I tapped the motor with a hammer (a recommended workaround). So it was clearly on its last legs.

When departing our home base, it did this again. I had bought a replacement motor, but it was too awkward for me to get to it in order to replace it, due to a cover plate partly over the motor. We had a service appointment coming up, so I figured I’d get them to replace it for me. I managed to get the steps to retract by tapping the motor, and rather than risk them getting stuck out again, I disconnected the motor, and secured the steps in place with a ratchet strap (probably not necessary, since the motor was still engaged with the step gearbox, but better safe than sorry).

Here’s the step motor:

Step motor

I disconnected the motor, a simple plug:

Disconnected motor

And added a ratchet strap to hold the step in, just in case:

Ratchet strap holding the step in, just in case

In order to get in and out in the meantime, I had also ordered some metal and wooden steps, which we used at our next campsite:

Temporary wooden steps

The good news is that the aforementioned service place, the Oregon Motorcoach Center in Eugene, Oregon, was later able to replace the step motor, and it is now working like new again. It’s certainly nice to have this issue resolved.

Starlink Mini mounted on our truck

We sometimes explore areas without cell service, as we travel around the US… plus we are exploring New Zealand in a van. 

We really enjoy using Starlink with our coach, and wanted to bring a dish to NZ, but our gen 2 dish is rather bulky. We decided to get a Starlink Mini dish, which is much smaller, and has the router built in. It was small enough to fit in carry-on luggage for our NZ trip, and mounts on our truck and the NZ van via a magnetic mount, powered from a 12V outlet (aka cigarette lighter).

It isn’t needed all the time, so we can pause the dish when not needed. In fact, with Starlink’s current policies, they charge $5/month for Standby Mode, which has unlimited slow data (500 Kbps), so is still useful for occasional or minimal use.

Here’s the 12V power in our truck (the white USB dongle is a wireless CarPlay adapter):

12V power

The cable is routed out the rear window, which can still latch closed:

Cable out rear window

The cable is clipped to the roof, with a couple more clips on the edge to hold the cable when the dish is removed from the roof:

Cable and clips

The Starlink Mini dish is securely attached to the roof via a magnetic mount:

Starlink dish in magnetic mount

Handy!

Dashcams

If you’ve enjoyed my RV travel videos on YouTube, you may have wondered what I use to record them.

I use a dashcam, listed on Amazon as the “ROVE R2-4K Dash Cam Built-in WiFi 6 GPS Car Dashboard Camera Recorder with UHD 2160P, 2.4″ IPS Screen, 150° Wide Angle, WDR, Night Vision”.

I actually have four of these cameras: one in the coach windshield to record a timelapse of our travels, and a second one next to it to record real-time, in case of accident; one in a side window to record a timelapse of campground activities (which I occasionally post, but is usually not that excitng), plus a fourth in our truck, again recording real-time for accidents.

Here are the two in the coach windshield; the one on the left is the one used for timelapses, and the one on the right is for real-time (the box between them is the Mobileye sensor):

Dashcams

The left one is attached via Command Strips to ensure it remains straight:

Dashcam

Not the fanciest dashcams, but they get the job done.

Momo’s Cheesecakes

We stopped by Momo’s Cheesecakes in Ellsworth, Maine to buy some cheesecake slices.

This isn’t your typical shop: it’s like an extra-fancy farm stand, where you self-serve whole or slices of cheesecakes and other goodies, and pay via cash boxes or Venmo. An excellent idea!

Momo's Cheesecakes

Momo's Cheesecakes

Momo's Cheesecakes

Momo's Cheesecakes

Momo's Cheesecakes

Momo's Cheesecakes

Our selections:

Momo's Cheesecakes

Tasty cheesecakes, too.

Replacing cover on vent fan lid lift motor

Back in 2023 I replaced the rear bathroom vent lid motor after the cover broke.

A little while ago it broke again — the lift mechanism seems to put a lot of strain on the plastic cover. But this time, instead of replacing the whole motor, I just ordered a replacement cover from Amazon (I actually ordered two of them, in case it breaks again).

Here’s the broken cover:

Broken cover

After removing the cover from the motor:

Motor

The replacement cover:

Replacement cover

The cover on the motor; I needed to unscrew the useless handle to get it on:

Cover on motor

Finished:

Finished

Let’s see how long this one lasts!