Raglan: Ready to roll

Fish and chips on a Wahine Moe sunset cruise was bliss. Photo / Supplied

Elisabeth Easther takes the boys on the road down to Raglan for a weekend.

It's not every day one feels like a rockstar on the school run. But last Friday, while parking up outside the school in a self-contained four-berth mobile mansion I was quite the sensation.

"Liking your wheels," Helen called out as she crossed the road to admire my ride, "a motor home is my husband's absolute dream." I proudly invited her in and she was clearly impressed.

Ditto Leanne who also stopped by although she was concerned about where we would watch the cricket - not to worry, we had a TV on board, plus the wireless was already tuned to Radio Sport. Handy.

So the ladies were sold, but how about the boys I'd come to collect? Their expectations were high but, when they clapped eyes on our weekend wheels, they were giddy with delight.

I had toyed with the idea of not using the onboard lavatory (to avoid having to empty it) but I'd not even started the engine before they had christened it. I put it down to excitement and it's nice to have facilities on board, even if you have to pay the price for spending pennies at the dumping station at journey's end.

As we headed for the highway, I came to terms with my new dimensions and the boys waved out to everyone they knew and quite a few people they didn't.

Being completely self-sufficient we could have done a total freedom jaunt - the power, water, gas and facilities would have lasted us days - but I knew the boys would love Raglan's Kopua Campground.

With its proximity to playgrounds, fishing and swimming spots, not to mention the bouncy pillow and a teeming rabbit population, our camp spot couldn't have been better.

Pulling into site 144 on Gurnard Way, on went the stereo as I set about making dinner. The boys rocketed around, reporting back on all that they had found.

Together we came to grips with camper life, the boys quickly figuring out the USB ports, clothes racks and how to make the fridge close. Smart little cookies, they are, although they never mastered the art of drying dishes or making beds. Funny that.

And so the weekend unfolded with the boys frolicking, swimming, digging castles and playing in the sand. And as they're big enough not to need constant supervision I actually read the better part of a book.

On the second night, as the afternoon faded, we headed for Raglan Wharf for a spot of fishing and a wonderful thing happened. Huey from Raglan Fish, who was filleting up a storm (the place was understandably packed), took time to chop up some bait for us for free, just like that and no idea he'd be praised in print. Thanks Huey, you were a star.

No, we didn't catch any fish, but we had loads of bites which was thrill enough for us.

Then we really pushed the boat out and took a sunset cruise on Wahine Moe, dining on fabulous fish and chips (from the aforementioned Raglan Fish). This purpose-built vessel carried us west towards scarlet skies.

The landscapes, rock formations and birdlife were so precious and the captain was quite the raconteur, with his patter down pat.

The only Australian on board managed to maintain his composure when his side lost the cricket - the tears in his eyes were merely a reaction to nature's vast splendour.

All too soon our camping weekend was over and, once I found reverse gear, we weighed the camper's anchor. Emptying the loo wasn't awful at all and with my assistants on hand it was actually quite funny.

Eat your heart out mere mortals in cars - it's hard not to feel chuffed when your whole world's on wheels, even the kitchen sink.

Elisabeth was a guest of Covi Motorhome SuperShow and Tourism Waikato.