The Parenting Hangover: What is camping like with kids in 2024 and does the iconic Kiwi campground still exist?

ZM's Clint Roberts and How to Dad's Jordan Watson are NZ Herald's newest parenting contributors.

This week the Herald welcomes The Parenting Hangover as our newest parenting contributor.

Join parents and hosts How to Dad Jordan Watson and ZM’s Clint Roberts in a funny weekly chat between two dads about everything involved in modern parenting. From tackling the big topics like the birds and the bees to talking about intimacy after kids with a qualified sexologist – these 21st-century dads are not afraid to go there.

Few things are more iconically Kiwi summer than piling the kids into the chock-a-block car and heading to your cherished humble campground for a week of poor sleep in a sweaty tent - sustained only on chips and dip and sunshine.

But is the no-frills Kiwi campground experience of the 80s and 90s, which we all remember so fondly, still a thing? Or has it been replaced with a bougie all-amenities experience?

The Parenting Hangover hosts Jordan Watson and Clint Roberts found out just that over their summer break, with Watson explaining just how luxurious campgrounds have become.

And it’s no longer roughing it by any stretch of the imagination. Power, pizza, plumbing and a pub are all facilities at his favourite campground in Hahei, explains Watson.

“Here in New Zealand, we go to campgrounds where you get a powered site. There’s a post with a tap and a power plug, and then from that you plug in five multi boards, extension leads and double plugs. We had two fans going in our tent, a fridge and some lights.”

And the host is the first to admit that the modern experience is “basically glamping”.

“We went to Hahei campground where there is a playground, a pizza place, there is a burger place, and every day at 3pm we would pop down to the bar and I’d have a couple of beers and the kids would get a Sprite zero, so yeah, we glamped - we glamped the s*** out of it.”

Roberts reveals he’s even seen people packing luxury cleaning accessories to make the experience even more palatable; “I’ve seen people pack the Dyson stick vacuum for their camping trip too, so they can vacuum out the tent.”

So how much does the bells and whistles campground experience cost in 2024? According to Watson, the price rivals that of a cheap hotel.

“Hahei is probably one of your maybe slightly more expensive ones, but we did five nights and that cost us $800. And that can sound really expensive, because we are only camping but there are campgrounds around New Zealand that are much cheaper.”

But Roberts admits the cheaper options might not come with the most appealing part of all for parents aiming for a week off the cooking tools.

“But they don’t have a pizza restaurant and a bar,” he laughs.

• To find out more about the fun and chaos of camping with kids listen to today’s episode of The Parenting Hangover below.
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