LITTLE 4-year-old Brodee and his big brother Bayley, 7, don't really understand why their holiday has been ruined _ they just hope the "baddies" don't come back.
The Whangarei family were on the first night of their camping holiday at Matauri Bay when they had a nasty shock.
At 4am on Sunday,
as the family slept, an allegedly drunk teenage girl stole a car from the campsite and slammed into their caravan.
Martin and Tanya Dobbs saw their boys thrown around in the caravan as it was shunted several metres across the camping ground.
Little Brodee was left nursing cuts and bruises to his face and both boys are traumatised.
"It was one hell of a shock," Mr Dobbs said. "I woke up because I heard some talking and beeping. Before I could find out what was happening there was a huge rev and then an almighty jolt into the caravan."
As his children and wife sat up screaming, Mr Dobbs leapt out of the window and bolted after the escaping 4WD. Other campers helped catch the teen and called the police.
"We're gutted that the holiday is over. We booked it in July and had been saving to come away. The boys were so excited about going to the beach and staying in the caravan. Now they're really upset," Mrs Dobbs said.
"Last night, one of the boys was having nightmares and had to sleep in the bed with us. They've been totally traumatised by it. It was petrifying for them. Every noise they hear they ask if the baddies are coming back."
The family had planned to spend two weeks at the camping ground, but returned a day after leaving Whangarei with a written-off caravan.
The couple praised the owners of the Matauri Bay campsite, who were equally devastated.
"The owners were so kind and refunded all our holiday money. They were terribly upset by what had happened and gave us some money to get the kids some presents," Mrs Dobbs said.
And Bayley had one thing to be pleased about "My Christmas presents are okay. They weren't broken."
Kaeo Constable Daniel Cleaver confirmed a 15-year-old had stolen a 4WD vehicle from the campsite and crashed into a caravan.
She blew 199mcg of alcohol per litre of breath, over the 150mcg limit for drivers under 20. She has been referred to Police Youth Aid.
