Camping is the perfect opportunity for families to slow down and relax. Photo / Alexia Santamaria
Camping is the perfect opportunity for families to slow down and relax. Photo / Alexia Santamaria
As a child of immigrants, camping was not really part of my upbringing. We did plenty of fun things on holiday but spending the night under canvas wasn't one of them.
I recently wondered if there might be other New Zealanders like me, who like the romance of the idea, but aren't sure of the reality of spending several nights with their nearest and dearest in a small space with very thin walls.
After a week at Waipu campground in Northland, I'd tell those people to take the plunge and make sure you give your kids this unique Kiwi experience at least once. Who knows, you may even like it enough to do it again.
A campground like Camp Waipu Cove is an excellent place to start. It's a one-minute walk to the beach and has great toilet and shower facilities (cleaned twice a day in summer). Our family — perhaps because of the nature of my job — are used to holidays where we do 2065 activities in three days and come home cantankerous and exhausted, so a week here was a much-needed lesson in slowing down.
Days started late over coffee and chats, and most of our time was spent at the beach, swimming in crashing turquoise waves or walking gorgeous white sands — or just under our gazebo, having leisurely lunches while putting the world to rights.
Camping is the perfect opportunity for families to slow down and relax. Photo / Alexia Santamaria
If this sounds too good to be true for a holiday with children, it's because at a campground the kids tend to take off — when you're not at the beach of course. TV rooms, bikes (make sure you take them), trips to the dairy, games of cricket, football, spotlight and go-home-stay-home keep them well occupied.
And they make new friends and form little kid gangs who run around together laughing hysterically about things I don't even pretend to understand. All this equals a bit of time out for adults, without kids' club fees. Everyone's a winner.
Boogie-boarding at Waipu Beach. Photo / Alexia Santamaria
I was surprised at my lack of desire to even leave the camp and beach area. I had plans for us to go to Mangawhai and horse riding, but those things both happened much later in the week than I'd expected. We just weren't amping to get out and do other things once we got into full relaxation mode.
After five days we finally ventured further than the dairy for a horse ride with Waipu Horse Adventures, through bush and out to an almost-deserted Uretiti beach. I'm glad we didn't miss that, as it was magical and I couldn't help but wonder how families from big busy international cities react to such a special experience — walking their horses through crystal clear waters on stunning beach with barely a soul in sight.
Other excursions were to Mcleod's Brewery just down the road, Bennetts of Mangawhai for chocolate of course, (don't leave without a packet of their otherworldly marshmallows), and the beautiful coastal walk from Waipu to Langs Beach — those views.
Horseriding with Waipu Horse Adventures. Photo / Alexia Santamaria
Top tips for your first ever family camping holiday
• Borrow your gear so you can work out what you may like to buy in the future. Inflatable tents are life changing and may save your marriage as there are no arguments over how best to put them up. It's all done in 10 minutes.
• Try to go with another family who has camped a lot before. They will have all the essentials and know how things roll.
• Book a campground that has decent facilities. DoC campgrounds are amazing, and often in the most incredible locations, but the first time you might want to start with a few comforts — like hot showers and a kitchen.
• Even in the height of summer, don't under-estimate how temperatures can drop at night. Bring a jacket, and blankets to go between your airbed and sheets.
• Assign a container for often-used items like hats, sunscreen, insect repellent, shower gel and shampoo. Unless, of course you like hearing "Muuuuuum where's the sunscreen?" 78 times a day.
• Bring plenty of card and board games. Often this is the only time in the year you will really have the headspace to play endless rounds of Snap, Go fish, Yahtzee or Uno. And you'll be thankful if it rains.
• See if you can get online grocery delivery to your campground. This was amazing for us as it was one less thing to try to jam in an already-full car.
