This year we took our family camping trip to Ohiwa in the Bay of Plenty. It’s about a 4.5 hour drive from Auckalofa so we set off a couple of hours before Annie’s breakfast to get some miles between us and the smoke. Sometimes I think the drive is one of the best things about going away, especially driving in NZ cause it’s just so beautiful. We loaded into the car just after 5am with the prerequisite large travel mugs of coffee, camping gear stuffed in snug around Annie’s car seat and right up to the rear window.
We made Paeroa just in time for Annie’s breakfast and while she and I took a wander through the park and ate and drank and watched an old geezer call birds to him like a biblical Noah, poor Pete took a 7am sales call in the wagon.
We re-grouped for bacon sarnies in a local caf and then it was on to Edgecumbe. We stopped at the Amazing Maze in Maize, which is a maze cut into a corn field. Pretty cool idea but also something real freaky about it. Something, eerie, from too many films like ‘Signs’ and ‘Children of the corn’. Suffice to say we had an iceblock, changed Annie’s nappy on the hood of the car and drove on.
Next stop Whakatane…
What’s down there pa?
oh my god it’s my foot!! hahahahhahahahaha sho sho funny. 
Pete and I were the first to arrive around 3pm and we pitched the new tent. Ahhhh luxury.
The sun was shining, it was a beautiful day
Annie Rose thought it was awesome, crawled from room to room and stood up on anything that would take her weight and a few things that wouldn’t.
Finally the others pulled in, the caravan had blown and tyre and everyone had detoured to Rotorua for one reason or another. Annie was chuffed to bits to see her Oma and I was relieved have another babysitter.
Unfortunately the next day, it rained. and rained. and rained. We didn’t mind at first. all part of camping right? We huddled under canvas tarps as Adri made scrambled eggs and headed to the beach for a crazy Clare led workout and a swim.
Later we headed into Opotiki and had a much coveted latte. Lovely town, unfortunately the camping shop was closed where Pete and I were desperately hoping to replace our deflating mattress, alas, no joy. Great vintage stores though and apparently a good op shop I failed to spot but most others found and Hema bought Annie the cutest pair of cotton bloomers that she fits with room to spare, thank you very much oma and your ‘we’ll have to let them out a bit so she’ll fit’ comment. Also a loo you pay a woman 20cents to use but then find you can’t go with her sitting RIGHT OUTSIDE THE DOOR. worst 20 cents spent ever. Actually it was Kae’s 20cents and he lent me 50 and I never gave him back the change so really, 30 cents profit from a loo I couldn’t wee in, not bad.
That night it continued to rain so we all gathered in the kitchen and OMa and Unc d got out their Ukulele’s and Clare and Adri brought their guitars and we had a jolly good sing while the veges roasted in the ovens behind us. It was a lovely evening.
Unfortunately, by morning Adri and Anna’s tent backed into a small pond. They called it quits, packed the car and shot off before breakfast. Clare bailed next, by 1pm she was done, with all the rain and grit and pickled feet, her tent was down in 20minutes and she was gone too.
Around 2, some fella came round warning of 25 knot winds, I was losing my will to stay on. Annie rose was thoroughly pissed off with crawling round the tent so we dug the guy ropes deeper and on Oma’s suggestion we strapped Annie rose to my chest and went for a walk, yep, in the pouring rain.
When we got back to camp, Kae and Unc d were pulling down their tent. She’s an old green canvas beauty from the 70’s but the wind was hitting her full on one side and the poles had come loose and she was leaking like a holey bucket. Unfortunately for us the 70’s canvas had been blocking our tent from the full windy onslaught and as soon as she was down we started to take the brunt of it face on. Pete looked at me, ‘you’re the boss’ he said. ‘We’re done’. I replied.
Thankfully the rain had stopped and the wind had whipped our tent dry. With all family on board we began to dismantle her. It was a well tuned operation with Pete at the helm. Guy ropes out at the back, non supporting poles next…things were going like a well oiled machine and then the wind got fierce. She blew so hard our 4 room tent was nearly flat to the ground, poles in all. 6 other campers appeared out of nowhere (I later found out mum had called in reinforcements) 3 big burly fishermen and 3 equally burly lasses! It took 12 of us to get the tent down without snapping the poles or losing the fly sheet like a spinnaker. It was a great adrenaline rush. I almost wept with the sweetness of Annie Rose who stayed strapped into her car seat the entire time it took us to bring down the tent chirping away with her sheepy toy and trying to eat her feet. She is honestly the best baby.
Once everything was packed into the wagon and the others were split between a caravan and a cabin we all headed out to Awakeri where there are some natural hot springs. It was the best end to a wet cold day. From there Pete and I grabbed a pie, put Annie to sleep in the back and ploughed through the 4 hr journey home.
As luck would have it for those that stayed, the weather did a complete turn around after we left. I borrowed this pic from ma as this was the weather the following day. Oh. 
I like to think I usually wouldn’t have bailed in such conditions and can only think that the experience of trying to marginalise the ‘cyclone’ conditions of Pete’s 30th birthday camping trip the year before made me more sceptical this time round.
So we won’t be put off, bring on the next camp trip!
