Starting our Camping Adventure in New Zealand

After a quick day in Auckland riding the city bus into downtown, picking up the rental car and getting our supplies for camping we headed to an area called the Coromandel Peninsula.

We arrived at our campsite after a nail biting 2 hour drive getting comfortable with the left side of the road and the narrow lanes (we were all griped but Leo, the driver, did great and is a quick study).  We had reserved a site at a “DOC” campground up a river valley.  What we didn’t know was that just meant we had paid for a site and we could choose any that was open.  “DOC” is Department of Conservation and we think is a bit like Department of Lands and Forest or Bureau of Land Management, not quite the national parks’ focus on infrastructure (we don’t think… but we will figure this out as we go along).

The funny thing is that even with something as familiar as camping we are acutely aware that we are somewhere different and that things are done differently.  After bumbling around trying to figure out where we are supposed to camp we found a site but other than a basic outhouse that is all that there is at this campground.  What we are starting to realize is that camping is a big deal in New Zealand and families head out to the “bush” for their holidays, but when they camp they do it in style.  People had huge tents set up with portable propane tanks for cooking, chairs, tables and camp showers.  Kids had bikes and families made little camps of multiple tents together.  But they are all piled in one next to each other.  It is more like campgrounds back home rather than the back country which we are used to.  Except that unlike the campgrounds there is very little infrastructure.  Perhaps this is unfair to say after only a few nights but it is our first impression.  That said, the nature is beautiful and we are happy to be in a new country learning how to experience "the bush".

So this is different than the solitude of the off-season campgrounds
we encountered in the SW of the USA in November.

We are adaptable and the kids (and adults) figure out how to make their own fun.

This time of year is the height of the summer holidays in New Zealand and the week after New Year is one of the busiest.  The upside is that there are activities for families being held at the visitor centre.  Within an hour of arriving Vios, Luna and I were tromping through the woods on a guided night walk while Leo and Solaz set up camp.  We learned all about the trees unique to New Zealand, why there are so many plants and animals that are only found in New Zealand, and why there are no native mammals except for 2 species of bats (it is because NZ was the first chunk of land to break off of the large land mass ….. 18 million years ago).  We learned how to identify Lemonwood trees and the now threatened Kauri trees, how to identify Silver ferns and that the black ferns are the tallest ferns in the world, and that cabbage trees aren’t trees at all but a Lily and in the asparagus family.  I was so thankful that we were dropped directly into the New Zealand wilderness as it anchored us all into the beauty of the land, oriented us to what was different and helped us feel more comfortable right away. We were reassured to learn there are no plants like poison ivy or oak to watch out for, there are no poisonous spiders, snakes or scorpions and for the most part you are pretty safe with the flora and fauna here.

As the light faded and darkness settled in, we were led to a creek where we saw eels and then to the roadside where we saw glow worms twinkling like fairy lights in the overhang.  Glow worms are mayfly larva that for 9 months hangout in overhangs, they dangle down a sticky thread and sit on top with a fluorescing light turned on in their body.  The light attracts other insects that come towards it then get stuck in the thread.  The larvae then sucks the life out of the insect, nourishing itself on its journey towards a chrysalis.  The story behind the lights is predatory, but my gosh the visual effects of the lights is wonderful.  As your eyes adjust to the darkness you start to see dozens then hundreds of pinpoint glowing lights scattered among the leaves and branches along the side of the road.  From different angles you can see more and some spots looked like full-on fairy condominiums.  It was magical to walk in the dark listening to the oohs and ahs as we discovered the hidden world.

Another day we joined a park ranger for a walk to look for native fish in the rivers and creeks.  He had set traps and we got to see what showed up overnight.  There were little fish and small eels.  None of which we had heard of before.  And for the life of me I can’t tell you what they were called – the New Zealand accent is taking some getting used to, but I would swear one was called a cockapoo…

Vios couldn't get any closer to the action!
He also was the first one to volunteer to wade into the river to retrieve the trap.

The final activity we did before leaving the valley was learning to pan for gold. 

After a brief tutorial about gold and its history in the area we walked down to the river where we learned to pan for gold from our guide and an old timer who had spent his life both in the rivers and the mines looking for gold.  

It was an awesome experience for all of us and the bonus was the final round the kids were given little sacks of sand that had some real flecks of gold in it along with other "gems" and they had to truly pan it properly to end up with the gold.  And they did!

Checking out the final dredges for gold...

Found something!