Pigeon Bay

This weekend we took the little man on his first overnight camping trip. Just in case it all went pear-shaped, we stayed fairly close to home. Just an hour and fifteen minutes' drive from Christchurch is Pigeon Bay, on the Banks Peninsula.

Pigeon Bay is right at the top in the 12 o'clock position.

There is virtually no information online about the campground at Pigeon Bay. We found a couple of blog posts by people who had visited, and not much else. All we knew before going was that there was in fact a campground there, that it charged $8 per site at one point in the past, and that there were toilets there.

The weather forecast was iffy - gale force winds predicted for saturday night. But no need to worry, Gareth said. We'll be sheltered in the bay! Ok, let's go!

We pulled in to the campground and did a drive round to check it out. What we saw was: caravan, caravan, caravan, caravan. Almost every campsite had a caravan parked in it! And these caravans were not passing through. Most had clearly been parked for a long time and would not be moving for the foreseeable future. Several had decking built up out front. One had a satellite dish. A few had "additions" built on in the form of canvas tenting. I peeked inside one and saw a fridge in there.

Kiwis take their camping very seriously.

We found a spot in between two caravans that did not appear to be occupied this weekend. We, ... er, Gareth pitched our tent.

I have tried to be positive about our camping experiences in New Zealand but the truth is that I have been a bit disappointed. Before we moved here, I imagined camping here would involve untouched wilderness with very few people nearby. So far, it's been quite the opposite in our experience. The campgrounds we've been to have been really developed with flush toilets, kitchens, and showers. Tents, campervans, and caravans are all generally parked up in one field, side by side. It's really not a wilderness experience so much as an outdoor experience... with many indoor things within reach.

To be fair, most of the people we see camping in these situations seem to be set up for long term holidaying. These people aren't just getting out for a night or two of fresh air - they often seem positioned to stay for the whole season. So you can't really blame them for wanting some of the comforts of home with them.

I'm sure the kind of camping I crave can be found in New Zealand. But maybe that kind of camping is really not practical with a 7-month baby in tow.

So Pigeon Bay's campground was ok. The sites were small and close together, with neighbors right on top of each other. It wasn't too bad though since most people were not actually there - they had just left their caravans there. There was a playground and a toilet block.

The really nice thing about the campground was that it was right on the bay. Our campsite was on water's edge. That part was really nice.

Pigeon Bay

Kicking back at camp

And it would have been even better if the wind hadn't picked up. You may note that the car is parked between our tent and the bay. This was strategic - just in case the winds were as strong as predicted, the car would give us some shelter. I should probably mention that this was Gareth's cunning plan. If it had been up to me, I would have put the tent right on the water's edge so that we could look out the tent window and see the beautiful bay. But that's me, putting the view before trivial things like shelter.

The best news was that Quinn went to sleep fairly easily in his travelcot in the tent. This meant we could sit back and enjoy the sunset with a bottle of sauvignon blanc.

Then the winds kicked in. Think Dorothy's house spiraling through the Kansas sky. That's where we thought our tent was headed - Oz. We laid awake all night listening the the THWAP THWAP THWAP of the fly against the tent. Miraculously, the tent stayed moored to the ground (maybe because Gareth had thought to park the car where he did!). Even more miraculously, Quinn slept through it. I guess it's easy to sleep when you're not worried about blowing away.

After a refreshing 25 minutes of sleep, it was time to get up. The wind was still blowing. Too windy to go for the walk along the bay as we had planned. Too windy even to set up the stove and boil some water for tea. Forget it, we said. We packed up and headed home.

Kind of a bummer. But at least we know that Quinn can sleep in the tent (at least, during a wind storm...) which will mean more camping for this little family.