Happy Hour at the campground

It's raining! Unfortunately, it's been raining during our last days in New Zealand. Sometimes it's a gentle drizzle, other times it's pouring rain. Most of the time, at least half of the day is nice, so we can still do things and be outside. Rain can be cozy while camping with a book and tea! That is, until you have to turn on or off the gas to cook the tea, or (which happens more often) go to the bathroom because you've had so much tea! 😉

So right now, I can't watch kite surfers or surfers without kites, which has been our main activity in the last three days, besides a snorkeling trip. Instead, I feel a bit autumnal and write a blog while Helmut reads New Zealand's penguin story!
But that's not the 'Happy Hour' I wanted to talk about. I'm going to go back a bit and talk about how camping works here in New Zealand, as I mentioned in a previous blog post. Those who have been here can continue reading below at the *!
The New Zealanders (probably together with the Dutch) must have invented camping. The majority of vehicles on New Zealand roads are white campervans, converted cars or vans, and motorhomes. Maybe it's because you can only go away on a plane or ship for a lot of money, or maybe it's just because it's so beautiful here, but New Zealanders like to vacation in their own country and have developed a great system for themselves and especially for the thousands of tourists from all over the world.
In the past, you could park your camper anywhere. This got out of hand and harmed the environment, especially at the hotspots. Now it's important that the vehicle you're traveling with is self-contained. That means you have water for washing, you take it back with you, and in theory, you also have a toilet inside that doesn't flush outside! Our portable toilet is locked under the seat and bed bench and has never been taken out! 😉 So we only go to places that have a toilet! If you don't do that, you're stressed all night because there might be a check and you could be fined $200 NZD! I understand it. At the car park of the Tongariro Crossing, for example, the toilets were not working, and I'll spare you the description of what the car park looked like!
So you can park self-contained in all sorts of places. However, cities and municipalities have now designated sites and prohibited overnight parking in other places. Many places are also managed by the Department of Conservation (DOC). In particularly beautiful places, DOC has established sites, set up toilets, sometimes even a shower or a kitchen shelter. These sites then cost a little money. Sometimes there is a campground manager who collects the money, but usually there is just a trust box where you throw in the amount. But even the most hardcore freedom camper needs electricity, a washing machine, or a hot shower every now and then. So of course, there are also 'regular' campsites, privately run or part of a chain. The cost for these sites varies depending on location and facilities.
You can find all these places (as well as all shopping and dumping opportunities...) with funny translated reviews from other campers in an app. And getting to them, at least now after the peak season, is really easy.
* My highlight campground was a DOC campground on the Coromandel Peninsula: Fantail Bay. You can only reach it via a gravel road, it's small and not very crowded, located on a green meadow in small terraces on a hillside, with a bay for swimming and fishing. The campground was run by an 85-year-old DOC volunteer named John, who lives there in his old big green camper bus over the summer. At 5 pm, he gathers all the campers under the largest tree on the campground for a happy hour. Everyone brings their own chair and something to drink. And then it starts! We were the only non-New Zealanders on those days and watched with amazement and the desire for better English skills:
John has been to Africa several times and has written two books, the lesbian couple is newly married and works as prison wardens, Shannon and Stew met through a newspaper ad - Stew's response to the search for a man for 'fun in the campervan' was apparently the only serious one. On the first evening, John brought some cookies, and on the second evening, we had a real appetizer buffet with nuts and pineapple and chili, and most importantly, fresh fish. Everyone here is here for fishing, and the great side effect is that we were spoiled with freshly caught and filleted snapper every evening! The topics of conversation among the fish lovers ranged from dirty jokes to the Christchurch attack. After about two hours, it all dissolved, and everyone started cooking at their campervan in the sunset. We felt warmly welcomed and learned a lot about the country and society. I wonder if they're sitting together again tonight? If it's raining on the Coromandel like it is here, maybe they're all in John's green bus!? And soon, the smell of freshly fried fish will waft over Fantail Bay from all the gas stoves!