Camping in Ruatiti
We started in Rotorua to pick up Max (Graem’s son) & off we headed for 4 days to Ruatiti Domain. The road trip was 3 hours & our Jeep was packed to the brim! I honestly don’t know where Graem got those cramming skills! Max & I switched seats a few times because we both get car sick in the back. Bless Graem for being so patient with us! The last 15 minutes of the drive (& i’m probably being generous) are winding roads. The views & the camp site are more than worth it!
When we arrived, the gate was closed. Our hearts sank a little, but don’t let it fool you! It was just shut so cattle couldn’t get in! We drove down the gravel road (following Max running full speed!) until we got to the river & picked the perfect spot to setup.
Graem’s Dad let us borrow a tent. This tent was HUGE! 2 bedrooms, 5 windows,….No bathroom! I’m just laughing because i’m describing this tent like someone would a house! The amount of patience it took setting that thing up was evident to everyone camping around us. We had lots of offers to help & everyone could relate that it wasn’t an easy set up! Somehow Max got out of helping after about 10 minutes (I’d later find out that he was pretty good getting out of just about we needed help with)!
The sun set pretty quick & temperatures dropped just as fast. Graem started us a fire & we were in for a treat! He made us a “sausage sizzler”. It’s sausage on the skillet, placed on white bread with ketchup. Excuse me, tomato sauce. The amount of stars in the night sky was unlike anything i’ve ever seen! There were so many! We could see the Milky Way every night (that was a first for me). We also saw shooting starts & satellites passing over.
Our first night in the tent, we were freezing! After a night of snuggling & covering Max with just about all the clothes in our suitcase, Graem headed to the nearest town to buy us wool blankets from a thrift store.
While Graem was out & about Max & I walked up to the swimming hole probably about a dozen times! We’d get hot from the New Zealand sun & cool off in the water. The Manganui-O-Te-Ao River flows through the camp & the water was freezing!! The swimming hole was filled with campers who were there celebrating Waitangi Day. One after the other locals were in line to jump off of the cliff into the water! I made it about halfway & decided to jump from there! Before we left, Graem climbed all the way up & jumped with the GoPro!
During our camping trip, we met some locals who insisted on taking us eeling! Graem & Shannon set the hīnaki in the river (I guess we had been swimming with eels all along!). Meanwhile, Max & Nikora, found a huge bee hive in a tree & kept threatening to poke it with a stick. Boys will be boys! I promise I didn’t let that happen! We left the hīnaki over night & when we woke up, the boys went to check on it. I stayed behind & could not believe my eyes when they came back to show me! They tried scaring me, but I was on to them because I could hear them shhhing to one another! They must’ve caught 15eels! They picked some to fry & let the rest go. We had fried eel & tomato sauce that day & it was surprising pretty tasty!
Graem & Max with locals Shannon & Nikora after eeling
Camping in NZ was an unforgettable experience! If your still reading, let me dive into 2 lessons I learned while there! Lesson #1: If a kiwi offers you sun screen, take it! The tops of my feet got burnt. When I say burnt I’m talking second degree burns burnt! Ouch!! Lesson #2: Sand flies may be tiny, but they’ve got a bite that’ll leave you itching for days! I had red bumps all over my legs & at times, wanting to cut my legs off! I tried coconut oil, antihistamine itch cream, calmoseptine ointment & I was still having to muster up whatever self control I had left not to itch my legs! None of it worked! I did find the only thing that did though & that’s Skin so Soft by Avon. If you plan on traveling to NZ this is an essential to pack! I promise you’ll thank me later!