In the last week of January my family and I went to the beautiful Waikawau Bay camp ground for 5 blissful days of getting back to basics! No internet, no phone reception & no power. I am still on cloud 9 and bathing in the relaxed state of mind I came home in!

The strange thing is, that it was a really relaxing holiday yet totally action packed! For example upon waking the kids were straight into their togs and off to snorkel, do bombs or play with their nets in the creek that runs through the campsite.  After breakfast we were either swimming, snorkeling, spearfishing, surfing or fishing down at the beach. We also had a couple of kayaks so the kids were up and down the creek in them or catching a wave. This type of routine was broken up with meal times, cups of tea, games of ‘top trumps’, rock pooling, more swimming in the creek, cold showers and occasionally a chapter of my book. After dinner once the sun had set there began massive games of spot light! Such awesome memories.

My friend and I snuck in a bush walk on the 2nd to last day along the Matamataharakeke track, leaving the kids with the dads for a morning 👍. The track starts at the back of the campground and winds its way up to a view point over Waikawau Bay, Great Barrier and Mercury Islands … it is well worth the uphill effort. We had a half hour break on route and were only 15 minutes over the recommended time of 3 hours. Due to the hot weather and steepness I was glad I didn’t bring the kids on this walk, although if you wanted to do a walk and have little kids you could always walk for ~20 minutes and there you will find a series of stream crossings which the kids would have liked, then turn around and go back the same way. In my opinion this walk would be better suited to 10+ years old.

If you’d like to find out more about this track and see some photos click👉 here

🤙I’ve been pondering the success of this trip and I think it was due to a combination of factors, such as:

• going later in summer, when the crowds had largely dispersed
• going with friends who have kids of a similar age and interests
• incredible weather
• the fact that our friends were more experienced campers and therefore had all the gear, like a 20 lt water container, pop up shelter and kettle! I do love my cups of tea!😂
• Getting back to basics. It just felt sooooo good!!!

I’m really looking forward to returning here next summer and feel like it could become a bit of a family tradition.

Happy adventuring ☮

Tammy