Wellington Trip || Camping Fun!

As I mentioned previously, cyclone Lusi was forecast for the lower North Island during the time we were camping down there in March. Saturday night after the wedding was quite blustery but the tent held up all right.

On Sunday, the weather seemed normal and we went to church and continued life as usual. Dad went to the office to see what the options were if the weather got bad during the night and we couldn't stay in the tent. We were given the key for a lodge. 

 In the evening while Jarrod was cooking dinner (butter chicken!), the rain got heavier and the wind got stronger; the ends of the tent were blowing in with the wind gusts. We all went to the kitchen for dinner, planning to start the bedtime routine once we were done. At one point Jarrod went back to the tent to get something, and when he came back he told me there were about 10-12 leaks, maybe more. She thought, "Yeah, right. He's exaggerating." 

When she went back a bit later there were leaks nearly EVERYWHERE and all the bedding was starting to get wet. Then started the made scramble to pack everything up as fast as possible! A few of us older ones helped while Dad stayed with the little ones to keep them settled. (A French tourist couple made them popcorn, so they were happy!) Dad ended up loading most of the others in the van and taking them up to the lodge, then transporting everything out of the tent and taking it up as well. We were still disassembling the camping bunks and stretcher beds (while holding the torches . . . ) after we heard a pole snap and one end of the tent completely caved in. Finally though, only the fridge (borrowed from Nana) was still in the tent. It's amazing how light it (apparently) seemed that night when Mum and Dad carried it through pouring rain across a couple or so tent sites and into the kitchen. We all headed up to the lodge then to get beds made up and little people into bed. Dad and Jarrod went back to pull the tent down a bit later since we didn't want it completely destroyed during the night! 

Initially we were given one night free in the lodge, but our hosts were amazing and ended up allowing us to stay in it until the Thursday -- the full duration of our planned stay. 

The two windows on the lift look into the kitchen; the doors to their right and the large windows facing the dining room lead to the large dining/lounge type room. And on the other side of the block wall? A pretty fancy barbecue! ;)

Windows on the right are the kitchen, then the main entranceway is to the left. The three sets of windows all lead to bedrooms (there are seven bedrooms in total, three shown, three opposite, and one down the far end on the left.

Kitchen! Now that is more my size! haha :)
The stack of muesli boxes? Apparently the price was a deal you'd never see in Auckland so we stocked up. ;) And I guess someone was bored, hence the pyramid. lol

Okay, so I don't normally post photos of bathrooms! We had two like this though, three loos and two showers in each. And lovely BIG mirrors that the bathrooms we used while camping didn't have! 

Big hallway! Kitchen on the left, entranceway farther down on the left, bathroom on the right, and bedrooms through the doorway in the centre.

Lots of tables and seating!

Entranceway and coat hooks. (When we got back from the tent on Sunday night there were bags all over the floor here -- but all the children's jackets were hanging up! {smile}

Hallway and bedrooms

Not very many good photos of the rooms I'm afraid. This is (obviously) the boys one. Four rooms had two sets of bunks each, two had one bunk set and a single bed, and the end room was much larger and had four sets of bunks.

Preparations for holiday

Well I have several posts about our holiday ready to go up, but I was just looking through photos and noticed one of the baking I did in preparation for the holiday and thought I'd post it quickly. Mum decided we needed HEAPS of baking for our trip, so she got some of the others to bake on Friday, and I had a go on Saturday. Below is what I ended up with.

: : Chocolate fudge, two banana bread loaves, two banana cakes, chocolate maple biscuits, chocolate vanilla biscuits, and my fav - 5 star choc chip cookies : :

Coromandel Holiday ~ Day 1 ~ Monday

On Monday February 11th, our scheduled day of departure, we still had shopping and a lot of packing to do; Dad worked a half-day. After last-minute trips to the library and gas station, we eventually left around 5:10 with Dad taking the van and towing the trailer, and Mum as my driving supervisor in the car. Driving the motorway was slow, but uneventful. We had been on the open road for a while when we noticed Dad’s hazard lights and indicator on; the fridge balanced on a small platform at the front of the trailer had tilted to one side. It was secured with more ropes and we were off again. This time we continued until we came to a picnic site by the water, where everyone got out to stretch his legs.

After another hour of driving – this time on narrow, windy roads through the bush – we arrived at our campsite, just before dark. Trying to make dinner in the dark, when no one seems to know where anything is packed, and several others are trying to erect a tent can be interesting. We had planned on having an electric frying pan and the gas stove to cook on, but apparently nothing else could be plugged in with the light that was being used by those setting up the tent, so we managed with just the gas stove. It took a while though; we ate around 11pm!

Monique had a seizure before Mum and Dad went to bed, but otherwise we all slept like logs.

Coromandel

Well sometime(!) today {right now I'm at work and I haven't started packing yet...oops!} we're off to camp in the Coromandel for 11 days. The campground does have internet access (yay!!!) so I'll try to update sometimes. :)

Dargaville Holiday Post #1 - Going on Holiday

(written 27/4/11)

On the freezing cold day of Monday, April 18th, we packed bags and suitcases of clothing, food, toys, games...and so on; Dad swapped our 8-seater for the Aikens' 10-seater (Thanks for loaning it to us!); and, yes, I spent a bit (well, maybe a BIG bit I suppose!) of time on the computer, emailing/chatting to my friends letting them know we were going away. Finally (at about 5:30!) we left for Dargaville, Northland.

We soon discovered that with and above-average sized family and a large van, we drew quite a bit of attention! (The van we borrowed at Christmas time had tinted windows, but because this one doesn't, everyone could see us). So anyway, we had fun laughing at, and waving to all the people who looked at us!! *grin* Not quite enough fun, though, it would seem, because near the beginning of the drive we had a few "Are we nearly there yet?"'s!

Because we arrived in Dargaville fairly late, and it is a very small town, no takeaway shops were open, so, after finding our Holiday Park we went to Woolworths (thankfully that was still open!) and bought bread rolls and cooked chicken for dinner, and a chocolate cake for supper, which we ate on returning to the Holiday Park. Side note - The GPS wasn't very happy that we were driving away from our programmed destination - it kept re-mapping to get us back to the Holiday Park; if you ever hear my siblings say "Turn right, after 100 metres, turn right" that's what they're referring to!

We had tried to get into a cabin, but our family is now too large to fit(!), so we were put in a backpacker unit which consists of

lounge and



dining

three bedrooms;

one with a double bed - Mum and Dad's room,

another had a single and bunk set - Jarrod, Danielle and Bryce

and last but not least - a bunk set comprised of double on bottom, single on top - Monique, Diana and me

Yes Uncle Pete, now I know what it's like sleeping, or ah, not sleeping, with Diana...!

Well, onto the next post...
Cya =)

Going on Holiday...

Just  a quick note to let you all know we're leaving today for a  holiday in Dargaville, Northland.
We'll be coming back next week Friday..hopefully I can squeeze some more blogging in when we get back!