By: Blonde Two

When we arrived at Maitai Beach Department of Conservation Campsite in New Zealand we discovered the following:

  1. The beach was stunning.
  2. The water was warm.
  3. There was one flush toilet (plus lots of long drop ones).
  4. The ground was very wet.

I think it was point number four that led to us deciding not to pitch our, surprisingly well-behaved, $36 K-mart tent and go instead for a more innovative approach to camp sleeping that involved the back of the ute, a carefully placed tarpaulin and a few tent pegs. The back of the ute was not long enough for us to sleep in but we reckoned that, with a tarp rigged to protect our feet, and a foam mattress, we would have an intimate (not that sort of intimate) but reasonable night’s sleep.

We worked well as a team, something that I am sure any couples who have ever pitched a tent together might be surprised at, and, after moving all of the camping gear except sleeping kit to the front of the ute, produced a (I am sure you will agree) rather impressive looking shelter.

We had the opportunity to stand back and admire our shelter for approximately ten minutes before the next rain shower appeared, accompanied by a huge blast of wind that blew the tarp straight off the ute and left us scrabbling around to waterproof our sleeping gear.

That night we dined (smoked fish, bread and butter) and slept rather uncomfortably in the front of the ute. The bivvy bags came into play and kept our sleeping bags protected from the, now rather muddy, floor. I slept surprisingly well (one advantage of a ‘sleep outside’ challenge is that you get used to uncomfortable sleeps), Mr B2 was a gentleman, took the steering wheel side and emerged rather less rested than I in the morning.

My how we laughed… but not until a couple of days later!