After our Weta tour we hit the road and drove 4.5 hours Northwest of Wellington. Destination: a campground in Pipiriki. In typical NZ fashion, gorgeous views all around.
We rolled into the campground around 4:30pm. Like many spots we visit in NZ, we didn't know what to expect. We learned that the campground is run out of the town's former school; the facilities building previously housed the main school classrooms and the camping field was the old school sports field. The campground sits down amidst ferns & other gloriously green foliage. Just gorgeous.
Video of Doug pulling onto the campgrounds and the girls directing him to a spot (between cartwheels & handstands):
There were maybe six other groups already on the campgrounds (combo of tents and camper vans). We found an open spot along the perimeter of the vibrant green lawn and immediately got to work setting up our tent. We noticed a few other kids/families around. Doug & I were so focused on tent assembly, and the girls on mastering their cart wheeels, that we didn't have a chance to to pop over and say hello initially.
Game On
Just after we got the tent successfully up (much quicker & easier than our 1st time at Lake Rotoiti almost two weeks ago!) a man came over from across the field with a soccer ball to say hello and break the ice. It didn't take long before kids from three different families (ours included) congregated on the middle lawn to play all sorts of games, some familiar to P&S, but most new-to-them. Amazing to see how well kids hit it off and make a quick connection! P&S were having SOOO much fun. As a parent, it's so satisfying to see your kids being themselves, making new friends, getting sweaty with play and having huge grins on their faces!
Meanwhile, all us adults had a chance to start chatting and immediately hit it off as well. We met Chris (artistic set designer & builder in Christchurch), his buddy Ben (theater producer in Christchurch), Ben's three kiddos & his partner Paige, as well as another couple (Chris & Tamra) that are biking the whole of NZ while home schooling their three kids. NZ never ceases to disappoint on meeting interesting people on the go!
Final Hours of 2020
After a tasty dinner of black bean & cheese nachos for me & Doug, and tonkatsu ramen packs for the girls, we got back to socializing, adults & kids alike. Being New Years Eve and all, we settled into a few drinks with Chris, Ben & Paige while the kids played to their hearts content, everything from rolling down the grassy hills to spotlight tag as the sun went down. Pure childhood bliss.
If you had asked me when we rolled into the campground how our New Years Eve would shake out, I would have said that we would eat dinner, play a family card game in the tent and all be asleep by 9/10pm. Not unlike our NYEs of the past few years where we rarely, if ever, manage to stay awake until midnight! But alas, our New Years 2020 was meant to ring in differently, awake & laughing with new friends as opposed to snoozing in the tent :)
Laughs All Around
During our travels we continue to be humbled by how easy & enjoyable it can be to make a genuine connection with new people within a short amount of time. Our conversations with Chris, Ben & Paige were so enjoyable. We joked about when the Pipiriki NYE fireworks would begin and whether the campground would be dropping a countdown ball like in Times Square. We exchanged stories of traveling to different amazing global spots. We contrasted NZ and USA's handling of covid19 and country leadership overall. We reflected on the surrealness of living a normal, risk-free daily life in NZ this year, amidst a world threatened by a pandemic, constantly facing health & safety challenges. Plus dozens of interesting and amusing topics between.
We popped open a bottle of bubbly around 11:00pm, a premature toast to 2021, aka "2020B" as we joked. As we sat chatting & laughing outside their caravan, the girls huddled into an adjacent tent with some of the other kiddos for a late-night game of Uno. The kids starting dropping like flies around 11:30pm, ready to snooze. P&S went back to our tent and cozied in for the night.
We ended up awake at midnight, properly toasting the new year with new friends. Saying goodbye to 2020 off the grid on a NZ campground, sitting outside a NZ caravan, hearing the NZ native morepork owl, chatting with new NZ friends, felt appropriate. Ringing in 2021, I felt an abundance of gratitude for the generosity of strangers to break the ice, share their NYE stash of wine, as well as the genuine joy that comes with making authentic connections to new people.
Cheers to 2021! May it be a brighter, healthier year the world over. May it include loads more amazing exploration & experiences for us in New Zealand. And may it be the year that we get to reconnect in person with our dearest families & friends Stateside!
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