Hawke's Bay camping grounds enjoy good bookings as Kiwis making the most of camping holidays

Dannevirke Camping Ground is proving to be a popular holiday spot.

The overseas tourists might be missing but Dannevirke Camping Ground is enjoying a bumper summer with big numbers of visitors being recorded.

Manager Kim Spooner-Taylor says it's been extremely busy at the camp.

In January last year the camping ground had 980 visitors, but this month it's on track to break the 1000 mark.

"We're booked out for the weekend of February 13 and 14. For the first time in my life I'm turning people away."

While overseas tourists have in the past kept numbers up, Kim says she has noticed far more Kiwi families on the move.

"Whether it's mum and dad and the kids and nana and granddad, it's whole families that are on the move.

"It's been like it since Covid, we've been massively busy and it hasn't stopped."

Kim said the recent strong winds that buffetted the town didn't deter campers.

"A lot of travellers didn't want to carry on driving in the wind so they stopped off here and put their tents up. It's sheltered here so the wind wasn't a problem.

"The camping ground is really putting Dannevirke on the map."

During December the camp recorded 808 visitors, slightly up on the December 2019 figure of 801.

The idyll Eketahuna Camping Ground is a hidden Tararua treasure.

Eketahuna camping ground was feeling the effects of the lack of overseas tourists and while numbers overall are down they still place the camp as the second-most popular in Tararua.

In December 2020 the camp recorded 518 visitors, down on the December 2019 figure of 633.

Managers Kerry and Loreen Cunningham had not tallied up the number of visitors so far this month but estimated it was similar to the December 2020 tally.

"They might be slightly higher because we had a large caravan club visit early in the new year. It's the Central Club from Palmerston North and they virtually come every year and stay for three or four days."

In January 2020 the camp recorded 758 visitors. He said during December and January there were plenty of Kiwi visitors, and the camp was full to the brim between Christmas and New Year.

"The numbers are starting to drop off now as people are going back to work and normally this is the time when we have young overseas tourists coming to stay but of course this isn't happening now. We're not quite sure what's going to happen for the rest of the summer, it's all up in the air at the moment."

However, Kerry said it was certainly a good time over the holiday period.

The Eketahuna camp has 16 powered sites and two cabins but has almost unlimited space because it covers an area of about 2ha.

"The council has been pretty good to us and put in more facilities and this has allowed our capacity to go up."

Kerry said the camp was a peaceful place and was perfect for families.

"We cater for kids and provide bats and balls and heaps of chalk so that they can draw on the paths. It's good to see the kids here."

With a river nearby Kerry said the children can go swimming or eeling or catching crawlies and there was plenty of bush to explore.

Kerry and Loreen have been living in Eketahuna for 14 years and managing the camp for seven years.

"This camp has got a pretty good reputation.

"It's reasonably priced and because it's central, it's halfway between Wellington and Napier, it's popular. We often have people booking in for a night but staying on because it's so cheap and relaxed."

Pahiatua's Carnival Park recorded 352 visitors during December, down on the previous year's figure of 390 while January 2020 saw 417 visitors.

So far this month the camp has recorded 375 visitors, 371 New Zealanders and four from overseas.

Carnival Park custodians Richard and Suzanne Hansen say there is a noticeable difference in the figures, but what they had seen was an increasing number of couples living in their caravans, and campervans and travelling the country to try out different camping grounds.

Herbertville Camping Ground had a successful holiday season with a return to the numbers of casual campers that were seen a few years ago.

The camp also has a solid number of bookings for the weekend of February 13 and 14, when the Dannevegas to Herby 4x4 trek is being held, and this is a first for the camp as it doesn't normally happen when this event is held.