KEY POINTS:
Into the Wild. What a great movie. Earnest young Christopher McCandless abandons civilisation for a life of self-sufficiency in the American wilderness. Inspiring. Well, mostly... until the end, when things go a bit pear-shaped.
Nevertheless, I find myself embracing the idea of the great outdoors - within reason. Chasing bears in Alaska might be a little extreme to begin with so, instead, I vote camper van and Waihi Beach, in search of the last corner of summer.
Behind the wheel of Explore More's Roto-Vegas camper, the world is your oyster, and we head east from Auckland with a cinematic sense of freedom. We've a starting point - Waihi - and four days to fill, but other than that we've deliberately made few plans, determined to go where the whim and sunshine take us.
By the time we reach Waihi for our first pitstop we've kept ourselves endlessly amused with conversations along the lines of "we could just stop right here on the side of the road if we wanted". It never gets old.
After some time spent basking in the sun on Waihi Beach, we scope the area for camping spots. As it's the sharp end of summer, we have our pick. Bowentown Beach Holiday Park is right on the water and the walk up the hill affords stunning views across to picturesque Matakana Island, Anzac Bay and down the coast to White Island.
But, with a glance at the black clouds rolling in, we opt for nearby Athenree Holiday Park and its steaming hot pools. We roll up, pick a site and sit scratching our heads for 15 minutes wondering what to do with ourselves with no tent to put up, or beds to inflate.
By the next day those clouds have turned nasty and the cold sheets of rain driving down the coast have forced us to change tack. Rather than a long weekend of beaches and barbecues, day two becomes a getaway of more hot pools (Omokoroa) and wineries.
Pulling in at Mills Reef Winery, a few kilometres north of Tauranga, the thought occurs that if we get a little carried away with the tastings we could always pop in the back of the Roto-Vegas to sleep it off before we drive.
After an exhaustive debate it's decided that kind of thing is probably frowned upon in Mills Reef's beautiful setting and we moderate our sampling. Still, there is a distinctively glassy rattle to the Roto-Vegas once we get moving again, and now the mobile bedroom is also a bar. Happy days.
We use the still-heavy rain as a neat excuse for not roughing it too much that night, and pull into the Mt Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park, again with one eye firmly on the iconic hot salt pools next door.
By Sunday, the rain has cleared and the onboard fisherman is getting an itchy casting arm. We head inland from Tauranga and venture along assorted dirt, riverside tracks in search of evasive trout.
The Roto-Vegas is surprisingly agile on the narrow roads and tight turns, and we find several great nooks perfect for camping. In the end though, we opt for McLaren Falls Park, about 20 minutes out of Tauranga, because, frankly, it has plumbing. It might have been okay for McCandless but I'm against having vulnerable bits open to the air and bitey insects when nature calls in the middle of the night.
The park is huge and there's lots of quiet spots to park the van. It's a perfect, still, warm evening, so we break out the onboard gas cooker, create a feast, open a bottle of Mills Reef pinot and debate where our travels will take us tomorrow.
- Detours, HoS
