The DOC campground at Maitai Bay, on the Far North's Karikari Peninsula, is one of the few that will take campers without an online booking. Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf
Campgrounds around Northland's holiday hotspots are packed to the gunwales as New Zealanders prepare to welcome in the New Year with a traditional family holiday in tents.
Last-minute campers will be especially hard pressed to find a spot at the region's Department of Conservation campgrounds, which are popular for their no-frills facilities, affordable rates and often spectacular beachfront settings.
As of Monday afternoon, the DOC campgrounds checked by RNZ were fully booked until after New Year's Day - and even then, only a few sites remained.
The DOC campground at Otamure Bay, at Whananaki, is one of the biggest in Northland with 135 sites. Even Otamure, however, was fully booked until 2 January, when one site was available with just a handful more opening up on 5 January.
It's a similar story at lovely Puriri Bay, also in the Whangārei District, while at Mimiwhangata's Waikahoa Bay, the first available tent site is on 7 January - even though holidaymakers have to carry their gear over a steep headland to reach the campground.
In the Bay of Islands, Urupukapuka Island's three campgrounds are hugely popular with boaties, and are all but fully booked until 10 January.
On the west coast, the most popular New Year's Eve spot is the Kaipara District Council's Kai Iwi Lakes campground.
There, the earliest available tent site is on 6 January.
The campground manager at Mimiwhangata, Manaia Armstrong, makes his rounds on horseback. Photo: Supplied / Department of Conservation
Private campgrounds around the North are also bursting at the seams.
At Russell's Top Ten Holiday Park, for example, every available space was taken.
One of the few DOC sites that will take campers without a booking is at Maitai Bay, a perfect semicircle of white-sand beach on Karikari Peninsula.
Manager Haina Tamehana said the campground currently had about 450 guests on 99 tent sites plus a spillover camping area.
"It's full, but it's a comfortable full. It's really good," she said.
Because Maitai Bay didn't take online advance bookings, people could still turn up in the morning and get a spot - as long as someone else was leaving.
In the past, large family groups had set up their tents up to three weeks in advance just to be sure of securing a spot during the Christmas-New Year break, though she said that had become less common since the Covid pandemic.
A new attraction at Maitai Bay was the rāhui, or customary ban, on recreational and commercial fishing since 2017.
"That's been a real drawcard for families bringing their kids for a snorkelling experience. You get to see a good range of species out there now. It's mainly snapper, they're not the biggest but it's the amount you see now. It's also a safe place to bring your kids," she said.
Tamehana could not say what made Maitai Bay special, or so popular with generations of holidaymakers.
"I just think we're blessed. I think the whole of Aotearoa's blessed. Everyone's got their own special reason why they like to come here."
The idyllic DOC campground at Waikahoa Bay, Mimiwhangata, can be reached only on foot. Photo: Supplied / Department of Conservation
The only detractor so far this summer had been the strong southwesterly winds, which usually eased after 48 hours but had now been blowing for four to five days.
MetService is forecasting more strong winds and some showers during the day on 31 December, but the wind is expected to ease and the sky to clear in the Kaitāia area by evening.
Open fires are prohibited on all conservation land in Northland.
Islands such as Urupukapuka are pest-free and home to endangered wildlife, so boaties are urged to check their vessels for rodent stowaways before departure.
Dogs are not permitted on DOC-managed islands due to the threat to wildlife.
