An appreciation for a Kiwi summer

 

I remember when school rolled out for summer and mum would bundle us, the tent, and all our gear into the baby blue Honda Civic and head north from Wellington. As primary navigator it was my job to circle on the map all the places off the grid or with interesting names to discover.
We’d listen to old tapes – The Modern Lovers, Chris Issak, Robert Palmer, Paul Simon – and cook up steak and rice risotto on our little foldout camp stove under the tent awning.

Driving for days with two small kids was surely a big undertaking for mum but those summers are precious stories I find myself reliving while flicking through the battered old NZ road map in my car again now. Still with biro circles.

This summer has been a myriad of mini adventures with friends; going in search of hikes, of music, of places to swim and trees to sleep under when the morning sun coverts the tent to an oven at 8am.  I love the walls that are permeated with night sounds and seeing stars through the roof on a clear night. And when the trickiest decision for the day might be what to cook for dinner.