Glamping in New Zealand

New Zealand has typically been a nation of people who love to holiday in the great outdoors.  Some families escape to the family bach for rest and relaxation, but for a great majority of New Zealanders, the favoured type of accommodation is camping in a tent or staying in a caravan.  

What is Glamping in New Zealand? 

Glamping in New Zealand is a type of upmarket camping typically at a beach, in the bush or in a beautiful rural outdoor setting.  It’s luxury camping where you don’t have to pitch the tent yourself, you don’t have to tow the caravan, and you don’t have to think about mowing the lawns or fixing the roof.  You have the choice of staying a wide range of tents, caravans and bach type dwellings, many of them quite quirky and quite quaint.   So what is it that brings Kiwis out from the towns and cities into the beach areas and the bush?

Why do New Zealanders Like Camping?

For New Zealanders, the mere thought of going camping is dreaming of having a relaxed holiday; thoughts of jandals and chilli bins, barbecues and beach towels, beer and fishing, swimming and sailing, wine and tasty food, family fun time, sleeping bags and torches, cards and monopoly, the list goes on… And, why wouldn’t a Kiwi want to enjoy this type of holiday, for we have some of the most amazing outdoor scenery in the World!  But, there’s the other side to it - you’re having to rough it, your bed might not be as comfortable as normal, you can’t get your favourite coffee and you’re forever trying to keep food and drinks chilled. Bring on the glamping…

Stepping up from the Camp to the Glamp

With busy and stressful lifestyles, even the mere thought of going camping or glamping seems like bliss, a break away, relax, read a magazine, do nothing.  The reason why glamping has become increasingly popular is because it’s easy, it’s comfortable and it’s convenient.  Forget packing the sleeping bag, there’s top quality white linen on the beds, don’t worry about bringing the tea and instant coffee, there’s bound to be a selection of teas and a coffee machine.  And, in some places, they even let you bring your pet dog! 

You will find all the modern conveniences you will need in your glamping space, however the best thing about glamping is that you are living very simply, and living with a connection to nature and the great outdoors.  It maybe that you have a stunning scenic view from your bed, you can hear the sound of the waves rolling onto the beach, or you can smell the fresh air of the forest trees.  When you go glamping, it’s this connection that helps you to feel so much more relaxed.  It’s a chance to wind down without being fussy about ‘stuff’.  It’s called having your cake, and eating it!

Glamping at Warblers Retreat

We call our glamping, ‘Pioneer Glamping’.  The reason for this, is that the caravan we use in our glamping site, is a 1974 Kiwi built model called a ‘Pioneer.’  Still retaining its original 1970s decor of granny smith green benches, bright orange highlights, together with the deep brown veneer and turned wood, through to the textured gold glass window panel and gold lamp shades fringed with tasselling.  It’s a step back in time, and the decor will quite likely remind you of your Grandmother’s home, if you’re in your 20’s or 30’s.

We think the name Pioneering is very fitting with what we have been doing at Warblers Retreat.  We’ve been pioneering our way through creating Warblers Retreat since 2014.  It’s been quite a journey really.  We started out with an overall vision, but not a complete one.  It took a pioneering approach to get out there, and do, not just think about doing, even when we didn’t know where the next lot of resources would come from! 

From creating new landscaped garden areas, to designing and constructing the Canopy, creating the Pioneer Glamping area, to cutting new tracks through the bush; we have followed our noses every step of the way, so as to speak!  It’s been one step after another, it’s been achieved with a lot of blood, sweat, tears, passion, love, and BELIEF! 

Before we even started Pioneer Glamping, we lived in a caravan for a year, so we knew the benefits of living simply.  We feel Pioneer Glamping is a great name for one of our favourite spots at Warblers Retreat. One could even go so far as to say, we both had a ‘pioneering spirit’, or two, over the years! 

A Taste of the Simple Life

Our Pioneer Glamping site over looks a valley of forest and bush.  The birds are right on your doorstep.  There’s the NZ Owl (Ruru) calling across the valley at night, the early morning Tui singing their loud and happy melodies, to the NZ fantails (piwakawaka), flitting in and among the trees right next to you.  The early morning sun streams onto the deck where you will be drawn to have your morning coffee, and breakfast, while in the evenings the outdoor spa bath will entice you into a long and relaxing soak at the end of the day.  There’s a private outdoor shower that will really help you to feel fantastic when you shower in private, in nature.  And for your convenience, we have sited the  Composh Room, conveniently close by.

What is a Composh Room?

We like to keep everything in style, sometimes this could be called Keeping Up with the Jones, but we don’t really think so! Just as camping has been upgraded to glamping, we have upgraded our Compost Toilet to a Composh Toilet, in fact we have gone further than that, we have named it the ‘Composh Room’.   The good old New Zealand outside dunny or commonly referred to as the ‘Long Drop’, is a common part of camping in New Zealand, especially at Department of Conservation (DOC) sites.  The Long Drop has often been associated with bad smells and flies!  This is NOT what our composh toilet represents.  A composting toilet that is operated correctly harbours no smell, and the goods can be successfully composted to create a manure for ornamental and fruit trees.   

Our Composh Room is conveniently located to the caravan so you don’t have far to go I the middle of the night.  And in true New Zealand style, we have the Bert Munro Lemon tree nearby. 

Location Auckland City

Glamping and you don’t even need the city!  Drive only a few minutes from Albany, the main shopping centre on Auckland’s North Shore, and you are in a private, natural bush setting, all set for a relaxing weekend or a chilled out week-long escape from the rat race.   There’s all the facilities to cook your own food, but if you want the easy option, as many glampers do, there’s a wide range of restaurants, bars and cafe close by making the glamping experience even more authentic.  Or, you can even order your own meal in.

There’s bush walks, glow worms, beautiful subtropical gardens to explore, sustainable gardening practices such as composting, hens, worm farm and in the summer with the large salt water swimming pool, it’s a great place to hang out, in style!