John Howell
North Island ▷ Wairarapa ▷ Featherston ▷
4.0/5
Great off the-beaten-track campsite, and only an hour and a half from Wellington.
Pick fine dry weather though if you don't have a 4x4 or soft roader as the road does cross a couple of river mouths, so the gravel gets really rough, but our Mondeo wagon was fine on the access road, just slow right down and pick your path carefully to avoid bottoming out. The campsite itself is a simple self-service DOC run affair, with a sturdy covered picnic table and running cold water tap, and two long-drop toilets. All were both clean and serviceable when we were there. The tent sites themselves are scattered around a loop track, and there are good spots to park the car near where you can pitch your tent, so this is great if you are car-camping and like to bring a lot of stuff. However the tent sites are small, so you may have trouble finding somewhere to pitch a canvas house, but our smaller domes were OK. The beach is fantastic, and the bike tracks are an easy ride, the bush is peaceful. Im so glad we came when it wasn't busy, it felt like we had the place to ourselves.
North Island ▷ Wellington Region ▷ Wellington ▷
4.0/5
This was a great campsite for my daughter and myself.
The rangers are very picky of course about how clean your gear is when you arrive. They literally went through our tent with a dustbuster before we were allowed out of the hut they send you to when you arrive, but everyone there was super friendly. The campsite itself also has a kitchen and toilet facility, and power for charging stuff, The bird life is really close and accessible, we went for a night walk and also saw Weta and Tuataras on the path. We also went up to the old gun emplacement at the summit of the island. Great safe place to let your kids explore.
The boat trip just make it more of an adventure. Great time and would recommend it, especially for families.