Learning to love holiday parks

Holiday parks are a thing in Australia and New Zealand. We'd heard of them before arriving - that they're great, family run affairs and also that they're loud, crowded, over-priced campgrounds. We've found both descriptions are true, along with everything in between.

Holiday parks aren't your average KOA campground, located in a few high-traffic tourist areas. They are everywhere. Nearly every town has one, or three.  There are smaller parks with not much more than a grill (in Australia, this isn't actually a grill, but rather a flat metal griddle - all the better to collect your bacon fat and stir-fry your shrimp) and a hot shower, and there are big holiday park chains with amenities like bouncy balls, mini golf and water parks.

At first, we found the fancy amenities and $35-40 price tag to camp a little offensive. Who needs hot showers, a TV and a full kitchen when they're camping? It's camping after all!

How wrong we were. After three months living out of a tent and Mo, finding a nice indoor space to hang out ranks pretty high. Wood stove to keep warm? Score! Not having to haul dishes from Mo? Yes! Beer fridge and hot showers after surfing? Excellent! Getting more than three feet away from each other? Sign me up. 

They're also a great place to meet Aussies or Kiwis (not just the ubiquitous German backpackers) since they are very popular among the locals. We've gotten great travel tips while making dinner in the common kitchen, stayed warm and dry during pounding rainstorms, and Brook had a fascinating hour-long chat about hog and cattle husbandry with one park owner. So, a lesson from our holiday park traveling: put aside your camping snobbery and when in Rome...