lake rotoiti or ode to sandflies

We've been on a small family holiday at the beautiful Nelson Lakes- Lake Rotoiti. We stayed at the DOC Campsite in West Bay. We had a lovely time although it was marred by the beasties- the sandflies. Now we knew that they existed, the supermarket checkout lady asked if we were prepared the day before we went... we had no idea just how bad they would be! We actually left camp two days early because of them. Poor Tobin, my youngest babe, 9 months old now, was completely helpless, and covered and miserable. In the end we decided to leave because he didn't ask to be tortured. Here is a poem I wrote while mulling over what to do...

THE SANDFLIES
They are everywhere
sucking my blood,
my baby's blood
vicious, marauding creatures
ruining this beautiful outlook
this carefree way of being.

How long do we inflict this
form of torture
onto our innocents;
bravely enduring
barely complaining?

I do not rest easily-
sitting by my sleeping babe's head
squashing invaders
protecting his sleeping pace.
But soon I too must sleep
and then who will watch over us?
While sandflies feast.

So, locals, or people who visit there ofte, how do you cope? We would love to know, I feeel like we didn't see half of what we could have. We spent most of the time inside the tent! Which was great. We bought it recently, it was a pretty big outlay for us and we had it on layby for ages. We used some money from my grandmother and the money i made selling my wares at the local market to buy it. (wares now available at Delume in Nelson, Nile st west. )


We had a lot of good times too. My book list : Dumbing us down, by John Taylor Gatto; The unschooling Handbook, by Mary Griffith; Koanga Garden Guide, By Kay Baxter; Instead of EDucation, by John HOlt; Animal, Vegetable, Mineral,By Barbara Kingsolver. I didn't get through them all, but we had some interesting discussions; Anouhka's 5th birthday is in October and I guess we need to make some decisions about SCHOOL . Struan (hubby) and I are both state teacher trained, he in primary, me in Early childhood, and although my philosphies sit quite nicely with Te Whariki ( early childhood curriculum), its not so for primary. At the moment our options are, one of local state schools, Steiner school, or home.

We also walked a bit, around the lake, the girls astounding us with their ability to walk (after getting through the complaing carzies while they got the hang of it!)we had a lot of up close and personal encounters with birdlife, birds we had never seen, before. At one point staning on the track and being serenaded by three birds on either side of the track, feathers puffed, and singing; they flew away when i very quietly got my camera out...! Anoushka learnt lots of the symbols on DOC signs and would run ahead to find them and tell us what they meant, Maaike's versions were creative..... Tobin loved the back pack and would gurgle happily, including mamamama (finally its not just papapa!) before falling asleep. So where to next for camping? And does anyone ahve a bch we could rent at ROtoiti, we would love some added protection for next time!