Location: This campground isn\u2019t just a destination: make it a journey. The holiday park is an hour from Auckland and can be reached either by motorway and an easy rural road, or by an impossibly beautiful winding coastal road, one of New Zealand\u2019s loveliest drives. <\/p>\n
We took the scenic route from Auckland, past charming baches, sandy beaches and fishermen in secluded bays, to enter Miranda from the north. <\/p>\n
Perfect for: Families and couples, swimming, unwinding, birdwatching and mountain biking. <\/p>\n
Migratory shorebirds flock to the wetlands near Miranda. Photo \/ Greg Bowker<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a quick stroll to the coast through the Miranda bird sanctuary\u2019s walkways and cycle trails. Pop into the P\u016bkorokoro Miranda Shorebird Centre and get a map. <\/p>\n
When the migratory birds are in town, the wetlands are smothered in birds feasting before they head north. You can hear the sky larks chorus over the lapping of the waves. It\u2019s magical. <\/p>\n
First impressions: Luckily, the managers are friendly. Who camps in the chill of late autumn? Everyone, apparently. We got the last powered site. There were kids everywhere, on hired trikes tearing round in happy gangs. One shy kid hung back until someone shouted, \u201cJump on!\u201d He had the biggest grin on his face as he whizzed past. <\/p>\n
Powered sites for campervans at Tasman’s Miranda Holiday Park. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
The site: The sites are well spaced, grassed or hardstand. Our corner site overlooked the steaming pool and a handful of private hot tubs available to hire. <\/p>\n
Facilities: The bathrooms were clean and the showers were free. The kitchen is spacious and was sparkling. <\/p>\n
Things to do: Tennis, table tennis, mini golf, giant chess, a playground, barbecues. There\u2019s even an Enchanted Forest within the park. <\/p>\n
In the neighbourhood: An onsite coffee cart serves your daily caffeine fix. The nearest cafe, the Miranda Farm Shop, is a drive away, but it\u2019s cute and barn-like, and farmers outnumber tourists. Hey, you\u2019re in the country now. <\/p>\n
The best bit: The pool is reserved for adults only from 7-9pm. Or head there in the quiet dawn as steam drifts across the landscape. <\/p>\n
Room for improvement: The website is a bit slow, but it\u2019s worth persevering. <\/p>\n
Accessibility: There are accessible units and facilities. <\/p>\n
Price: Our powered hard site was $78 a night; grassed sites are $52. Units start at $149; premium villas are a steep $645 a night. <\/p>\n
Contact: Tasman Holiday Park Miranda, 595 Front Miranda Road, P\u016bkorokoro \/ Miranda, phone (07) 867 3205. <\/p>\n
miranda@tasmanholidayparks.com. <\/p>\n
The writer travelled at her own expense.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Location: This campground isn\u2019t just a destination: make it a journey. The holiday park is an hour from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":510850,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[21045,248737,10040,8908,8984,189,206,11938,111,43,139,69,8143,5198,188577,10042,1857,3448,2224,66958,6173,19791],"class_list":["post-510849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-above","tag-brenda","tag-camp","tag-check","tag-dawn","tag-holiday","tag-luxury","tag-miranda","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-park","tag-pool","tag-realises","tag-rises","tag-site","tag-steam","tag-tasman","tag-thermal","tag-too","tag-ward"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=510849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510849\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/510850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=510849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=510849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=510849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}