By Sam Parker Additional photos Denise Parker

This was our third family Safari and certainly the one we most enjoyed. The organisers definitely focus on the family aspect but don’t ignore the needs of those that are family free.

The fact that our kids are a bit older (eight and four) might also have helped. They are a bit more independent and being in a group with others we know, who have similarly aged children, also helped but the efforts of the organisers nevertheless played a big part.

This starts from the welcome pack, which has additional items for children, like a pack of colouring pencils, a soft Frisbee and a hackysack-style ball for each child.

There is also an activity pack to complete during the trip, including a treasure hunt (find the best word starting with each letter of the alphabet), word find, colouring-in sheets, a maze, spot the difference and others.

Each day’s trip notes have a colouring in page on the front (featuring a Land Rover) and there are different activities each day, such as collecting items to build a scarecrow or to make a wearable art hat, to keep everyone amused.

Once you get to camp, there are organised mini Olympic style sports for the kids with prizes (around 30 children attended these most days). For two nights, there’s access to the Kaukapakapa School swimming pool.

The availability of supplied meals, especially dinner, also takes the load off for parents after a busy day and the meals were very impressive. First night was chicken or beef burgers with chips and salad. Second night was fish and chips or ham steak and the final night was roast lamb and beef.

All this is cooked in a portable kitchen, set up by the school parents as part of the fundraising. They also supply breakfast and packed lunches for those that want them with almost military precision.

A welcome innovation this year was staying at the same venue for two nights avoiding the need to pack and carry all the camping gear every day.

The Kaper is organised jointly by the Auckland Land Rover Owners’ Club and Kaukapakapa School and runs every other year. As with other such events the school helps with the admin, sourcing land access, via parents and friends of the school, and doing the catering.

In return the school gets a substantial amount of its fund raising done in one hit (typically $25-$30,000 for the event). The club looks after the route, scrutineering and marshalling.

This year there were around 110 vehicles and close to 400 people participating, with a significant number being family groups. The Kaper starts at Kumeu and ends in Kaukapakapa.

Day one is in the Kumeu, Bethells Beach and Muriwai areas with the nights’ camping on farmland near Muriwai and accessed via Woodhill Forest. Highlights include some film sets used in Xena and Greenstone, the sand dunes and the Gannet Colony, not to mention scenic views sweeping from the Sky Tower, in one direction, to the Pacific Ocean, in the other.

Day two is in Woodhill Forest and along Muriwai Beach ending at Kaukapakapa. Day three used a series of farms north of Kaukapakapa, on either side of Highway 16, and the final day utilised more farm tracks around Waitoki.

Some overnight rain made the final day a bit more challenging but the tracks tended to be interesting and scenic rather than hard. There were enough wee challenges to ensure the drivers were paying attention though. The last day saw a few vehicles (including mine) need a snatch to recover from some of the muddier bits, including a deepish ‘play area’ bog that stopped around 75 percent of the vehicles.

This was our second KKCK trip and I suspect we will be back again in two years time for more of the same. .: