Ponui Island * a Summary

photo credit: Rene Lange

For the past week I have been doing a series of posts about our time at a youth camp on Ponui Island. You can find the complete series here.

The Ponui Story - Celebrating 75 years

One of the things I love to do upon discovering a special place, is to find and read the history. Every special place has a story. There are always people that have gone ahead and done the hard work to direct and establish the ethos and culture... thus making it "special". In many ways, I find these stories to be even more encouraging than the places themselves. They are stories about real people that made enormous sacrifices to prepare a place for me.

When I was in high school Frontier Ranch was a camp that radically changed my life. I remember a few years later reading Dance, Children, Dance, the story of Jim Rayburn, founder of Young Life and visionary behind their camping philosophy.

A Dream That Came to Life is the history of the Laity Lodge Retreat Center and the small town grocer who, upon experiencing a Frio River ranch, vowed that "if he were ever able, he would purchase a place so that other children would have a chance to experience the same wonder".

I ordered The Ponui Story and it arrived a few weeks ago. Here is an excerpt from Dr. John M. Laird, (the first General Secretary of Scripture Union in New Zealand) recording his first impressions of Ponui in December of 1931.

Early in December I set off with a pile of books for a brief holiday at Ponui Island, some twenty-five to thirty miles from Auckland i the Hauraki Gulf. This island was owned by members of the Chamberlin family, and Fred Chamberlin and his wife, Gertie, welcomed me warmly. I had pitched my little hike tent close to the water's edge. By ten o'clock the night was as black as pitch, but mild with no wind, and the only sounds were the lapping of the calm water on the beach and the stirring now and then of some bird or animal, while far about the Southern Cross rode the night sky. In such circumstances one could:

Sense the lifting tide beneath the stars,
And in the whispering of the waters on the sands
Hear the still small voice of Him
Who holds the ocean in His hands.

My tent was pitched between two Pohutukawa trees, just coming into brilliant crimson flower. One evening I crossed the island and went part of the way on horseback, crossing the highest point from which there was a magnificent view of the rolling hills and glens of the island, flocks of sheep quietly grazing and the blue sea all around.

It was an enchanting sight.

Ponui Island - Slow moments

For the past week or two I have been doing a series of posts about our time at a youth camp on Ponui Island. I shared a bit about my LOVE for camp and how my personality is conducive with the high pace, chaotic, wild and crazy fun of it all... but what I treasure most about camp, are the slow moments tucked within each day.

Ponui Island - hospitality

One of my favorite run of verses is in Romans 12. It talks about really important things like sincerity and how we should hate what is evil and cling to what is good. It says we should be devoted to one another in love and honor others above ourselves. Be joyful in hope, patient in prayer and share with people who are in need...
and then there is a period... and one more seemingly random note attached to the end of this lofty list.

Practice hospitality.

Gail Bond, and her three girls - Erika, Justine and Megan have been cooking up delicious meals for Ponui campers for the better part of ten years. It was a tradition they started when some of them were young enough to be campers themselves... now they are all married with families of their own.

They don't have any noted culinary credentials (except for the fact that they have been cooking up delicious meals for Ponui campers for the better part of ten years). They dish up three meals a day for a week, feeding up to 100 people, in a kitchen with a wood burning stove, on a private island without grocery stores. Gail does all the meal planning and grocery shopping ahead of time... they all take time off work and don't get paid.

But here is the best part. They were really nice. They didn't flip out if something got burned. They didn't get frustrated if they ran out of tomatoes . They didn't stress if a crazy mom (me) came in scrounging for food with her screaming toddler. Despite the less than ideal circumstances, there wasn't any tension in the air - their kitchen was a warm and friendly place to be. They were "practicing hospitality" not perfecting it. It was a lovely offering and it inspired me.

On our third night - all the campers left base to have a night under the stars. I got the kids showered and off to bed and then headed back to the kitchen for a much anticipated kid-free evening meal. It had been a particularly hard few days getting adjusted and settled with the kids... and receiving the news that my grandmother (know for her feisty spirit and trailblazing sense of adventure) died at the ripe young age of 99.

That evening we bumbled around the kitchen, set the table, grilled the burgers, cut the toppings, and talked. We watched the sunset and laughed. After dinner we had several helpings of dessert sitting on the countertops in the camp kitchen.    

There are times when I am convinced that God knows precisely what I need in a particular moment. This meal, this moment, this act of hospitality "hit the spot". I turned the corner that night. I fell asleep encouraged and ready for the week ahead... thankful for hospitality and all of it's willing practitioners.

Ponui Island - our bus with an ocean view

Our accommodations for the week at Ponui Island were primitive - but couldn't have been more charming. We slept on a school bus, outfitted with bunk-beds. We had an ocean view and a sea breeze always blowing through. At night we could see the stars and hear the kiwis calling.

There were six of us in the bus and the bus was right in the middle of camp. Fortunately the kids were so exhausted at night and nap time that they slept through the excitement and blow horns... most of the time.

As you can imagine, there were some bits that were less charming than others... but charm is a package deal. I love that we have spent a week living on a bus near the ocean in New Zealand... it was whimsical.

bus pirates

bathtime

our favorite bedtime book on the hill beside the bus

journals int he morning

Ponui Island - I love camp

"camp" has always been a big part of my story. I love it. I love youth camp, family camp, adult retreats. I love attending camps, helping at camps, and even scrubbing toilets at camp. Part of it has to do with my personality. I like meeting new people, playing loud crazy games, I don't mind being called to the front of a crowded room to do something slightly embarrassing, I like "kumbaya-ish" conversations by the fire late into the night. My husband hates camp... it's not for everyone. I get it. 

There is something deep within me that is thrilled with the adventure and opportunity that "camp" always seems to invite. Getting away from the dailyness of life, seeing a new place, interacting with people that I otherwise might never have met, watching community develop, and people grow. It is exciting stuff to me.

Some of my most significant life decisions have been made in the space that "camp" has provided...  I am always a bit eager with anticipation, wondering what revelation that will unfold or what decision will be made clear. More than anything, I think it has to do with the break in routine - the opportunity to look a things from a new angle... the time to mull over thoughts and be inspired by new ideas.

I usually feel stretched at camp - at the end of the day I am exhausted... but strangely energized. Doing camp with four kids, living in a bus, minus the husband - I was knackered (a kiwi colloquialism I have come to find very useful in this season of life). But despite the long days and short nights, the exhausted toddler tantrums and a lack of a regular routine... our week at Ponui was surprisingly restorative and inspiring. I would pack up and do it over again in a heartbeat... because I love camp.

I am thankful for the experience we had and the incredibly special people we met. Sweet memories.

Ponui Island

Over the holiday we spent a week on Ponui Island with some of our favorite New Zealand friends.

Ponui Island is located east of Auckland and has been owned and farmed by the Chamberlin family since 1853. For the past 82 years it has also operated as a Scripture Union camp.

It is also home to New Zealand's only feral donkey breed, the "Ponui donkey" and a remarkably high number of endangered brown kiwi... they add a great deal to the character of the island.

I can't imagine a better introduction to an authentic New Zealand youth camp.

Friends and Camp

Thursday night fun

Natalie, Danny and little Charlie

We managed to score some really great friends here in New Zealand. Every Thursday night we spend three glorious, uninterrupted, childless, hours with theses people. I look forward to it all week.

Over the holidays, Matt (top left) was the director of a senior high camp on an island near Auckland. Being a huge fan of "camp", I couldn't have been more excited about the opportunity to experience one in New Zealand... with people that I love being with. 

Unfortunately, Ben couldn't get off work, so the kids and I (along with our very courageous babysitter) packed up A LOT of bags and hopped on a boat with about 80 teenagers and one other family from our group. It was an exhausting but epic week. More on Ponui Island coming soon.

Matt and the kids

Dané our brave babysitter

Natalie and Jonah

Danny in the kitchen

Dané and Jude

luggage (almost all ours)