A Christchurch family are determined to continue their holiday at a Marlborough campground in spite of having their camping gear and Christmas presents washed away in heavy rain last week.
Jade Perrow, his partner Tracey Gray and children Ashlee-Page, 10, Katelyn, 4, and Maddison Perrow, 3, escaped the flooded Pelorus Bridge campground about 4.30am on Tuesday last week with little more than their clothes and their car after being given 10 minutes to pack up their things and evacuate.
Mr Perrow said the family, who had stayed at the campground before, arrived on Boxing Day and planned to stay three weeks.
But their plans were altered after the rapidly rising Pelorus River washed away their tent, Christmas presents and other gear. None of it was insured, Mr Perrow said.
Ms Gray said the family lost only a chimney during the Christchurch earthquake in September but they knew now what it felt like to lose their possessions.
The family drove to Blenheim in heavy rain and stayed at a motel until the campground reopened on Monday.
Ashlee-Page said she woke up on Monday night because rain had soaked through the tent and the bed; at one point she and her sisters were floating on their inflatable mattresses in the tent.
Ms Gray and Mr Perrow said they tried to downplay the situation to keep the children calm.
And now, more than a week later the family are back at the camp after the campground managers loaned them a tent and tarpaulins.
"We came for a holiday and we'd been saving up for it," Mr Perrow said.
"The kids deserve [a holiday] and that's what we're going to give them."
The family will head back to Christchurch on January 16, staying with friends in Kaikoura for a few nights on the way.
Pelorus Bridge campground co-manager Stephanie Neal said the campground, which has 32 tent sites and 14 powered sites, was again fully occupied after a lot of help from the Department of Conservation staff.
Most campers understood the conditions, although some decided not to stay because of the mud on some of the sites, she said.
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