10 Ideas for Your Halloween Camping Trip© BLUETTI
10 Ideas for Your Halloween Camping Trip

8 Scary Ideas for Your Halloween Camping Trip

© BLUETTI
Article Single Pages© NZPocketGuide.com
Article Single Pages© NZPocketGuide.com
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Plan the Best Halloween Camping Trip with these Spooky Ideas!

Just as the weather begins to transition into summer, October 31st marks the beginning of the camping season in New Zealand and just so happens to be Halloween! Admittedly, Halloween isn’t as celebrated in New Zealand as it is with enthusiasm by our friends in the US, Canada, the UK, Mexico and elsewhere, but if you usually celebrate this spooky occasion, or are looking to liven up a camping trip when travelling with kids at this time of year, then here are some spooky ideas for your Halloween camping trip.

1. Decorate Your Campsite with Spooky Lighting

You can have hours of fun with the kids even before leaving home for your Halloween camping trip. Make your own paper lanterns to hang around your campsite, turn old bedsheets into spooky ghosts, carve pumpkins and get some fairy or LED lights together to set the eerie tone. Although you can get solar-powered LED lights, you can make sure your set-up is powered all night long (along with the other electronics mentioned on this list) with a BLUETTI portable power station. More on that later…

10 Ideas for Your Halloween Camping Trip© BLUETTI

2. Dress Up!

What is Halloween without costumes? If you’re camping with kids, it is essential to make (or buy) a funky costume for the event. Better yet, amp up the excitement with a costume contest where the kids can parade their outfits on a makeshift runway (lined with LED lights, perhaps?) while the parents and maybe even some of your camping neighbours are the judges. And, let’s be honest, if it’s an all-adults party, do you still need an excuse to dress up?

8 Scary Ideas for Your Halloween Camping Trip© Unsplash

3. Watch a Scary Movie

Don’t miss out on your obligatory scary movie on Halloween just because you’re in the wilderness. In fact, that makes it all the more terrifying! With a little pre-planning (as it’s likely that you’ll be out of range of WiFi), you can download a scary movie or two and make sure it’s compatible with your laptop/tablet/portable projector, and away you play! Make sure you have your portable power station, so the movie doesn’t end before the protagonist escapes the haunted house…

10 Ideas for Your Halloween Camping Trip© BLUETTI

4. Have a Lollies Scavenger Hunt

Swap trick or treating for a scavenger hunt as a fun way for the kids to get candy or sweets (in New Zealand, we call them “lollies”). Hide lollies around the campground and see who can gather the most! It’s a great way for the kids (and adults) to get some exercise in the great outdoors!

8 Scary Ideas for Your Halloween Camping Trip© Pexels

5. Tell Spooky Stories Around the Campfire

… If your chosen campsite allows campfires, that is. Either way, a campfire is not the important part; but a torch light (flashlight) to hold under your face while telling the story is. If you don’t have an eager storyteller in your group, there are plenty of creepy podcasts available. Either way, make sure your batteries for your torch or sound system are fully charged or have a BLUETTI power station at the ready.

8 Scary Ideas for Your Halloween Camping Trip© Unsplash

6. Take a Night Time Hike

Sure, New Zealand offers many wonderful hikes with beautiful scenery to lap up during the daytime, but there are some interesting reasons to hike at night too. Take a head torch (preferably one with a red filter to lower your disturbance to nocturnal wildlife) and look out for ruru (native owl), kiwi, glowworms, tunnel-web spiders and more. The eerie ambience of a forest at night is enough to get even the toughest campers’ imaginations running!

8 Scary Ideas for Your Halloween Camping Trip© NZPocketGuide.com

7. Make Some Halloween-Themed Treats

You can get really creative here, as well as prepare some Halloween treats before camping or during as an activity. Some cool ideas include:

  • Bloody hot dog fingers (cook sausages on the barbecue or your electric/gas stove, carve the skin off the end in the shape of a fingernail, put them in a bun and decorate them with red sauce like a bloody finger)
  • Monster burgers (cook up your burgers as you would usually and cut a slice of soft cheese with “teeth” on the edge to hang over the side between the burger and the bun)
  • Witch’s brew (any stew-like dish made in a camping Dutch oven looks like witch’s brew)
  • Damper shaped like a wrapped-up mummy
  • Cast iron toasted pumpkin seeds
  • Spooky cupcakes (prepare at home or bring the icing with you to decorate).

For more camping food tips, check out The Best Camping Meals, Inc. Camping Food List.

8 Scary Ideas for Your Halloween Camping Trip© Pexels

8. Listen (and Dance) to a Halloween Playlist

Make more of a Halloween party out of your camping trip by bringing an awesome Halloween playlist along. Make your own playlist or there are plenty of pre-made Halloween playlists on Spotify and YouTube. Either way, you’ll want Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” on there. Make sure you pack an epic sound system and keep the party going all through the night with a sweet power station…

8 Scary Ideas for Your Halloween Camping Trip© Pexels

Power it All for Cheaper with the BLUETTI Halloween Sale

Make sure your Halloween camping trip all goes to plan, where you won’t be haunted by blackouts, see your fairy lights dim into a sad glow or your scary movie come to a premature end, by picking up a portable power station from the BLUETTI Halloween Sale. From up to an A$1,100 discount to A$199 freebie, BLUETTI offers a slew of special deals for power generators, batteries and solar panels from this October 20 to November 3! The EB70 is one of our favourite camping options, boasting big power in a highly lightweight and portable package – and it’s gone from A$1,099 to A$999! Check out the Halloween Sale at bluettipower.com.au.

10 Ideas for Your Halloween Camping Trip© BLUETTI

More About Halloween and Camping

That’s it for our list of ideas for your Halloween camping trip but here are more guides to help you prepare:

Finally, if there’s anything we’ve missed, you’re likely to find it in our complete guide to Camping in New Zealand.

Sources:

The information in this guide has been compiled from our extensive research, travel and experiences across New Zealand and the South Pacific, accumulated over more than a decade of numerous visits to each destination. Additional sources for this guide include the following:

Our editorial standards: At NZ Pocket Guide, we uphold strict editorial standards to ensure accurate and quality content.

About The Author

Laura S.

This article has been reviewed and published by Laura, the editor-in-chief and co-founder of NZ Pocket Guide. Laura is a first-class honours journalism graduate and a travel journalist with expertise in New Zealand and South Pacific tourism for over 10 years. She also runs travel guides for five of the top destinations in the South Pacific and is the co-host of over 250 episodes of the NZ Travel Show on YouTube.

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