For several years we have wanted to take The Kiwi Outdoor Oven into the wild to camp under the stars, luckily for us we have a family bush block and it was perfect. We wanted to explore the streams, hike to hidden trees and views, hunt for glow worms, bake all our food from scratch and give the kids an experience they would remember for life. Like all good ideas it took us a while to get organised but the day came over Anniversary weekend where @Wild_Heart_Hunter was keen to learn more about the oven and the weather gods were smiling on us so we headed off.
We arrived at the block, set up the oven and got it going, thirsty work travelling. Using water from the creek we boiled up the first cup of coffee for the day and then set out to locate some seats for the camp site from down trees. Once that was sorted, it was time for a late lunch of German Sausage and bacon cooked over the coals on the Fire Box Grill. Whilst lunch was being prepared, we made the dough for Pita Bread and put it in the sun to rise. Additional friends arrived for the experience and we set off for a hike exploring the block and visiting the highest point. The great thing about The Kiwi Outdoor Oven is with fire doors and spark arrestor in the cowl, this means that you can close up the oven and are able to safely leave the fire ticking over un-attended.
Once we returned from the hike it was time to explore the streams and see what animals were present - it was really cool to see Freshwater Cray and Eels. We set up a variety of traps to catch the freshwater cray using Manuka branches and shoe laces with bacon for bait (not successful). We cooked the pita bread on the pizza stones inside the oven and melted camembert cheese for an afternoon snack.
Dinner was a variety of dishes - the outdoor oven is so good you want to test out as much as you can - woodfired pizza, casserole and baked pumpkin - the quality of food at our camp site was impressive! The team then headed out to check the streams under darkness for wildlife, to find some glow worms and remove a few pests from the property. Whilst they were gone, the bedding were set up in front of the fire with a giant log to maintain the heat through the night.
Everyone slept well, the fire needed restocking at 5am to ward off the crisp dawn and by breakfast there was a good ember base again to boil water for coffee then make bacon, eggs and toast. At morning tea the Fresh Water Crays caught the previous night were cooked and shared before the team disbanded for home.
We removed the coals from the firebox, soaked them with stream water in a bucket and then buried with more water, the area where the oven sat was also soaked with water from the stream to ensure there was no embers that may have escaped.
We went for smaller hike that the previous day to allow the oven to completely cool, then packed up, covered with an oven cover and headed for home - fully satisfied from an incredible weekend away.