Open Brethren camps have been running in the Nelson district since 1931. The Teapot Valley Christian Camp is now the central point of activities and is a very popular venue.
In 1998 Teapot Valley hosted the International Rally Arura Camp, its biggest camp to ever take place on the site. Eight hundred people from around New Zealand, Australia, and Northern Ireland attended. Logistically, looking after this many people for 10 days required a lot of planning and hard work from many fantastic volunteers. 24,000 meals were served and a truckload of milk and bread was consumed each day.
The fireworks display one night was a literal blast to remember. Anticipation was high with all 800 campers and workers sitting on a gentle slope ready to watch the array of pyrotechnics. Someone had spent long hours preparing the show by packing the fireworks into a trailer load of sand. Presumably, the explosives had been packed in the sand so the display would fire into the night sky. When everything was in place, a brave soul crawled to the trailer and lit the fuse. Within seconds there were rockets screaming upwards, followed by a boom and a brilliant exhibit of sparkling stars falling earthward. The crowd gasped in awe at the spectacular show above them.
All was going splendidly well until a skyrocket went horizontal into the crowd. What followed was absolute mayhem. More and more rockets began firing into the crowd of campers. There were screams of fear and panic broke out as people ran for cover or lay as flat as they could while the missiles darted overhead and slammed into the bank. Leaders and campers stayed pinned to the ground while the dangers whizzed around them. Eventually, the last explosion was heard and the final rocket fizzed away. Raising our heads and looking through the haze of smoke, it felt like we were all in a war zone with campers lying wounded and others waiting to receive help for their small burns. By the grace and protection of God, no serious injuries were sustained, and the camp quickly moved on to a more positive and safe activity.
On inspection, it was found that the initial blasts of rockets firing away from the sand dislodged other rockets that fell flat and when ignited shot away in the direction they were facing.
