Rod K
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South Island ▷ Canterbury ▷ Banks Peninsula ▷
Pigeon Bay Motor Camp
0.5/5
This campground was closed when we were there.
There's a no vacant sign on the gates and the place looks very deserted.
I'm guessing people are just parking their old caravans there and not using them.
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South Island ▷ Southland ▷ Owaka ▷
Purakaunui Bay Campsite
5.0/5
I'm giving this campsite a 10 because it was near deserted when we stayed there and made this an awesome quiet spot for the night.
Its such a beautiful area I imagine during peak times this place would be heaving and noisy so pick your moment to come stay here.
We have a small 4x4 so drove along the beach for two minutes and scored one of the flat grassy sites against the cliff and away from everyone. You are literally on the mouth to the stream/ocean intersection and the sunrise is amazing. Just have to remember you'll lose the sun earlier in the evening compared to the rest of the campground because of the cliffs.
Toilets are pretty standard DOC, they'll do.
There's a tap with clean water which is free. You'll have to treat it first if you want to drink it.
So when your planning your Catlins tour, make this a must stop destination.
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South Island ▷ Southland ▷ Waikawa ▷
Curio Bay Camping Ground
4.0/5
So it's going be windy.
It's The Catlins. But the stunning location and views more than make up for it.
We are sleeping in the back of our 4x4 so grabbed a site on the edge of the cliff alongside the through road. Our site (number one) had an off camber slope so we asked to move to site number four which was slightly bigger and still had the great views.
The walk to the Bay with the dolphins took five minutes and we got to see three of them cruising around the bay.
Back on the other side is the beach where the penguins hang out. There's only a small handful left of the yellow eye so don't expect to see hundreds of them everywhere.
We didn't see any at dusk despite hanging around for an hour. The resident DOC guy was interesting to talk to while we waited.
So we went back at 6am and saw mum and dad and three babies as they prepared to head off. A real highlight for us.
Due to the current Covid situation the campground was near deserted so the facilities were awesome and quiet. One point to note, some showers take $2 coins only and some $1 coins only so take both with you. Hot water and pressure were great and five minutes is plenty.
Don't complain about the cost. In my books well worth it, it's The Catlins!
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South Island ▷ Canterbury ▷ Methven ▷
Lake Camp
4.5/5
Nice drive in on gravel roads.
We were there between Christmas and New Years.
Bit of a challenge to find a flat quiet place. This place is popular! We found a small patch of grass close to the boat ramp right on the lake. Quiet enough at night. Would stay here again.
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South Island ▷ Fiordland ▷ Te Anau ▷
Deer Flat Campsite
4.5/5
You're spoilt for choice along this road for DOC campsites, so after driving into a couple of potential sites, we settled on Deer Flat.
There's lots of good camp sites under the trees but we chose a spot out in the open next to the river.
The place was near deserted even though it was early January.
The sites are flat and the grass is short.
Views are awesome! We had a gentle breeze so sandflies weren't a problem
Toilets are long drop but were clean, didn't smell and had decent toilet paper.
Really really pleased with this site.
The bonus in the morning was the short drive to the Mirror Lakes where there was a coffee cart that had eftpos!
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North Island ▷ Tairāwhiti Gisborne ▷ Tokomaru Bay ▷
Waipiro Bay Freedom Camping
4.0/5
What an awesome spot.
We went to the other camping spot up the other road first but that was pretty busy and quite small.
Took a chance and came to this camping spot. Sure glad we did. Nice and quiet, lots of room and a good view of the ocean.
Only four other vehicles.
The toilet is petty good and reasonably new. No fresh water or rubbish disposal and cellphone service is very patchy.
As far as I know it was free.
Very very happy with this place.