J King
North Island ▷ Rotorua Region ▷ Waiotapu ▷
5.0/5
A big pool of bubbling mud, what’s not to love
North Island ▷ Manawatu - Wanganui ▷ Palmerston North ▷
1.0/5
Chose not to stay here as the field was completely torn up, I would assume by the people mentioned in the last review.
Not wanting to encounter any such person in the night and aware that given the state of the field my car could have easily gotten stuck I decided to go elsewhere.
North Island ▷ Manawatu - Wanganui ▷ Palmerston North ▷
5.0/5
Clean warm showers, toilets, a kitchen sink with hot water dispenser, plenty of space on the campsite and a dump station.
You can hear some cars on the nearby roads but at $7.50 for an unpowered site this is the best value campground I’ve stayed in while travelling.
North Island ▷ Taupo Region ▷ Taupo ▷
1.0/5
Camped in the free area in a non-powered campervan.
Boggy wet ground / mud bath and toilets (portaloos) that are worse than any DOC ones I’ve seen, by which I mean almost overflowing and there was a fish head in the sink.
South Island ▷ Wanaka Region ▷ Wanaka Township ▷
3.0/5
Great location, thought it’s a 6km drive down an unsealed road so you may want to bear that in mind.
Views from the lakeshore are fantastic though the toilets weren’t working when we visited and were replaced with portaloos. Sandflies not as bad as other campsites but still present in greater numbers than you’d like. It’s also very popular which detracts from the charm slightly - try to visit when it’s not rammed.
South Island ▷ Mount Cook - MacKenzie ▷ Lake Tekapo ▷
1.5/5
Average views, a dusty campsite and you have to pay… don’t bother staying here.
Recommend you stay at one of the free campsites around Lake Pukaki with views of Mt Cook, or if you want facilities then stay at Lake Tekapo.
South Island ▷ Coastal Otago ▷ Oamaru ▷
5.0/5
Amazing views and more fur seals than you can count.
We visited in the early afternoon and stayed for around an hour just watching the seals play on the rocks.