Tom
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South Island ▷ Marlborough ▷ Blenheim ▷
Taylor Dam Reserve
3.5/5
Good spot, lovely lake with one bench.
9 spots all in a row, didn’t fill up. Lovely sunset and lots of ducks in the lake/reservoir. Some cars at weird hours of the night.
One portaloo which was in fairly grim condition although toilet roll present, 4 min walk from camping area.
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South Island ▷ Nelson Region ▷ Murchison ▷
Riverside Holiday Park
5.0/5
No need to book if unpowered but check in by 9pm.
Great ‘ jumping pillow’ which was fun even for us adults !
Showers are $2 for a hot one but cold is free. Laundry at $2/load also. Kitchen spacious and well equipped. Hardly any sandflies.
Overall a lovely place to stay.
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South Island ▷ West Coast ▷ Greymouth ▷
Cobden Beachfront, Greymouth
5.0/5
Brilliant place to camp.
Good clean 2x loos and beach shower. Right by the beach and Wednesday nights surf club was on (run from the building up the shipwreck breakwater). Boards can be hired in the surf shop in town.
Busy with everyone parked up in the designated spaces, got a space fine at 1830. About 2000hrs self-containment check was conducted and the official moved people from day use bays.
Shame about the rain and wind but can’t be helped!
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South Island ▷ Canterbury ▷ Hanmer Springs ▷
Hanmer Springs River Reserve, Hanmer Springs
1.0/5
Full at 1620 with 14 big caravans on a Monday night.
Left rather than risk it. Looked nice though.
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South Island ▷ Canterbury ▷ Hanmer Springs ▷
Hanmer Field Base and Picnic Area
4.0/5
Good spot.
Arrived 1700 and was 2 slots left, but in the end around 15 campers squeezed in all ways.
Some very jolly (drunk) big rig owners but they quietened down by 11pm.
Nice toilets but no bins. Easy 15 min walk into town/ to the hot springs.
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South Island ▷ Marlborough ▷ Blenheim ▷
Lake Elterwater
3.0/5
4 decent spots and then another 3-4 along the left hand side.
Pretty small pull off the road, and very close to traffic for light sleepers.
Nice lake for bird watching but no swimming possible.
Best drop toilets I’ve ever seen.
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South Island ▷ Southland ▷ Lumsden ▷
Lumsden Information Centre
5.0/5
Excellent place to stay.
Great facilities (everything you need - washing up, water, loos). Laundry facility/kiosk just south down the road open 24/7, $5 a load takes card. Lovely evening in the sun by the old train or if it was raining on the old platform. Did get pretty busy but still spaces. I’d give the chippy over the road miss though!
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South Island ▷ West Coast ▷ Haast ▷
Lake Paringa Campsite
2.0/5
At $30 for 2 of us this price was excessive, at least it goes to DOC.
Booked online but no need - loads of space and people in unbooked spots. (Total 5 cars/vans including us).
There are only toilets and a sink with non potable water. The sandflies were awful but it is pretty by the lake. Very humid in the forest here.
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South Island ▷ Canterbury ▷ Timaru ▷
Caroline Bay
4.5/5
Amazing for seeing the penguins - after sunset up on the port road for best views!
Very busy parking lot with some longer term stayers. Good facilities including a shower and drinking water which is a rarity! Bit of a walk into town. Also the nearby seafood market is just a tiny fishmonger counter!
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South Island ▷ Canterbury ▷ Akaroa ▷
Akaroa Freedom Camping Area
3.5/5
Great place to walk into Akaroa and sit by the loch.
Toilet block although 400m from the campsite.
Last small space filled up at 1845. Mostly full by 1730.
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South Island ▷ Central Otago ▷ Cromwell ▷
Lowburn Harbour
4.0/5
Enormous campsite so always space by the water but even so must have been 100+ vehicles.
1x loo block with very strong tap and only 2x loos per gender. A very very poorly woman in one of the females! Limited bins. Lovely to swim in the lake, and took water to boil and drink etc. No sandflies but lots of wind (very dusty to be outside). Overall great.
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South Island ▷ Fiordland ▷ Te Anau ▷
Ellington Valley Camp
5.0/5
Great facilities , although kitchen was rammed with everyone trying to use it (3x stoves 2 sinks and fridge freezer, good utensils).
Nice loos and showers. (Only one in the way to Milford we could find with showers).
1 washer 1 drier at $4 a load.
Checkin before 7pm. We managed to book a space on the day at $25pp.
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South Island ▷ Mount Cook - MacKenzie ▷ Omarama ▷
Ahuriri Bridge Campsite
3.5/5
Lovely to dip in the river.
Later on in the wind lots of dust blew up over the whole site which was awful and had to shelter in our van. Drop loos were perfectly ok.
Massive area so won’t ever get full plenty of space at the back in the shade of the trees.
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South Island ▷ Mount Cook - MacKenzie ▷ Twizel ▷
Lake Pukaki Overnight Campervan Parking
5.0/5
Simply an amazing place to camp.
At 1700 plenty of space to pull down from the road to the lakeside on one of the numerous tracks. Us and one other van in our largish pull off. Perfect for a swim! No sandflies with all the wind! Only drop toilets at the end of the lake so must be self contained really.