sydneyaharris
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South Island ▷ Fiordland ▷ Te Anau ▷
Henry Creek Campsite
5.0/5
This place is AWESOME!
Tent sites are inside a beautiful beech forest, with soft mossy ground to sleep on, and they're right on the lake but with pre-built wind shelters from tree branches. It's sandfly central - you DEFINITELY need bug spray, but it's well worth it. We were only going to stay for one night but came back for a second because it was the best campsite we found on Milford Road.
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North Island ▷ Bay of Plenty ▷ Waihi ▷
Dickey Flat Campsite
4.0/5
Great swimming hole!
A bit buggy so bring the insect repellent, but overall a very nice stay.
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South Island ▷ Fiordland ▷ Milford Sound - Fiordland National Park ▷
Milford Sound Lodge – Rainforest Campervan Park
2.5/5
Tent site was so-so.
They tried to make it in a "forest," but the sites (all 4 or 5 of them) are really just separated from the campervan parking lot/driveway by some thinned out trees, and they're all in one spot clustered right up close together. Also, they're just little green mats on sand/gravel so they're not very comfortable. The kitchen is small and gets very busy at breakfast & dinner times.
On the other hand, there are beautiful mountain views, and it's only a short easy walk to actual Milford Sound, and they sell yummy muffins at the cafe. The showers are nice as well. The wildlife is excellent!
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South Island ▷ Kaikoura Region ▷ Kaikoura ▷
Kaikoura Kayaks
3.5/5
We had fun on our Seal Kayak adventure!
The guide was very knowledgeable and friendly. Unfortunately, however, despite all the "guarantees," we hardly saw any animals at all, let alone fur seals. We saw two blue penguins but that's it- no seals in the water and only one far away on a rock. Of course you can't guarantee seeing any wildlife in the ocean, but maybe they should be a bit more careful about getting everyone's hopes up with the promises they make.
Hi Guys
It gives us great pleasure to read that you had 'fun' thanks heaps for the review. Wow two blue penguins how exciting and a bonus to your tour. We remember that the seals were sunbathing and lazily sleeping on the rocks that day, they just weren't keen on taking a bath! We are careful not to guarantee the behaviour of the wildlife animals but we do promise viewing of the New Zealand Fur Seal:) We hope to see you again soon and maybe we can catch the seals taking a swim. All the best from the Team at Kaikoura Kayaks:)
Matt Foy
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South Island ▷ Canterbury ▷ Christchurch ▷
Alpine View Holiday Park
0.5/5
This place was THE WORST.
We didn't even stay the night. We arrived, paid, and then found the tent site, which was a piece of grass right by the entrance with pretty hard ground and NO shade, and were already debating whether or not to stay when we heard a massive freight train go by right over the walls, and it must have a stop right there because it stopped and whistled and went on for ages- super loud. On the other side was the main road, which meant trucks would also be going by all night. On top of that, we encountered three people during the 40-or-so minutes we were actually there, and all of them were extremely creepy. Terrible vibes. One of the managers (a horrible woman) came by and without even saying hi (we hadn't met her when we'd paid), she just bustled up and asked us if we'd already been to the office to pay. Rude. We decided we didn't want to stay and went back to the office to ask for our money back, where we encountered this same woman who refused on the basis that we'd already eaten our lunch on the site, even though we hadn't used any of the facilities or pitched our tent. The other manager (and older man), asked us why we wanted to leave and when we mentioned the noise and that we'd been on the road for two weeks and really wanted a good night's sleep, he told us if we were tired enough we'd sleep like logs, and that he was in the military for 30 years and it had worked for him. .... We hated it so much that we gave up and let them keep the money and still didn't stay there. DO NOT STAY HERE.
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North Island ▷ Taranaki ▷ Patea ▷
Wai-inu Beach Domain
3.0/5
Pros: beautiful beach, incredible sunset and moonrise and then sunrise the next morning, found a nice private spot for our tent.
Cons: EXTREMELY windy- nearly collapsed the tent! Not much shelter. There were LOTS of camper-vans, which is always a bit awkward when you're in a tent.
Bathrooms/taps are very basic, so be prepared for that.
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North Island ▷ Ruapehu ▷ Tongariro / National Park Village ▷
Indoor Climbing Wall
4.5/5
Loved it!
Awesome tent site on soft grass, nice kitchen facilities, friendly staff and an easy shuttle to the Tongariro Crossing. Got our first good night's sleep camping here after several other sites around the North Island.
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South Island ▷ Kaikoura Region ▷ Kaikoura ▷
Omihi Reserve Campsite
2.0/5
This place was RIGHT on the main road as well as next to a train track- got almost no sleep in a tent with the constant noise and lights going by!
It was campervan city, and most of them seemed very long-term, which made us feel a bit like we were crashing some kind of suburb uninvited.
pros: beautiful coast, and very nice facilities at the main campground (Kaikoura Coastal Campgrounds) down the road.
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South Island ▷ Marlborough ▷ Blenheim ▷
Marfells Beach Campsite
4.0/5
Pros: Nice views; isolated; only $6 per person for a tent site.
Overall a good stay! We saw a cute hedgehog, too :)
Cons: LOTS of campervans, which isn't so fun when you're in a tent. Annoying weed chopper in the morning that woke us up. Very windy!
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South Island ▷ Coastal Otago ▷ Dunedin ▷
Manor House Backpackers Hostel
3.5/5
Nice place, helpful staff, big tv in our room, and comfy bed with a heater.
:) Thin walls, though people were pretty respectful and we were on the top floor so it wasn't much of an issue. The driveway is extremely steep, so if you're driving a small car like we were that can't handle it, you might not make it up. But, there's free street parking across from the entrance so it's not a problem. There's NO FREEZER, which was a bummer as we were between camping trips and wanted to re-freeze our ice, so prepare for that. Also, the free wi-fi was excruciatingly slow on my laptop, though they do provide two computers and the internet worked fine on those.
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North Island ▷ Wellington Region ▷ Wellington ▷
Rosemere Backpackers Hostel
2.0/5
This place was grody.
Our door did not even have a working handle, let alone a lock. Also the room was dark and smelled like mold. As usual for hostels, the free breakfast was just some ceral and white toast. The beds were super uncomfortable, too.
We were happy to be able to stay here because the rest of Wellington was booked solid for Homegrown, and the location is great, but overall the stay wasn't worth what we paid for two dorm beds, which wasn't cheap.
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South Island ▷ Stewart Island ▷ Halfmoon Bay ▷
Stewart Island Backpackers
3.0/5
THIN WALLS!
Housekeeping played really loud music at 9am, when we just wanted one morning to sleep in, so that was quite frustrating. The kitchen was small and very busy. Also, the wifi was mediocre at best.
Overall, though, we had a nice stay - the showers and bathrooms were clean with plenty of hot water, and the location is easy to access with luggage when walking from the ferry landing.