Kate
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South Island ▷ Coastal Otago ▷ Portobello ▷
Portobello Village Tourist Park
4.0/5
Perfectly functional and clean.
The only campsite on the Peninsula, so a good place for a night or two. Pretty cheap too - $38 for a powered site with a free hour's internet and free hot showers. The facilities are pretty basic, and the shower block freezing in May, but then you're out all day exploring the beautiful coastline so it really doesn't matter at all.
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South Island ▷ Wanaka Region ▷ Wanaka Township ▷
Wanaka TOP 10 Holiday Park
4.5/5
Very well organised, spotless site, with a number of lovely added 'extras' such as use of the hot tubs and free wifi.
Very well organised, spotless site, with a number of lovely added 'extras' such as use of the hot tubs and free wifi. It misses out on a 10 because the open plan lounge/kitchen space wasn't quite right for us, and wasn't a safe environment for our inquisitive 16-month-old who kept wanting to poke about round people cooking. (I asked for some toys for night two to be put in the lounge, and the owners obliged - thank you, they were a great help in keeping baby occupied.) The other area for improvement was the lack of any equipment in the kitchen, so you had to cart all your pots and pans over with you. A few basic items would have been helpful. But overall a great place to stay, and even better when the clouds cleared (only briefly for us, sadly) to reveal a gorgeous snowy mountain vista.
Thanks Kate :) We totally appreciate a 9 out of 10 and understand about the kitchen & lounge space which we are re-doing come May and June which is our quiet time :)
Justin and Andrea Kendrick
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South Island ▷ Southland ▷ Owaka ▷
Catlins Newhaven Holiday Park
5.0/5
Great place to stay.
Right on a beach with resident sea lions (we nearly fell over one, which was a bit of a shock). The facilities were spotless, and everything was catered for... utensils, pans, plates, etc, were available for use (saved carting our own over to the kitchen - hooray). There was even washing up liquid and clean tea towels (changed daily). The lounge felt like home, with books to borrow and games to play. It's the only place I've not had to watch my two little boys like a hawk as the lounge space was safe for them to play in. There were even age-appropriate toys available for them. We meant to stay one night, and ended up staying three as it was easy enough to use it as a base for exploring the Catlins. And for $40 a night for the family (powered site), it felt like a bargain.
Hey Kate - thank you so much for your review - we really appreciate your feedback. Yep those sea lions lie so quietly on the beach or track and you think they are a log - had a few close encounters myself. Happy that your family had a great time with us - your boys are real cuties - its nice to come acrosss a family centred Holiday Park we you feel safe. Heard a morepark calling the other night - and a bird watcher staying here said she heard kiwi's so will have to get out with camera and a torch.
Hope your travels continued to go well, take excellent care, cheers Jude
Grant and Deborah
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South Island ▷ Canterbury ▷ Springfield ▷
Lake Pearson (Moana Rua) Campsite
4.5/5
Lovely, peaceful spot by the lake.
We stayed in May and it was pretty chilly, with the advantage of having the place to ourselves. No sandflies either. We thought the scenery was bleak - dark, bare hills with dark, overhanging clouds - but beautiful.
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North Island ▷ Bay of Plenty ▷ Tauranga ▷
McLaren Falls Camping Area
5.0/5
One of our favourite camping spots.
Absolutely stunning parkland, lake views, short rainforest walks... Wish we could have stayed longer. The park rangers are super helpful, patiently explaining the river ecology to our three year old. The facilities were much better than we were expecting too - lots of clean toilets and a number of free hot showers. Highly recommend.
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South Island ▷ Marlborough ▷ Picton / Marlborough Sounds ▷
Momorangi Campsite
5.0/5
Beautiful spot at the water's edge, with quite possibly the best view from a children's playground ever.
Really good facilities - spotless and perfect for our needs. We camped in May, and enjoyed the site almost to ourselves. Watching day break over the water, and the changing colours of the low-hung cloud was magical. 20mins drive from Picton, so a great place to stay before or after a ferry crossing. The kitchen is quite small though, so may seem a bit crowded in high season (not a problem for us).
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North Island ▷ Coromandel ▷ Hahei ▷
Hot Water Beach TOP 10 Holiday Park
4.0/5
Good site - clean, spacious and lots of facilities (the dryer even got our clothes bone dry!).
Our children loved the play area and bouncy pillow. You do pay for such good facilities - it's by far the most expensive campsite of our holiday so far, and the only place that asked for payment for our 16-month-old. No free wifi either, and no flexibility on check-out time. Even so, we ended up staying an extra night as it was so close to a number of amazing attractions.
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North Island ▷ Northland ▷ Kerikeri ▷
Aroha Island
5.0/5
What an amazing place.
There's so much to do, including a lovely bush walk around the island which takes about an hour. The visitor centre holds a wealth of information, the staff are super helpful, and there are loads of well thought-out activities for children to do (like hunting for bugs). We went kiwi spotting at nightfall with our three year old through the bush, which he thought was terribly exciting and a definite highlight of our holiday. We heard one, but sadly didn't see it. Perhaps our entourage was a bit too noisy! Aroha Island is well worth a visit if you're nearby - allow a full day to make the most of what it has to offer.