Christine Allgaier
South Island ▷ Mount Cook - MacKenzie ▷ Lake Tekapo ▷
4.0/5
Officially there is space for 32 campervans but there were way more here.
Other than that it's a really beautiful place to be. You can take a swim in the lake and the view is gorgeous, especially when the sun is setting. In the evening the sky was clear and you could stargaze from the shore. Toilets are very clean but bring your own toilet paper. No tap water but there are sinks with pumps (but water is not suitable for drinking).
South Island ▷ Nelson Region ▷ Motueka ▷
1.5/5
The space itself is nice, you could easily place 30 campervans and the river is nearby so you could take a swim.
The toilet was absolutely gross, not usable at all, I suppose that is the reason why we could se lot of toilet paper in the bushes... There was a huge amount of sandflies so we couldn't stay out of the van without getting stung every minute. Also there are lots of other insects flying around and they make a really loud noise so you can sleep only when they eventually stop twirping. Wouldn't come here again, and never with a non self contained van.
South Island ▷ Coastal Otago ▷ Dunedin ▷
4.0/5
Nice spot with basic toilets at the beginning of the place.
Because it's so spacious there were also two portaloos on the other end, both clean and good to use. There is a small way with access to the beach.
Only negative point is that there are far to many people camping there, suppose it's because it's the only free place for non-self contained for a while. So it was quite noisy and even in the middle of the night there were still new arrivals.
North Island ▷ Manawatu - Wanganui ▷ Palmerston North ▷
4.5/5
Nice spot with a river for swimming nearby.
Enough space for parking and grass for tents as well. It's not signed that you can camp there so without the app we wouldn't have found it. Toilets are rather new and clean but as it's a drop loo it's a bit smelly. They don't have sinks but toilet paper and foam disinfectant.
It's directly next to the main road and you can hear all cars but there isn't much traffic.
North Island ▷ Taupo Region ▷ Turangi ▷
3.5/5
It's a nice little camp with space for about 10 cars.
The drop loo was just awful, barely usable. But if you're there for the crossing it's a perfect space for one night since only 20 minutes from the finishing car park. Bring your own water since the next spot was about 2km to walk.
North Island ▷ Bay of Plenty ▷ Tauranga ▷
5.0/5
Good signed, so easy to find (in daylight though, might be hard when it's dark).
Very nice camping site with more than enough parking space. Clean toilets with drinkable water and picnic tables are nearby.
North Island ▷ Rotorua Region ▷ Hamurana ▷
2.0/5
It's just a small parking lot with concrete and a rather smelly drop loo.
In the early evening whole bunches of kayakers came out and would be picked up here. Same really early in the morning and they made A LOT of noise. Didn't stay longer than one night as we didn't feel really safe with all the people trafficking... Though it's a free place around Taupo but there are better options.
North Island ▷ Waikato ▷ Tuakau ▷
5.0/5
Loved the site, we stayed for two nights as it's easy to find.
There are clean toilets with sinks, soap and toilet paper, an outside tap with drinkable water l. It's basically just a large field of grass but spacious enough to park where you want.
North Island ▷ Waikato ▷ Tuakau ▷
4.0/5
We weren't sure if it's really allowed to camp here, since the sign said no.
After a bit research we found confirmation on a website. They should probably change the sign. Otherwise a nice spacious place but at the moment they are rebuilding the playground so there is a working site which makes some noise early in the morning, but can be avoided by parking a bit more behind.