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Ewan Evans
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North Island ▷ Northland ▷ Whangarei ▷
Marsden Bay Reserve
3.0/5
Free spot with a public toilet next to it.
Toilet was ok, not great. View of bay was nice though you do see the oil refinery! Can’t complain too much for free.
When we were there we had two guys sitting around slightly weirdly. Turns out they were intending to camp the night but it just felt odd - they kept glancing over and driving off and coming back. Not sure what it was about, and I’m sure it was just a one off.
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North Island ▷ Rotorua Region ▷ Rotorua ▷
Cosy Cottage Thermal Holiday Park
3.5/5
Thermal pools and lake hot springs were great.
Location was ok. Facilities a little dated but well maintained. We tried their Hangi steamer. We weren’t very good at using it appears - our fish tasted average. Make sure you wrap your food very well so it is sealed!
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North Island ▷ Coromandel ▷ Thames ▷
Tararu Beachfront North Reserve
4.5/5
Five spots.
For certified free campers only as no toilet or shower. Amazing water views, and couldn’t hear anything from our spot due to the waves. No beach so only gets a 9 :-)
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North Island ▷ Auckland Region ▷ Auckland ▷
Muriwai Beach Campground
5.0/5
Fantastic new facilities, don’t have to pay to use showers.
Plenty of space and super friendly hosts.
Amazing black beach just across from the park to watch the sunsets from. Is also a swimming beach that appeared. Sry popular with surfers. Only about 20 people on the beach mid week in late November though it got busier late afternoon.
We stumbled across the Gannet colony by accident during hatching season. This is an absolute must see and only a 10 minute walk away. We felt we’d walked into the middle of a nature documentary and were just a couple of metres away from these amazing birds.
If you are unsure about this place I’d encourage you to stay - we had a great time.
$44 for a powered site, $40 for unpowered. 2 adults.
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North Island ▷ Northland ▷ Kaitaia ▷
Tapotupotu Campsite
4.5/5
Amazing spot with a beautiful beach and stunning views.
Gravel road for several km was fine in our largish motorhome. Drop toilets had no smell - awesome - and alcohol hand rub outside to use.
Make sure you take your own drinking water.
We had rain overnight but ground was good and not soggy - you’d need several days of rain for that.
Well maintained and a magical experience. Felt like we were truly at the end of the earth surrounded by beautiful hillsides, a river, and a beach.
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North Island ▷ Waikato ▷ Waitomo ▷
Juno Hall Backpackers and Camping
4.5/5
Nice backpackers with good facilities.
Also accommodated our late arrival and let us pay in the morning. Excellent service. Showers were free. Didn’t give it a 10 as we had a little difficulty finding a level spot to park a large motorhome.
It was marvellous to wake up in the morning and be greeted by two very cute pigs just over the fence!
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North Island ▷ Wellington Region ▷ Wellington ▷
Barnett Street Carpark, Wellington
2.5/5
Essentially just an open air car park.
Excellent location to walk to a whole lot of activities in Wellington, including right next to Te Papa museum. No designated motorhome spots so had to stick out of one of the spots. $30 for 24 hours. Public toilet 5 minutes walk across the park.
This was the oddest experience in our north island adventure - staying in a car park with traffic going by! Would probably stay here again given the location.
Did not see any security and the payments were done via machine.
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North Island ▷ Northland ▷ Pouto Peninsula ▷
Glinks Gully Campground
1.5/5
Young crowd, noisy, and really just a camping spot.
No reception to check in at, but rather an honour system with a caretaker who drives through twice a day and you have to buy tokens for the shower from.
We stayed here after reading amazing reviews. Unfortunately our experience did not match.
Men’s urinal out of order. This left two men’s toilets, one of which the light didn’t work in and had no windows so couldn’t be used. Showers alternated between high pressure and super hot and low pressure and cold, with no way to control temperature or intensity. Toilet and shower blocks were very used and dated. Grass has burrs in it, ground was uneven, and view of sunset only available for campervan area.