Okay campsite.

(Long review, but much needed)

The reason I gave 7/10 is because the town was lovely and the location was convenient. Approx 15 non-self contained spots and 30 self contained spots in a town parking lot. Showed up at 6:30pm and no spots left - arrive earlier I guess? We took the risk ($200 fine) and stayed in a restricted area and it turned out okay, but most ppl just left. We did this because canpervans took up extra parking spaces to cook food in and beside their vehicles.

By the morning they ask you to leave by 7am because the locals begin using the parking lot. Students catch the bus there and use the car park to store their car for the day and locals use the toilets en route to work etc. We left at about 7:30am and over half of the people were still sleeping in their cars/campers. We left feeling bad for the people in this town having to deal with the daily mess and things that come with backpacker and freedom camping mentality/vibes. As a backpacker, staying at this campsite made me realize why locals disapprove of freedom camping in NZ. I would too if I lived in a place that had this happen daily.

Pros:

-clean toilets (until freedom campers littered and dirtied bathrooms)

-nice picnic tables and park area

-convenient location (walking distance to everything in town)

-police drove through a few times possibly as a routine check which was comforting

Cons:

-way too busy, people cooking everywhere and in a confined space

-over stuffed garbage bins and people disrespectfully left trash bags outside once bins were full

- people didn’t clear out by 7am and locals tried to use facilities but freedom campers occupied them

-locals also came by around 9/9:30pm and honked waking people up (and rightly so, as a local I’d do the same after staying at this campsite)

Overall - okay place to stay to crash for one night, but I would recommend going somewhere else not only for your own sake, but the towns.

Reviewed over 6 years ago