Emilie Stelling
South Island ▷ Canterbury ▷ Lyttelton ▷
1.5/5
Be warned!
Don't arrive without cash! We tried booking online and thought it was very strange to be asked on the website to make a bank transfer.. we are tourists.. Not locals.. and its the 21st century right?! Our currency card didn't have the facility to transfer to a local bank account. We needed somewhere to stay for one night so believed they could just take our card details when we got there.. wrong! We rang in advance as well to check the availanility.. the guy could have mentioned this on the phone but didnt!! The nearest cash point would be miles away.. through winding roads. The ranger who came to take payment asked if we had a cheque book as an alternative which I found to be an absurd question since we are tourists. Anyway it came down to us scrabbling around accessing our UK bank account to make an international payment! The ranger did not have any swift code details to give us.. We had to go online and find out HIS banks swift code which took some time.. in an area of poor signal! Thankfully after much faffing about.. the payment got sent. We were told that apparently we would struggle to book campsites in NZ if we didn't have access to bank transfer... is this person living in the dark ages?! We had no issues paying by card in any of NZ apart from this one place. The showers are COLD and we had an unpowered site.. for $30 that's quite cheeky... not forgetting the charge from my UK bank for the transfer. There were no rubbish bins.. I believe there is a waste water dump. Only positive note on this place it's in beautiful surroundings with well kept gardens and very peaceful. Ensure you're fully self contained if the powered pitches are full.. And ensure your water is full up for a HOT shower in your own camper!