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North Island ▷ Ruapehu ▷ Waiouru ▷
National Army Museum
The National Army Museum at Waiouru provides free camping for self-contained motorhomes and caravans at the back of the rear carpark, in a sign-posted area in front of the old barracks.
The area adjoining it is grassed and has picnic tables and rubbish bins. Campers are free to use the bathrooms during the museum opening hours and the cafe has a good choice of breakfasts from 9am.
The area is flat, paved, very quiet and has superb security. Campers are welcome to stay as long as they like.
The area is under CCTV surveillance. If you arrive late and are not sure where to park a security guard arrives very quickly to show you the way. He was so friendly and helpful it made our overnight stay very enjoyable (especially since we didn't know there was any free camping in Waiouru).
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North Island ▷ Waikato ▷ Matamata ▷
Firth Tower Overnight Camping
Functional, inexpensive stopover for campervans and motorhomes with the bonus of having power available and the use of clean toilet facilities.
The museum is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The Opal Springs hot pools are approximately 300 metres around the corner. Payment for the stopover is by honesty box.
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North Island ▷ Waikato ▷ Matamata ▷
Pohlen Park freedom camping area
The carpark is in a residential area and is well-lit.
It is quiet with room for easily a dozen campervans although ours was the only van there. There are no rubbish bins in the vicinity and while most of the carpark was clean there were a couple of areas with trash strewn about. Adjoining the carpark is a children's playground. Dogs are welcome in the park as long as they are on a leash.
We didn't see any signs to direct us to the carpark but local service station attendants knew where it was (the end of Western Street, two blocks down from the Matamata i-site).