Profile
Andrew Young
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North Island ▷ Coromandel ▷ Thames ▷
Tapu Creek Campervan Park
Lovely setting overlooking a clear stream just off the Tapu Coroglen road and within minutes of the water gardens at Raparua.
Quiet and tranquil site. Highly recommended for the location.
Water supply not drinkable so ensure your camper is topped up before you get there. Shower and toilets very clean and well maintained.
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North Island ▷ Northland ▷ Whangarei ▷
Blue Heron Holiday Park
Very well organised and nothing too much trouble.
Good layout. The lower area juts out into Whangarei Harbour giving every powered site a waterside location and a direct view over the bay.
Good, clean facilities and a delightful couple managing the site. Drinkable water supply. Dump site sensibly located away and with space to turn.
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North Island ▷ Northland ▷ Kaitaia ▷
Maitai Bay Campsite
Stunningly beautiful location overlooking a horseshoe bay.
Top site said to have better views of the bay so that was where we stayed. Sun rises over the headland across the bay and the beach. Beach and sea a delight. Two other beautiful bays within easy walking distance. Very quiet.
Clean flush toilets and sound basic facilities. Informative and helpful warden.
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South Island ▷ Coastal Otago ▷ Oamaru ▷
Moeraki Boulders Holiday Park @ Hamden Beach
A fairly tightly packed site with a partial sea view from most of the pitches.
This said it is very pleasant, well managed and organised.
Power sites also have drinking water taps.
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North Island ▷ Rotorua Region ▷ Rotorua ▷
Waiteti Trout Stream Holiday Park
Located in a pleasant suburban area next to a stream and amongst other houses and gardens.
There is a walk down the stream to Lake Rotorua that only takes a few minutes. Site is closely packed yet well laid out. Friendly and knowledgeable owner.
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South Island ▷ Wanaka Region ▷ Wanaka Township ▷
Kidds Bush Reserve Campsite
Utterly wonderful and remote DoC site with pitches directly overlooking Lake Hawea and providing wonderful views morning and evening.
Good, clean flush toilets and water supply.
Long, well-maintained gravel road to get to the site.
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South Island ▷ Fiordland ▷ Manapouri ▷
Manapouri Motorhome and Caravan Park
The best and cleanest facilities that we found anywhere in New Zealand.
Very well maintained and run. Beryl and Seymour who run the site obviously have a great deal of motor home experience that they have built on.
The sites are in ordered rows, separated by hedges and with views over the top of the hedges to the mountains of Fiordland in the distance.
Stock up before arrival as there is no shop worth using in Manapouri. The nearest supermarket is in Te Anau.
The owners go out of their way to be as helpful as possible including arranging a tour to Doubtful Sound with a bus pick up from the site.
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South Island ▷ Canterbury ▷ Banks Peninsula ▷
Okains Bay Camping Ground
An informal site under mature pine trees and directly behind the beach.
Simple and clean facilities.
Note that the road to Okains Bay from the main Akaroa road is very steep and tight, about the most challenging that we that found on New Zealand for a camper van so be warned.
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South Island ▷ West Coast ▷ Okarito ▷
Okarito Camping Ground
Informal, tightly packed community managed site.
Back from beach and lagoon behind scrub.
Facilities alright but nothing special and limited.
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South Island ▷ West Coast ▷ Punakaiki ▷
Punakaiki Beach Camp
Informally laid out with power sites but no source of drinkable water for topping up camper vans.
Warned water needs to be boiled before drinking.
Our experience marred by misbehaviour from members of a group in a Flying Kiwi bus. They did eventually stop when we warned that we would lodge a formal complaint if they continued.
Handy walking distance from the pancake rocks (about a 20-25 minute walk) but otherwise unexceptional.
Hi there Aitku.
Thank you for taking the time to make a review. We are sorry to hear you could not find our water stations in the camping area, they are located under each 'plug-in' box for the campervans.
Water quality wise, around this time the local council had advised us to boil drinking water as a precautionary measure due to the UV treatment system being damaged during heavy rainfall. We have been advised this will be fixed soon.
It is rare for the Flying kiwi tour to make excessive noise however we have spoken to the bus company. They have apologized for this certain night and assured us noise will be kept to an acceptable level in the future.
Regards
Jed
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North Island ▷ Wellington Region ▷ Wellington ▷
Wellington Waterfront Motorhome Park
A wonderful location that is as good as any city centre hotel to see Wellington from.
Right on the rejuvenated waterfront so you can walk to bars and restaurants. Just a bit further in either direction takes you to everywhere in central Wellington: Te Papa museum, House of Parliament, cable car to Botanic Gardens…Recommended.
Sites are oversized parking spaces with clear space marked between and easy access to power. Facilities fine for camper van users.
Finding the entrance can be a challenge as cones are placed across it to prevent unauthorised access and it is easy to be parked within feet trying to work out how to get in.
It is noisy during the day but falls quiet by about 9pm.
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South Island ▷ Nelson Region ▷ Nelson ▷
Nelson City TOP 10 Holiday Park
Fair site.
Spoilt by the inappropriate location of the dump station. The site is in two halves, separated by a bridge over a creek. The power sites across the bridge each have their own dump station. However, the shared dump station has been sited so that people have to park on the bridge to use it and nobody else can then get in or out. People were tooting horns and tempers were fraying over this in the morning. When we asked the manager why not put it somewhere else he said that would mean one less paying site available. Enough said, not recommended until the layout pays more attention to customer convenience than the owner’s pocket.
Hi Andrew, yes I know its a difficult spot and it used to be on the other side of the creek so it caused problems there too, When it was moved that was where the main line meets , to have moved it further along we would have a huge extra cost, and I mean several thousand as we would have had to dig up the main line through the tarseal as well so we had to settle with that spot, we also had to have the park ready for the season and its very hard to book a plumber nowadays unless you dont mind extra fee's for out of hours, we are lucky we did have an awesome plumber but his company is very busy, then we decided that we would put all campers that had need of dump stations on the other side and the ones with cassette toilets that pull out on a trolley on this side, unfortunately there have been more that required a dump station I recognise its an issue and yes we do lose money as well if its moved along as noone wants a site either where the dumpstation is or near it, the thing is we do have other dumpstations on this side of the bridge and I do suggest people use those however most prefer the main one. Yes we are governed by the owners as well with decisions on jobs like this as we should be. we do work very hard to overcome any difficult situations unfortunately we cant rectify everything, I do hope that you found us not lacking in any other requirements, I can say proudly that we wouldnt have been lacking where cleanliness is concerned as we carry a 5 plus star rating for that from Quaalmark, we would love to have you back to stay sometime and I will show you the other wee dump stations you should have been told about We hope you enjoyed your time in New Zealand Andrew and found our other wonderful parks more to your liking.
kind regards
Chrissy Clements The Manager
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South Island ▷ Queenstown Region ▷ Queenstown Township ▷
Moke Lake Campsite
Utterly wonderful DoC campsite location with pitches right next to the lake and with outstanding views across the lake to mountains beyond to wake up to.
Long gravel road to get to the site but well maintained and an easy drive.
Facilities very basic but don’t be put off. Well worth visiting.
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North Island ▷ Northland ▷ Dargaville ▷
Matakohe Holiday Park
Orderly layout and some sites directly overlooking the inlet of Arapaoa River.
Water supply drinkable, sensible dump site location. Clean and sound facilities.
Adjacent to the Kauri Museum.
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South Island ▷ Marlborough ▷ Havelock ▷
Smiths Farm Holiday Park
Warm muffins on arrival is a lovely touch and an example of the professionalism with which this site is run.
Outstandingly clean facilities and a lovely family atmosphere. Spacious rural site. There is a small shop onsite however we didn’t use that. We did buy a copy of a recipe book that raises funds for a local school and it contains very good recipes.
There is a glow worm walk across the fields and through some bush to a waterfall. The bush section has low branches and rocks across a tricky path that were passable in the daylight but made us decide not to wait for dark and the glow worms. You’d need very powerful torches to avoid the risk of tripping or bashing into something on the way back
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North Island ▷ Hawkes Bay ▷ Napier ▷
Hawkes Bay Holiday Park
Let down by noise throughout the night from the state highway that runs right next to the site and by aircraft landing and taking off at Napier Airport.
It is right under the flight path.
Good facilities and a friendly owner compensate to some extent.