Sinkbli
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North Island ▷ Auckland Region ▷ Miranda ▷
Rays Rest Camping Reserve
Great place.
We stopped for our first night after picking up our rental campervan in Auckland. The views are beautiful, and there is a lot of space. There were probably 10 vans there with us, but it was easy to find a space and didn’t feel crowded at all.
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South Island ▷ Marlborough ▷ Havelock ▷
Pelorus Bridge Campground
Absolutely lovely campsite.
Beautiful surroundings and plenty of space.
The (unpowered) campervan spots are in pairs divided by big trees and hedges so you only have one neighbour (we had none at all). Great for a feeling of privacy. There is loads of space all around the site so even if it was full I’m pretty sure you’d have all the space you could need.
There are also spots right by the river - these seemed to be the most popular and were full by the time we arrived at around 6. They are a bit smaller but have a lovely view.
The facilities are good too - good size kitchen with space to eat inside and outside, sinks for laundry plus a washing machine/dryer, nice warm showers with unlimited hot water and plenty of space.
There is a DOC cafe at the entrance (5 minutes walk from the camping section) which had nice food for lunch and good coffee.
Note: other reviews mention that the powered sites are in a less nice location with worse facilities so we didn’t try them - we didn’t see them at all so I can’t comment.
Overall, this is the sort of campsite it is worth going out of your way to stay at. I really have nothing bad to say about it at all.
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South Island ▷ Kaikoura Region ▷ Kaikoura ▷
Puhi Puhi Camping
First, the picture on the Rankers app seems to be of a different campsite.
This site is described as “grassy” both here and on the DOC website, but really it is just a gravel car park with a couple of patches of grass around it. There isn’t much of a view, and I really don’t think it’s worth driving up the gravel track for.
We stayed in late March. All of the other campsites we’d been at had been half empty, but this one was packed - people arriving late were turning round and leaving because there was no more space.
Overall, I don’t see any reason to pay the 8 dollars per adult to stay here.