Stefan Beiner
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North Island ▷ Coromandel ▷ Thames ▷
Broken Hills Campsite
Stayed there one night.
The drive is via sealed and gravel road although doable with a campervan. We reached pretty late afternoon so didn’t have time to look around. The camp site was just fine and the toilets were not inviting. Lots of flies along the walls and not a feeling of a clean place.
Unfortunately it rained hard the following morning so we left pretty quickly.
Does not live up to experience with other DOC scenic camps as location stuck in valley and mostly between trees. Gets dark pretty quickly at night because of this.
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North Island ▷ Auckland Region ▷ Pukekohe ▷
BP Connect Bombay
They don’t do LPG refills (maybe anymore).
However they were very friendly at giving me the address of a Caltex station instead.
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North Island ▷ Bay of Plenty ▷ Waihi ▷
Karangahake Windows Walk
Loved the walk.
Had a 7-year old with me who really enjoyed it too. Due to the hard rain recently, there was some water in the tunnel and we skipped some windows since there were large pools of water but overall great fun and definitely worth visiting.
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North Island ▷ Auckland Region ▷ Auckland ▷
Caltex Elliott Street
Was not happy with the LPG refill service.
Bottle got not fully weighed and cost was more than double of what I paid for a refill of a completely empty bottle up in Northland - seems rather overpriced. Bottle was definitely not empty this time.
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North Island ▷ Waikato ▷ Tokoroa ▷
Arohena Campsite
A nice place right next to the water.
Not sure if it’s classified as lake or river. Can definitely go swimming there in summer. The drive is a bit steep the last bit but very doable with campervan.
The place seems to be popular with young Kiwis as mentioned by other reviewe. There were quite a few you people having fun and playing music for some time. However once dark it didn’t really bother us and there is plenty of space. We were able to enjoy a beautiful night sky.
Toilet facilities are very good and clean. Water available too although needs to be boiled for consumption.
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North Island ▷ Auckland Region ▷ Helensville ▷
Parakai Springs Aquatic Park & Motor Camp
Pretty simple camp site.
Facilities a bit dated. Little light at night if you need to go toilets.
Didn’t manage to enter the pool since we reached late and moved on the next morning.
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North Island ▷ Northland ▷ Kaitaia ▷
PaknSave Kaitaia
After shopping at PackNSave got some fuel discount vouchers which helped to lower the price of fuel which tends to be higher up north.
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North Island ▷ Northland ▷ Kaeo ▷
Hihi Beach Holiday Park
Nice location right opposite the (rocky) beach of Doubtless Bay.
Staff were very friendly and facilities very clean. Kitchen is large and well equipped including pots, pans and plates.
Only point to improve is limited privacy on powered sites since right next to each other without any greenery in between.
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North Island ▷ Northland ▷ Kaitaia ▷
Kapowairua Campsite
Really loved this site.
A bit of a drive on gravel but once reached the site, it was great. The toilets are absolutely ok for DOC, there is water (which needs to be boiled for consumption) and cold showers which we didn’t try.
The scenery is stunning and after dark, the stars were beautiful to watch given there were no electric lights around.
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North Island ▷ Northland ▷ Kaitaia ▷
Ahipara Top 10 Holiday Park
Great facilities and good location.
Large site and quite busy despite early season however there was ample privacy for powered sites despite the many vehicles. Great proximity to 90 mile beach and to head for Cape Reinga. Pack’N Save close in Kaitaia.