BootsnAll Travel Community

Quick question for those of you who been to NZ. Is camping free or do people/locals/cops/etc... usually have a problem with individuals camping for free. When I mentioned the word 'free' I am referring to camping anywhere you like (ie. not on campsites, etc...). Just like the idea of touring NZ and then picking a spot to sleep of the night sounds amazing.

Any thoughts or feedback???

I'd like to know this as well, as I'm planning a trip to NZ in the near future and would like to camp in such a way.



Thanks.

I'll third the thirst for knowledge on this one. We're taking off for NZ on October 7th, planning to buy a wagon and camp around for a month.

Visions of setting up the tent on a bluff ready to watch the sun rise, wherever that bluff may find us...

4thed!

It looks like in some of the parks (not all) you can camp about anywhere. I'm very curious about the beaches and other no man lands.

I would imagine if your nice to a farmer he might let you camp on his land for a few days as well.

Also if you do set up shop, are neat and unobtrusive, even if someone does come to kick you off I bet it wouldn't be to harshly. I'm just guessing of course.

Well I can only half answer this because I never did it but from what I remember I don't know of any good placed to camp that are not in Nat'l Parks, etc. Its pretty much like the states in that aspect. Actually now that I am thinking about it, we did camp one night on the side of the road (near Franz Josef) and we didn't get caught but we weren't exactly waving flags. I think there is a danger that if you get caught by police that they would make you move, but probably not anything more than that. But would you really want to be woken up in the dead of night to police asking you to move when you don't have anywhere else to go??? I'd rather pay the $15 to camp at a site.

Hope this helps!

One thing I might ad is that there is usually a "no camping" sign at beaches so if you set up shop there, you may be only asked to leave but also pay a hefty price.

Your best bet for camping is the DOC (Dept of Conservation) car campsites.

They are very plentiful and usually have a bare minimum of facilities. It's best if you have a car ... they tend to be out of the cities.

The reason that you should visit DOC campsites is that they are functionally FREE, because they run on an honesty box system.

In 2005, I lived at a DOC campsite for nearly two months. I realized that the ranger came to check the fee box every morning about 9am. I had work at 6am, so I was long gone before he ever got there.

This isn't exactly the urban stealth-camping you asked about, but it's a great option.

Unless there's a sign specifically saying camping is not allowed, or you're clearly in somebody's garden, you can usually safely assume that you're free to camp there. You ARE however expected to be a good camper, which means you leave NO garbage behind, and you will bury your, well, shit.

See http://wikitravel.org/en/Tramping_in_New_Zealand for some more information about this kind of traveling.

Note that for several of the most beautiful hikes in New Zealand, you have to book ahead, not just for getting a camp site, but to be allowed to walk there at all! See http://www.doc.govt.nz/templates/CustomSummary.aspx?id=42468 for information about that.

Happy trails!

Bjørn
http://bjornfree.com/

I was there about 8 years ago and as you know times change things. I would say it's very similar to here in the states, if you're in the right states that is, in that you can camp for free in many many places. Again just be respectful and a good camper and you shouldn't have much trouble sleeping outside for free. I grew up in Maine and we never paid to camp, we'd just find a dirt road and drive down it and almost always find a place to pull over and set up a small camp for a few nights. In NZ I did alot of this and never once had a problem. Many times I'd spend a good amount of time searching out and finding good spots but it was always worth it. And you can always approach a house that has a lot of land around it and ask for permission. Lot's of time I wasn't even setting up a tent, just unrolling my bag out on the ground and catching some Z's. So I was usually really incognito anyway. Enjoy!