[holland]

When you hire a campervan, can you just stop anywhere? can you just pull over on the side of the road and sleep? If we went for a day on a beach, could we just park it on road/car park and leave it, would it be safe??

Sorry if its a silly question, never hired one before!!

Am I panicking?????
er...yes!

Thanks in advance

j xx

[stejude]

When we went last year we stayed in campsites. You can stop in some places, check for ahy restrictions.

[Mels]

When we went in 2004 we stayed in campsites although I understand you can stop 'just anywhere' - within certain limits.
As we were not sure what this meant and we had two small children we chickened out!!!

The campsites have water, electricity, hot tubs (in some), supplies, play areas and HOT showers!!! need I say more?:D

[Mels]

Oopppps sorry missed 2nd question. In some areas we were more cautious when we left it and never left anything important in it.

In one area a Canadian family came up and warned us that they had gone to a hot tub and had their campervan broken into, lost all passports, money etc.

It is still great to have a home with you and we had a great time. The amazing thing is you can park anywhere, even on High streets. On one occassion I even checked with a passerby if it was OK to park - I couldn't believe it

[holland]

Thanks for your replies, I have been doing searches and I can't seem to find a company that just do one way hire, do they exist? We want to go to Auckland to Hawkes Bay....and not back to Auckland!!

J x

[Mels]

We used Pacific Horizon, very helpful and I thought they did/do one ways.

www.pacifichorizon.co.nz/faq.html#34
This link will help and also your question about stopping anywhere and other stuff

[holland]

What a star!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks Mels

J xx

[Mels]

You're welcome.

:cheers

[Carey]

You're not officially supposed to stop , park up and stay overnight apart from in specific 'freedom camping' areas but these are few and far bertween eg along coast near Gisborne and you have to buy a permit (very cheap). However, we did stop and sleep, always off the road, in some amazing places as an alternative to camp sites, and these are the places we remember from our trip. Camp sites great if you don't mind parking close to someone else, actually only in Top Ten sites, other sites very empty. We stopped on beaches, at the start of tramps, in car parks of nature reserves. Always felt a bit guilty but the freedom and feeling of being away from it all, hearing the wildlife, being extremely careful to leave nothing but footprints etc made it all wonderful.
Some places we asked locals who usually said yes fine to go here. So go and enjoy!

[holland]

Thanks Carey...I would love to do that...but Im nervous even reading your post! Im such a worrier...did you feel safe when you were off road??

J x

[IanW99]

Thanks for your replies, I have been doing searches and I can't seem to find a company that just do one way hire, do they exist? We want to go to Auckland to Hawkes Bay....and not back to Auckland!!

J x

Seems a short distance to travel with a camper van? unless you are going the long way around :laugh

Just thought that I would mention it as it would be easy to do this distance without the 'benefits' of a camper van.

Would expect it to be difficult to get a one way to Hawkes Bay as well as the rental companies normally prefer getting their vehicles to another main rental location.

Ian

[holland]

Hi Ian...your probably right...all vehicles need to go back to main rental location, so we're probs best just flying!

J x

[stejude]

Ask the camper van places direct if they do one way. A lot of them will do and for no extra charge. I was once paid by a camper van place to drive a van back to Auckland for a fee of $20 a day plus fuel, so it can be done. If you dont ask you dont get. I would also say that your trip is the start of an adventure, so just go for it, if your not sure ask where you can stop. Life is for living, its out there so just do it.

[Aussie Pom]

I am not sure that this would apply to you but we considered the camper van but when we looked up the prices it was about the same price to hire a car and then use the equipped cabins (Kiwi parks etc). This would give you slightly less flexibility about where to stay but you wouldn't have to take all your things everywhere and leave your valuables in there. Also it sounds as if you would end up staying at the campsites anyway. We felt the car and cabins were more versatile for us.
Good luck,
Gina

[veronica]

the idea of freedom camping is great but unless you have a campervan with a loo there are certain issues there.

Just imagine a lovely secluded place just off of the road with a wonderful view, you pull up and think this is perfect. you get out of the campervan to notice human waste, loo paper and rubbish bags. thats the big anti that lots of people here have against freedom camping. its spoiling the areas for everyone. If you have managed to find the place then you can bet that at least two or three other people will. 3 vans X 2 people X 150 (5 months tourist season) nights equals 900 peoples worth of waste and quickly turns some of the local beauty spots to something a lot less pleasant.

[ruthyroo]

the idea of freedom camping is great but unless you have a campervan with a loo there are certain issues there.

Just imagine a lovely secluded place just off of the road with a wonderful view, you pull up and think this is perfect. you get out of the campervan to notice human waste, loo paper and rubbish bags. thats the big anti that lots of people here have against freedom camping. its spoiling the areas for everyone. If you have managed to find the place then you can bet that at least two or three other people will. 3 vans X 2 people X 150 (5 months tourist season) nights equals 900 peoples worth of waste and quickly turns some of the local beauty spots to something a lot less pleasant.

Well said Veronica!

I work for a Council dept that, among other things, manages parks and reserves - many of which get used by campers. Very few of the sites are equipped with dumping stations, toilets, showers, or bins etc as they are not intended or managed for use by campers. The official line is that freedom camping is not permitted in reserves, and all campers are expected to use official campsites. The reality is that with nearly 400 reserve areas, there's no way we can effectively police this. So like most Councils we operate on a 'complaints' basis - unless one of the neighbours or other reserve users gets off with noisy / untidy / etc campervans / cars etc it's unlikely that a camper will be asked to move on, especially if it is a one night stop.

The mess that some people leave behind, especially non-self-contained campers on reserves without facilities, is pretty disgusting sometimes. I think that if we were to move towards allowing freedom camping on reserve, it would only be for certified, self-contained i.e. with own toilet, motorhomes. Often it's the minority of inconsiderate people that wreck places for the majority, as with most things.

[Nick88]

I agree, to use alot of the DoC sites you have to display a containment sticker proving that you are not going to leave anything behind that someone else wouldn't want to find.

[KerryS]

There are some fabulous DOC sites for camping that are pretty like being in the wild. I use one up north that just has a fresh water tap and a long drop toilet - it's fab in summer as it's right on the beach, and yet almost always empty!

For relocation of camper vans try this site: http://www.drivenow.co.nz/onewayrentalsNZ.jspc

Mostly from the main centres of Akl, Wel and Chch, as that is where they need the vans, but sometimes you can pick one up from elsewhere.

[Carey]

Thanks Carey...I would love to do that...but Im nervous even reading your post! Im such a worrier...did you feel safe when you were off road??

J x

Yes once inside camper you feel safe and snug. One time a car pulled up near us, we lay extra still, well I did anyway!, kids asleep, car went off. OK I admit I was imagining all sorts of things that could happen, how quickly OH could get into driving seat to whisk us away from danger, but didn't voice them!

Just to reassure people who have posted about leaving waste behind, we had toilet in van and can honestly say we left places we stopped at, as we found them.

[Cindy]

http://www.emigratenz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=8708&highlight=dutch+couple

Be careful out there...

[aggelon]

You can pretty well stop anywhere. If the police turn up you just tell them you were feeling exhausted and you thought it was safer to stop than continue driving. They won't argue with that after all the adverts about that.

[Nick88]

I was just about to tell the story that Cindy posted the link to. Be very careful where you park.

[veronica]

aggelon, its not so much about what you can get away with but more a case of whats best for the environment and safety.

for everyone who saves a few bucks 'freedom' camping there is a camp site owner struggling to keep the camp site open and maintained. Its something that is an issue in the tourist industry here with the number of people who come here with a limited budget and use facilities/the countryside but don't want to pay anything towards them.

[red]

We stayed in campsites some nights and other nights we didn't. We never had a problem and I always felt safe. We always left everything as we found it and sometimes enjoyed the freedom of not being in a camp site. The kids found it exciting and I enjoyed the peace and quiet.

Kea campers were excellent and do 'one ways' also:yes