New Zealand campervan road trip: where we camped on the South Island

Touring the south island was a tale of two halves. Down the east coast from Christchurch it was perhaps easier to find nice freedom camping sites than it had been in Northland. In contrast, on rounding the southernmost point and heading up the west coast we started to enter national park territory. Here the freedom camping options became more limited with us instead turning to booked, chargeable and often busy Dept of Conservation sites.

As with the north island, we booked our campervan very late and got lucky to snag what must have been one of the very few still available. A new Ford Transit from Tui Campers converted into a four bunk camper, it proved much more bijou than the van we had in the north. But it drove very well, kept us dry and seemed warmer at night than our last van.

For the love of Lumsden

Standing alongside Whangerai in Northland as the most camper friendly places we’ve been on this trip is the small town of Lumsden. Lumsden is around an hour to the east of Te Anau, which itself is billed as the gateway to the national parks of the west, Milford Sound and some of New Zealand’s most famous trails. But being outside of the national park and on the road up from the south Lumsden is perfectly located, and has set itself up to actively welcome freedom campers that prefer not to get herded into the DOC sites and holiday parks of Te Anau, or simply want to save some money. We stayed here twice – once on the way up from the south coast, and once on the way back out from Te Anau towards Queenstown, an hour and a half north.

Not only is Lumsden well located, but it also has quite a backstory to build upon. It was once an epicentre of mining and other trade, so at one point four rail lines passed through. Today none of those rail lines are in operation (short sighted, and typical of Kiwi Rail in our experience. Rail provision in New Zealand is very sparse and expensive meaning its either flying, camper vans or long distance busses for the tourist. Except of course for the pioneering work of Hamilton’s transport team in getting the Hamilton to Auckland Te Huia line back up and running). Lumsden has chosen to make use of its heritage rail station site for two things – to house a burgeoning and interesting collection of old locomotives and carriages, and to serve as a designated freedom camping site. The site is replete with benches under cover, a dishwashing area, drinking water, abundant toilets, playpark and even a shower available at the town swimming baths (fee payable at the local store). Wifi reaches out from the library across to the site as well. Honestly we’ve paid a lot for worse sites than this, and were generous with the donation box as a result.

The site itself is in the centre of town meaning that all the amenities are there to use, helping to support the local economy. The coffee from Roar was excellent, as was dinner at Route 6 cafe (being on the #6 highway) which also houses the town post office and has a little gift shop with interesting stock. Four Square store is just over the road for provisions and ice creams.

Fun fact: The building of the Route 6 cafe was formerly the local bank branch, and was the site of New Zealand’s biggest armed robbery in 1983. It’s quite a tale of not just robbery, but also pursuit and ultimately murder!

Where we stayed

Location	Lat/Long	Notes
Timaru, Caroline Bay	-44.390043,171.252877	Car park by the park, beach and roller skating rink. Handy shower on the wall and right next to the disc golf first tee. Penguin colony a few hundred metres up the road too. Easy walk to town for coffee etc
Warrington beach	-45.715834, 170.597342	We spent the night of Christmas Eve here. A grassy little car park behind the dunes. There’s a toilet and a sink supplied by rainwater, but no shower. There is a playpark and several nearby geocaches
Waikawa	-46.622249, 169.134239	The George Aitken trail starts from here and provides an easy circular bush walk with the kids (the story of George Aitken is poignant too). Recently renovated and good toilets here too.
Lumsden	-45.738940, 168.442425	A truly great place for freedom camping. See separate ode to Lumsden above
Te Anau holiday park (Tasman Holiday Park)	-45.414174, 167.709622	It was a case of pay to stay in town at one of the holiday parks, drive an hour each way from Lumsden or book into one of the spartan DOC campsites in the Fiordland national park. Obviously, the toilet and warm shower were very welcome. Spots were all very tightly packed in. It did the job but didn’t feel like great value
Pleasant Flat campsite	-44.012072, 169.381495	Very busy DOC site. Plenty of sandflies and mosquitoes here, but a handy stream nearby for the kids to build stone dams in
Orange Sheep, Franz Josef	-43.384660, 170.184815	An unusual site. Relatively cheap at $15 pp, privately owned and near the centre of town. Nice pitches among the pongas, decent showers and free wifi. But no bins meaning you trek into town to get rid of your bags.
Klondyke Corner, Arthur’s Pass	-43.002330, 171.590908	This DOC site is a wide open space so it doesn’t feel crowded. A single toilet and little else. Good views up and down the valley
New Brighton	-43.496700, 172.727220	A useful staging point prior to dropping off the van the next day near Christchurch Airport. There are plenty of spots in the laybys between the playpark and the town. Good playpark and water available. There’s also a splash park as well as the beach to play on. Willowbank nature reserve around 15 minutes drive