Freedom campers defend their bad reputation

16 Feb 2012 07:02a.m.

Veronica Fox wrote:

I am so thankful to read that the majority of Kiwis speaking here see not only the idiocy and the pointlessness of this law, but also acknowledge that Kiwi culture plays a distinctive role in the problem. I traveled NZ for a year in a campervan and never once defecated in anywhere but a toilet, never once put trash in anywhere but a rubbish bin. Laws prohibiting “freedom camping” only serve to frustrate and anger visitors and the thousands of Kiwis who partake in the tradition. On the other hand, laws and policies that are more welcoming loosen purse strings. The myth that foreign freedom campers are ruining the countryside has been perpetuated far and wide in New Zealand. The boastful Kiwis out there should take a hard look in the mirror before automatically absolving their countrymen of any responsibility. I've been to many off-the-beaten-track spots frequented almost exclusively by Kiwis and found the user-maintained areas to be in much worse condition than those used mostly by foreign tourists. I've talked to travelers like myself, committed to “Leave No Trace,” who report atrocious behavior by Kiwis leaving terrible messes. In Wanaka's weekly crime report, twice in four months someone was caught with their pants down. Guess where they were from. NZ! (A Hawea teen, and a Cardrona kid.) My aim here is not to point fingers, but to point out that blaming the country's problems exclusively on foreign freedom campers is sweeping the elephant under the rug. Kiwi Lance Wiggs has blogged about a welcome feeling being a key element in getting tourists to keep contributing 10% to New Zealand's GDP. Thanks to the nastiness of what is apparently a minority, I felt unwelcome for most of my stay in NZ. Before anyone gets offended about us using resources “for free,” I'll point out that we paid GST on over $19,000 worth of NZ goods and services, none of which will be recovered upon departure. We don't feel the least bit shy about using public infrastructure.

16 Apr 2010 03:02p.m.

Henry Van Campa wrote:

I am a responsible and low carbon footprint freedom camper. I have a portable toilet in my van. Unfortunately lot of local New Zealanders set an example of leaving big piles of rubbish in the nature. This rubbish often include discarded car tyres, home appliances and other easy to spot domestic rubbish. Then freedom campers leave their organic waste in the same spots thinking this is the way of the country. More education is needed for both Kiwi's and travelers how to keep NZ tidy. I have written a guidebook for travelers which includes section about caring for the environment. www.nzvancaming.com

18 Mar 2010 11:44a.m.

jamman wrote:

i would like to point out that freedom camping is not illegal however going to the toilet in a public place is and the police should be called when confronting these people under no circumstances does anyone have the right to be aggressive or threatning this is a far worse crime let the police do there job that's why we pay taxes also more importantly the problem is a lack of public toilets and rubbish bins in places that are a problem once again this is also a reason why we pay taxes.

12 Mar 2010 03:16a.m.

Sol wrote:

I am a born and bred Kiwi and as a rabbit control contractor I encounter a lot of freedom campers. In effect we 'freedom camp' ourselves while we are on a shooting trip however with a lot of standards in place. We leave no rubbish, and any defecation is to be done in a 2 foot hole (self dug of course) more than 15m from any rivers, and buried subsequently. Our last trip out was marred by some problematic tourists from germany, who as well as spending apparently close to a week camping in a popular fishing spot along a river, complained about us shooting in the general vicinity (with landowners consent of course), left a large bag of rubbish, dismantled a stile for use as seating, and left a near invisible garotte-like washingline made of fishingline at neck height RIGHT on the walkway. After reconstructing said stile we discovered that the 3 of them had been regularly defecating in the adjoining field on the ground surface, toilet paper and all blowing like tumble weeds across the plain, stopping only when snagged on tussock or fences. 3 people for over 5 days is a LOT of faeces and a lot of toilet paper. This place was TOTALLY defiled. Not even covered with a log or a stone or anything. This to me indicates MASSIVE lack of social ettiquette and I am suprised that ANYONE could think it's ok, particularly visitors to the country. This is the stuff people complain about when they complain about freedom campers, because the ones of us who do it properly DO NOT LEAVE THINGS TO COMPLAIN ABOUT. With fear of sounding like a massive racist, upon telling a friend of this incident I was informed that this is apparently particularly prevelant among German campers, is this remotely credible or just moron ignorance?

18 Feb 2010 02:22p.m.

george wrote:

Yea Marcus slug a bottle of central otago's Pinot Noir back it will help you loosen up.

17 Feb 2010 11:15p.m.

Glocks wrote:

Come on guys, lets have some perspective here! NZ markets itself as THE destination for adventure tourism, so of course we're going to get young, scruffy Euro slobs. If we want high end tourists, then we need to adapt our tourism strategy accordingly (ie less bunjee jumping, and more 5* hotels).

Also, as someone who has spent a bit of time overses, I think its a bit rich for kiwis to lecture the rest of the world how to behave when on holiday, when we are renowned for our 'thrify' approach to travel. Seems its ok for us to travel through Europe as gypsies, but we don't like it when it when the roles are reversed.

PS Stop whining Marcus Lush, you are making a fool of yourself!

17 Feb 2010 06:21p.m.

maz wrote:

I have seen some many beautiful sites descecrated by human excrement in my 10yrs travelling NZ, and it is digusting and spoils our beautiful environment but I dont see how banning freedom camping can be a solution. isn't the toilet problem mostly a daytime problem? if you're freedom camping then I assume you would be sleeping at night and not going to the toilet. I imagine the toilet problem would be much worse during the day, and we cant ban people from visiting places 24hrs a day. I think the solution is more toilets required to service tourism, if we want tourism dollars to come here? Dont kill the goose (campers) that bring the golden eggs (tourism dollars).

17 Feb 2010 06:05p.m.

Maz wrote:

regarding portaloos. All toilets and dump stations go to the same sewerage treatment plants anyway, so emptying a portaloo into a toilet is no different to emptying it in a dump station. All pipes lead to the same sh*t.

17 Feb 2010 02:24p.m.

Rebecca wrote:

All very well saying that there is a lack of rest areas with toilets but "have you seen the state of the toilets we do have" some are so horrible from not being regulary cleaned I can understand why people don't want to use them.
I love freedom camping but I do have a self contained bus, therefore I shouldn't have to be disadvantaged and limited to camp grounds

17 Feb 2010 10:44a.m.

george wrote:

Having just spent four week traveling in the South Island,where we met kids from all parts of the globe We found most of these kids had better hygiene habits than our fellow kiwi's who thought nothing of throwing beer bottles and nappies in the woods.Further more I would like to compliment the peoples of Roxburgh my home town for installing and servicing toilets at Central Otago's best freedom camping spot at Pinders Pond.Travelers, lets leave Queenstown to the Queens and the pretentious,Cheers George Robson.