Living in a Van Down By the Ocean

Nelson, New Zealand
41.2706°S, 173.2840°E  

One of the most popular ways to see New Zealand is by campervan. The country caters to this form of travel with well-identified campsites, public bathrooms, and tourist attractions. Over the course of our 10 days traveling from the South Island up to the North Island, we were pleasantly surprised with how easy it was to find places to park our van and camp out for the night.

Campsites with varying amenities run anywhere from $5 to $30 a night. Typically the sites on the higher end of the cost spectrum include things like playgrounds for children and fully equipped kitchens. A few even advertise 24-hour gyms. We stayed a couple nights at these higher-end “glamping” destinations, but mostly we stayed at sites with the basics – bathrooms and showers, outdoor grills, and of course wifi!

For those driving fully self-contained campervans (i.e., working toilet and water supply) there is also the option of “freedom camping”. Freedom camping is the term used for finding your own spot to park for the night, as long as the location isn’t on private property or is otherwise banned. While we did have a lovely portable toilet on board our Britz van, we decided for the sake of our marriage to stay at fully facilitated campsites.

Heading North

When we left Queenstown the weather on the South Island looked pretty wet for the foreseeable future, so Sarah and I decided to spend just three days on the South Island. This would allow us seven days on the North Island, which had a warmer, dryer forecast.

Our first stop was Wanaka, a town about 40 miles north of Queenstown and a recommended first stop from our Kiwi friends. The town itself was much smaller than Queenstown but seemingly just as laid back, with a good amount of cafes and restaurants lining the town streets. We didn’t spend much time in town since our campsite was a few miles away and we were anxious to get our van set up for our first night on the road.

We woke up early the next morning and both commented on the comfort of the campervan bed. Sarah and I slept like rocks, which was a good sign since going into the trip we were a little nervous about sleeping in such tight quarters (although neither of us admitted this until after our first night).

From Wanaka, we headed towards the South Island’s northwestern coast, over Haast Pass and to the destination for our second night, Greymouth. The nearly six hour drive was incredibly scenic and the landscape ever-changing. We passed through dense rain forests, wide-open farmland, and windy mountain roads before arriving at our coastal destination.

After checking out our campsite we headed to the local New World grocery store and bought food for the next couple of days. Sarah picked this particular site because of it‘s location on the beach, and as we listened to the waves crash as we sat and ate our grilled dinner, we knew we made a good choice!

Wine and Glacier Country

A number of friends and strangers recommended stopping in the town of Nelson before leaving the South Island. Fortunately, Nelson was on our way to the town of Picton, which is where we needed to be to catch the ferry to the North Island.

Our trek to Nelson took us through the South Island’s “glacier country” where New Zealand’s two highest mountains, Mt. Cook and Mt. Tasman, are located. There are all sorts of activities to do in this area – including what must be spectacular hiking – but unfortunately because of our schedule we only got to see the mountains from a distance.

Beyond glacier country at the top of the South Island is the Marlborough region, known for its pinot noir wines (Sarah’s favorite) and abundance of world-famous wineries. We were pretty weary from the long drive, so after briefly considering a winery tour deep into Marlborough, we opted for stopping at the Seifried Estate winery for a quick tasting. Seifried is in Nelson just outside of the Marlborough region and is most known mostly for their white wines. We purchased a bottle of sauvignon blanc and pinot noir and headed to our Nelson campsite.

The Full Nelson

We arrived in the town of Nelson late afternoon, itching to get out of our van after the long drive. We were both a bit hangry, so made our first order of business in Nelson finding a lunch/dinner spot. After some fierce Googling, Sarah found our spot – the Boat Shed Café.

While not the quick, casual lunch destination we anticipated, the views and the food at the Boat Shed Café were fantastic. Sarah and I split salmon and whitebait appetizers, and we had flounder for the main course. Whitebait – a fish I hadn’t heard of until seeing it on menus in New Zealand – is a small white fish typically only about an inch long. They are considered a delicacy in New Zealand and you see signs at fish stores everywhere advertising their whitebait catch.

After our meal we walked down Nelson’s coastal path and took in the views before setting off for our campsite.

When we arrived at our campsite we knew immediately this would be our favorite location to date. Right on the beach, the campsite provided incredible views of the sunset and it was only a few steps to the expansive sandy beach surrounding the town. It was a crowded site, but we ended up with a site that made it seem like it was just us and the beach.

Wellington

We left Nelson the next morning to catch our ferry to Wellington, New Zealand’s capital. After a three hour ferry across the Cook Strait we arrived in Wellington, where we would stay for the next two nights.

Wellington reminded us a bit of a smaller San Francisco because of its massive hills and the layout of its harbor. After we checked in to our hotel (no campsites in the city!), we walked around for a few hours hunting out where we would eat dinner that night. There are lots of dining options in the harbor area and we ended up picking out a restaurant called the Crab Shack right on the harbor that seemed familiar and fun. We realized after looking at the menu that Crab Shack is advertised as a “Cape Cod-themed” restaurant, which would explain why it felt so familiar!

Most of our time in Wellington was spent exploring the city on foot, and taking advantage of the easy access to wifi that Wellington offered by doing some work and catching up on emails. We liked Wellington a lot and it seemed like a very livable city, but after a couple days of “city living” we were ready to continue our journey north in our van home.

More pictures from our South Island roadtrip….