The freedom camping hotspots of Golden Bay have caused headaches for residents and authorities. Nina Hindmarsh rode along with an enforcement officer for the night.
Golden Bay is teeming with freedom campers.
At this time of the year, it seems like every vehicle parked up at a beach or river spot has its boot stuffed with bedding.
Freedom camping enforcement officer of Control Services, Sally Quickfall.
Nina Hindmarsh
Freedom camping enforcement officer of Control Services, Sally Quickfall.
I'm riding along in Sally Quickfall's patrol car for the evening - hoping to get a closer look at the work of a local enforcement officer and what freedom camping is really like in Golden Bay.
As the day turns to dusk, we visit all the popular spots beginning at the base of Farewell Spit and going all the way to Tata Beach.
Armed only with a uniform and a notepad, Quickfall patrols these areas every morning and night over the busy period.
Freedom campers Alexander Zach and Carolin Hupe of Germany. The young couple are travelling around in New Zealand in ...
Nina Hindmarsh
Freedom campers Alexander Zach and Carolin Hupe of Germany. The young couple are travelling around in New Zealand in their van for six months.
She says her role is to educate freedom campers on what they can and can't do, and to move the illegal campers along.
She hands out pamphlets and takes down vehicle registrations, before coming back early the next morning to check if they have complied.
"The best consequence if they haven't moved on is to give them an early morning wake-up call. It's probably as effective as a $200 fine," she says as we drive.
Freedom camping in Golden Bay next to the Takaka River on State Highway 60.
Alden Williams/Fairfax NZ
Freedom camping in Golden Bay next to the Takaka River on State Highway 60.
She can threaten illegal campers who refuse to move on with a trespass notice covering all Tasman District Council owned land, but says the large majority comply.
Quickfall tells me Kiwis can be "the most hard work."
"I think it's a sense of entitlement to the land."
Illegal freedom campers are parked all the way down the Takaka river bank on the stones.
Nina Hindmarsh
Illegal freedom campers are parked all the way down the Takaka river bank on the stones.
She tells me that last week she had her notepad wrestled out of her hands and thrown into the tide by a disgruntled freedom camper at Milnthorpe Beach near Collingwood.
She's also been verbally abused and, most recently, she was spat at. Ironically, they were all New Zealanders.
Near Pakawau, a Kiwi couple have set up camp in a reserve next to a sign which reads, "no overnight staying."
Freedom camping in Golden Bay next to the Takaka River on State Highway 60. French tourists Julie Etcheverry, left, and ...
Alden Williams/Fairfax NZ
Freedom camping in Golden Bay next to the Takaka River on State Highway 60. French tourists Julie Etcheverry, left, and Tristan Tranchard.
The man, a farmer from out-of-town, says he can't find anywhere to go because accommodation in Golden Bay is fully booked.
Quickfall tells him he can stay one night but that he must leave at first light. He tries arguing with her, but eventually he agrees.
At Taupata Point, near Farewell Spit, Quickfall points out used toilet paper strewn in the bushes.
There are four vehicles in the carpark, three of which are self-contained.
She knocks on the window of the non self-contained station wagon. A handsome young couple are dozing in the front seats and they wake up, startled.
"I'm just making sure you are aware you can't stay here tonight because you're not self contained," Quickfall says.
"Yes, we know," says the woman in a thick French accent.
"So where are you staying?" asks Quickfall.
They say they are hoping to stay at a camp ground.
"I doubt you will have any luck at this time of the year," Quickfall says.
"Normally I would say you can't because you're not self-contained, but because [the camp grounds] are all full I'm going to ask you to go to Waitapu Bridge in Takaka for just one night and then you need to move on - at least there's a toilet and you can use it."
She hands them the pamphlet with an address and the couple drive away.
"In a week's time when [the camp grounds] start to empty out again, I will be telling them that they need to go there, but you can't send them there if there are no vacancies," she says.
"Therein lies the problem in Golden Bay - we just don't have enough facilities."
Quickfall tells me there's a lot of preconceived ideas in Golden Bay about freedom camping.
"People keep telling us they're 'pooing' here and they are 'pooing' there, and I walk around these places and it' not really like that," she says.
She says Golden Bay is unusual because in 2011 the community voted out on-the-spot fining for illegal campers.
"When the Rugby World Cup was in New Zealand there was a blanket fine legislation put over the whole country, and it only stood for one year. The interesting thing is that I didn't write one fine - I didn't have to," she says.
"Even if I had fining I doubt I would have to write many tickets because most people when I ask them to move, they move."
Quickfall says she's noticed a huge increase this year in certified, self-contained vehicles — even station wagons and small vans that most people wouldn't guess are self-contained.
"Most people wouldn't know unless you know to look for the certified self-contained sticker," she says. "I think most people are trying to do the right thing."
At the other freedom camping hot spots Quickfall hands out pamphlets and asks the non self-contained vehicles to move to Waitapu Bridge.
"Now I'll take you to have a look at Reilly Street," she says.
Quickfall has been told not to bother patrolling the area this year, and she says it's no longer a tenable job for one person.
"I see the problems at Reilly St as a separate issue to freedom camping.
"It's going to become a compliance issue, a police issue and a health and safety issue. It's a whole different issue than freedom camping now and I believe it will need to be tackled by multiple agencies."
When we pull in, I'm shocked at what I see.
It's like a huge party at the river. Over 100 vehicles are parked in the car park, on the side of the road and right down to the river's edge.
Hundreds of freedom campers are occupying the area cooking, drinking alcohol, blasting out loud music and socialising in scattered groups.
Three uncontrolled dogs roam free with no sign of the owners. A large, non-permitted fire burns at the river and several piles of rubbish are strewn throughout.
The campers are mostly polite, but it's the sheer number of them in a non-facilitated area that leaves me feeling slightly sick.
Night is falling, so we quickly head to our last stop at Waitapu Bridge.
I'm pleasantly surprised to see almost all of the freedom campers whom Quickfall moved on have parked up there for the night.
She asks three groups near the river to put out their fires. She also tells them the river is tidal so they need to move to the carpark before they go to sleep.
"I would say about 90 per cent of them are really compliant and do as they are asked," she says.
"Mostly, people just want to do the right thing."
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Originally Posted by Tazz
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