Tourism and Freedom Camping - post Covid

[mashman]

Do they have to remove the bikini?

I reckon that'd have to be discussed. After all, no one wants to lose an eye.

[Murray]

something to worry about next year. cant see international visitors until at least then. (hopefully Aussie & Pacific excluded)

[jasonu]

When I rode round East Cape at the end of February, the locals were well-represented in tents at many of the spots freedom campers might choose for a stop. National flag up and staring at passers-by. No sign of a problem with freedom campers or anyone else stopping in that area!

Perfect!!!

[OddDuck]

Yeah... I wouldn't worry about it until the whole 14-day isolation on arrival thing is over. And airflight prices and flight numbers return to what they were prior, too.

And most of all... ordinary people having the saving ability to buy an airfare and pay for an international holiday, even the cheapie that is the freedom camper. Global downturn anyone?

Things have changed. Maybe that's permanent, maybe it's actually a good thing. I for one won't be missing them.

[Berries]

It does seem odd that a country famed for their youth doing the big OE and freedom camping all over Europe has this view.

Only joking, it is not odd at all. Happy to take their money for years and provide them with fuck all facilities and then wonder why they shit in the bushes.

Luckily they are mostly European. If they were Chinese I suspect we would have seen lynchings by now.

[MD]

It does seem odd that a country famed for their youth doing the big OE and freedom camping all over Europe has this view.

Only joking, it is not odd at all. Happy to take their money for years and provide them with fuck all facilities and then wonder why they shit in the bushes.

Luckily they are mostly European. If they were Chinese I suspect we would have seen lynchings by now.

I've posted this comment on here before. I did my OE at 21 hitching across Ireland, UK Europe and so on, I did do it on a budget, slept rough on beaches, parks at times . BUT I NEVER SHIT ON SOMEONE ELSE'S COUNTRY. I doesn't take much effort to find a loo, simply time your body functions to when you are buying coffee or a feed in a café/pub- and in doing so contributing a bit to the local economy.

For years I enjoyed stopping on the southern shore of Lake Taupo on my rides to visit my folks and have a swim. That stopped abruptly to my horror several years ago when I removed my helmet and the stench of human poo almost made me throw up. Shit piles were everywhere along with poo stained paper. There was a toilet installed nearby. All I could conclude was these people were so entrenched in the habit of shitting against a tree at a road side as acceptable, that walking 20m to a toilet was too big an ask.

If anything good comes from Covid it's that we are rid of these filthy, selfish, parasites calling themselves tourists or travellers. Tourists/traveller journey to other countries to experience the beauty, not ruin it.

I like the idea posted earlier that they pay for a 'Freedom Camping' window display and must stay in designated camping sites- with facilities.

[pritch]

It's not just the freedom campers and it's not just here. The Sherpa people living in the vicinity of Everest refer to shit stained pieces of paper as "white man's prayer flags."

[Berries]

If anything good comes from Covid it's that we are rid of these filthy, selfish, parasites calling themselves tourists or travellers.

I imagine the Greeks, the Dutch, the Irish (and Nepalese) and every other country in the world thinks the same.

I did do it on a budget, slept rough on beaches, parks at times.

Which kind of confirms my point. It was good enough for New Zealanders to do it back in the day in the old non self contained Kombi but fuck those dirty foreigners who dare to do the same here.

[husaberg]

I imagine the Greeks, the Dutch, the Irish (and Nepalese) and every other country in the world thinks the same.


Which kind of confirms my point. It was good enough for New Zealanders to do it back in the day in the old non self contained Kombi but fuck those dirty foreigners who dare to do the same here.

You said it yourself "back in the day". Back in the day is not today.......
Nor is your scale even anywhere near even, as a few thousand Kiwis the same as 100,000 of thousands of tourists.
all those countries no longer tolerate what we do here in NZ.
Freedom camping in NZ went from 54,000 in 2013 to 123,000 in 2018.
How many kiwis do the same overseas now?

[Berries]

Freedom camping in NZ went from 54,000 in 2013 to 123,000 in 2018.
How many kiwis do the same overseas now?

Don't know but pretty sure none of them want to crap behind a tree, pretty sure some will.

It's all well and good whoring the country around the trade shows so you can go from 54,000 to 123,000 in five years and allowing all those companies to rent out vans with no facilities. Shame some of the money wasn't put in to infrastructure. Otago and Southland have more stock truck effluent sites on state highways than rest areas with toilets.

So with no international visitors for the next couple of years there will be a massive push for domestic tourism and all those shitty old campers will slowly get back on the road at cheap rates. No more infrastructure so the problem won't go away.

I skim read an opinion piece the other day that stuck in my mind. It said that in the reboot of our economy and as part of the rehash of how we do tourism, we should prohibit 'Freedom Camping' to all but NZers wanting to see thier own country.

This won't change the amount of toilet paper flapping around the undergrowth.

[MD]

I imagine the Greeks, the Dutch, the Irish (and Nepalese) and every other country in the world thinks the same.


Which kind of confirms my point. It was good enough for New Zealanders to do it back in the day in the old non self contained Kombi but fuck those dirty foreigners who dare to do the same here.

You conveniently overlooked my statement, 'back in the day' myself and my friends I travelled with never shit in other peoples bushes/countryside. Back in the day we had the decency to find a loo. My point is if people today can't be bothered finding a loo, then don't have them as guests in our country.

[Laava]

Certainly a good opportunity to do a big "reset" on the whole tourism industry as and where needed.

[Berries]

You conveniently overlooked my statement, 'back in the day' myself and my friends I travelled with never shit in other peoples bushes/countryside. Back in the day we had the decency to find a loo. My point is if people today can't be bothered finding a loo, then don't have them as guests in our country.

Wasn't overlooking it, just didn't think you admitting to doing what 99 percent of the rest of us would do was worth a comment. Doesn't change the fact that I don't believe that New Zealanders are any different to any other nationality when it comes to this.

[pritch]

In his book Hugh Anderson recounts taking an 'al fresco' dump in Cold War Russia. He had been told not to stop or deviate from his route but nature called. Back on the road driving along, a police car lights flashing stopped him wanting to know where he'd been. He had to take them back and show them the evidence.

[husaberg]

Don't know but pretty sure none of them want to crap behind a tree, pretty sure some will.

It's all well and good whoring the country around the trade shows so you can go from 54,000 to 123,000 in five years and allowing all those companies to rent out vans with no facilities. Shame some of the money wasn't put in to infrastructure. Otago and Southland have more stock truck effluent sites on state highways than rest areas with toilets.

So with no international visitors for the next couple of years there will be a massive push for domestic tourism and all those shitty old campers will slowly get back on the road at cheap rates. No more infrastructure so the problem won't go away.


This won't change the amount of toilet paper flapping around the undergrowth.

You are missing the point with the numbers we are not sending people overseas at anywhere near the scale they are freadom camping here.
The money that gets put into infrastructure is ratepayers, not government, so in case you missed it its not from the people that benefit from the tourists.
Put it in perspective why should the 30,000 residents of the west coast pay for toilets for tourists when we benefit nothing form their presence.
especially given we have plenty of Doc camps and private campgrounds that cost very little for the tourists? only they are too cheap to use them.