Did I get value for money from the Department of Conservation Campsite Pass?

Last February, I bought a DOC camping pass, allowing me 365 nights at most of the country's conservation campsites. Was it worth the money?

Picture perfect: view from the cooking shelter at Pandora free campsite

In February 2022, I invested in the relatively new Department of Conservation (DOC) Campsite Pass. Like the famed Backcountry Hut Pass, this allows unlimited bookings of conservation campsites, for an annual fee. My year on the estate is now up. Did I save money by paying up front? Let’s add up my year of DOC camping and compare. All prices quoted are what I paid, not necessarily this year’s cost. TL;DR: Yes, I saved money, but only just!

My year of DOC camping:
Lake Mahinapua - $15
Slab Hut Creek - $8
Arohena - $8 and $10
Mangahuia - $15
Pandora - $0
Trounson 2 nights - $40
Pūtangirua Pinnacles - $10
Glenfalls - $0
Wooded Gully - $10
Kidds Bush - $10
Twelve Mile Delta - $15
Lake Paringa - $15
Goldsborough - $10
Grand total = $166, pass cost $140

I got a golden ticket!
I remember sitting at the wheel of the non-self contained rental van we’d used to move my pal from Auckland to Nelson. Yet another ‘Super City’ departee seeking a better life by not living in that city, he was afforded the ability to move by Covid’s Working From Home phenomenon. I was quietly part of that exodus too, about to get back on my packraft adventure. First, though, I had a van and I was in the South Island: it was micro adventure time!

Parked just off State Highway 6 (best highway in the country), next to the closed Lake Mahinapua Hotel, 10 kilometres south of Hokitika, I used the limited cell service to purchase me a DOC Campsite Pass. For $140 I could stay at most of the country’s conservation campsites for a whole year. As I tapped my mobile screen, edging closer to purchase, my hands shook like Charlie Bucket clasping that golden ticket. This was the pass I had been waiting for!

Goodbye annual Auckland rent stretching into the $10,000s. With this little code number, I could live in some of the most beautiful spots in Aotearoa for less than a year’s subscription to Spotify. $140 - as it then cost - bought me a spot to sleep, water, toilets and even (in rare cases) hot showers. There are some conditions - like the 7-day max stay within a 30 day period and it can’t be used at the iwi-run camps on the Aupōuri Peninsula - but as a nationwide scheme, it looks great on paper. Which it isn’t even on, since it’s a digital pass number.

Having made the purchase, I excitedly moved on to book my spot at the very wet and empty Lake Mahinapua camp. This was going to be a breeze, right? Not exactly. Unlike DOC’s backcountry hut pass, which is recognised by your account and allows you to login and click ‘Reserve’, the camp pass has extra steps. With the booking in my cart, I selected the Campsite Pass dropdown and it still wasn’t done. No, I had to open my email, find the unique pass number, copy and paste this number into a special box on the booking site - then click Reserve. Phew! I don’t know why tying my campsite pass to my online account wasn’t enough, but it wasn’t. Anyway, the fun had begun.

Lake Mahinapua
Campsite booked, I parked up on the site and went on to have an interesting night in the rain. I even met the local drug dealer, who swung by looking for his client. Lake Mahinapua plays a fascinating role in settler history, making part of an inland waterway between Hokitika and Ross, which was used to move logs and people. Information at the lakefront explained this. A quick Google and click on Wikipedia tells me it’s also the site of a significant battle between Ngāi Tahu and Ngāti Wairangi, which led to Hokitika getting its name. With a cooking shelter, flush toilets, easy bush walk and good lake views, this was a good camp to spend a rainy night in a van at. I will return. 8/10. $15 not spent, $125 to break-even.

The Best Coast: bush walks emanate from Lake Mahinapua Campsite

Slab Hut Creek
Next up, on that same trip, was Slab Hut Creek. As I drove the rented HiAce into the reserve, I noticed a sign permitting gold fossicking. ‘What, there’s still gold about?’ I subconsciously queried as I backed into my spot. Next morning, I was left in no doubt, getting up to find the river bank crammed with gold hobbyists. People swirled pans, while one man upstream was dressed in waders and running a sluice. Free fun for all the family, the gold wasn’t even the top highlight of this camp. Tucked in between the parking area and the river is a wood-fired pizza oven! I will return, with pizza. 9/10. $8 not spent, $117 to break-even.

Arohena
Back on my raft adventure, it wasn’t long until I was cruising into port at Arohena Campsite. It’s based on the shores of the Waikato River, which, thanks to the Arapuni Dam, is a lake at this point. A two-day long rave was in its final throes as I moored. I’ll never forget the look on the face of one elderly camper as the music went “doof, doof, doof”! It soon wrapped up and revellers left behind silence and a number of hairbands in the cooking shelter. There are fire places dotted about the camp, the views are nice and, in the right weather, a lake swim beckons too. With that in mind, I’ve always found this to be a camp that serves a purpose, like breaking a journey, rather than a must-visit location. 7/10. I went twice on my pass, once after the price went up from $8 to $10, so: $18 not spent, $99 to break-even.

Mangahuia
Also back on the raft adventure, after a break for a wedding in Auckland, I walked down the road from National Park to this cosy little waterside spot. Flax windbreaks mark out the neat and flat tent sites. The sound of the stream is a delight to sleep next to. It’s also actually the presumed location of my wrist-injury, after I bashed opened a tin of beans with a fork handle. That fork I found in the decent-sized cooking shelter. 9/10, would trade again. $15 not spent, $84 to break-even.

Pandora
Wrist-injured and adventure paused, I ended up in the Far North over winter. When not working on the avocado orchard, many adventures took place. One Friday night, I packed my gear and hiked over to the western end of Piwhane/Spirits Bay. Here at Whangākea/Pandora is a neat little hiking camp, offering toilets and a very sturdy and comfortable cooking shelter. Best of all, this campsite is free. A place to sit and eat and no fees! 9/10. $84 to break-even.

Trounson Kauri Park
My first DOC site! It was December 2009, on a whirlwind roadtrip of the north, when we pulled in to this neat little paddock. Giant kauri trees loom above the rest of the adjacent forest. An aged but adequate kitchen and amenities block provide more than most DOC camps. This includes hot showers! Yep, hot showers! But wait, there’s more: this place is exactly the same now as it was then. Except the price is now $20 per night and I stayed twice on the Waka & Waewae Journey. Marking it down for that, but it still gets a high score as the kiwi bird and kauri walk is mighty fun at night. 9/10. $40 not spent, $44 to break-even.

Pūtangirua Pinnacles
One sunny February morning in 2015, I cycled past this camp on the North Island’s south coast at break-neck speed, eager to get round the coast to my destination of Eastbourne. Having stayed at the Ngawi free camp the previous night, I was blissfully unaware of DOC’s nearby offering. Having not yet seen the LOTR trilogy, I was even less aware of the treasure that is the Pūtangirua Pinnacles, AKA Dimholt Road! Located a couple of hundred metres off the road, the mud cliffs opposite the camp offer something of a miniature pinnacles outlook. There’s untreated water and basic loos too. Plus, take a walk down to the beach at sunset and you’ll be treated to awesome orange backlit views of the South Island. 8/10. $10 not spent, $34 to break-even.

Glenfalls
After illness thwarted a clean completion of the North Island Waka & Waewae Journey, I returned to the Wairarapa in that weird time period between Christmas and New Year. Driving down, I took the new State Highway 1 section at Hamilton and found I could now get from Auckland to Taupō in under 3 1/2 hours! That said, I didn’t leave until 3:30pm, and Glenfalls is another hour from Taupō, so arrived after dark. Being peak season, the place was crammed to the brim (I termed them Glen Fools), but I managed to quietly slot in between a caravan and a mega-bus. The morning light revealed the Mohaka River, separating this large DOC section from surrounding private farmland. I suspect the crowds affected my opinion of this site, but it’s very basic, with limited amenities for large numbers. Finding out the camp fees are free salvaged its score - though, it did amuse me that the DOC website follows the free price label with the statement “The DOC Campsite Pass can be used at this campsite”! “Thanks, I’ll use my pass, please!”. 6/10. $0 not spent, $34 to break-even.

Wooded Gully
Judging a campsite based on one visit during peak season, while its septic tank is clearly overflowing, is harsh and really not fair, but it’s all I have to go on. On the plus side, I did learn fairly quickly where not to step when visiting the toilets. The view of the Canterbury Plains was nice from this little copse, next to a small stream. I also had good cell service, so this was perfect for a halfway stopover between Picton and Central Otago. 6/10. $10 not spent, $24 to break-even.

Kidds Bush Reserve
The Neck: that anatomically-named slither of land between Lake Wānaka and Lake Hāwea offers memorable views and, it turns out, some mint lake swimming. Kidds Bush, which I assume got its name after a visit from Billy, is nearby, on the northern shores of Hāwea. It was a weekend and it was mid-January, when Zoe and I drove the several kilometres of dusty road from State Highway 6 (have I told you this is the best highway in the country?) to this DOC site. The road passes through private land, so, in true rural NZ fashion, there are lots of stern signs reminding you of this fact. The camp was mid-having its new bathroom block built, so port-a-loos were the offering du nuit. Chock-full of humans, late arrivals looking for a spot to stay were also the offering du nuit. Come morning, I took a warmer-than-expected dip. Jumping into balmy water from the stony shores by the camp, I wondered if this is really a mountain lake at 350 metres. 8/10. $10 not paid, $14 to break-even.

Lake Hāwea: often overlooked, but easily as good as the others in Central

Twelve Mile Delta
Parched, dusty, but oh-so conveniently located for Queenstown, Twelve Mile Delta is one of those camps that screams like it needs a holiday. Just like that great uncle, who’s been doing manual work constantly since 1968, this place has achy joints and weathered hands, but still comes through with a Christmas gift. The toilets are fine, the lake access is just that and there are good views to be had all around. Actually, the views are the best thing about this place. And the fact there are some great hikes nearby. 7/10. $15 not spent, $1 saved!

Lake Paringa
At just 16 metres above sea level, it shouldn’t come as a surprise how warm the water of Lake Paringa is. With its lush bush surroundings and the mountainous Haast Pass just down the road, it’s easy to forget you’ve swapped the alpine elevations for the warmer climes of the Coast. The West Coast, that is. And that leads me to what’s fundamentally wrong with this place: sandflies/namu. I’ve stayed in a lot of places with these mini-beasts, but nowhere quite competes for numbers like the shores of Paringa. Still, they don’t bother me that much, and the camp facilities are classic DOC and adequate. 8/10. $15 not spent, $16 saved.

Goldsborough - $10
‘Towns came and towns went’ seems to be the overriding legacy of the New Zealand Gold Rush. Goldsborough was one such settlement, apparently its population peaking around 1200. However, the early 1900s spelled the end for this little community and a campsite sits there now. As with Slab Hut Creek, fossicking is fair game, so go for gold. The toilets are all good and you might get to sit on a picnic bench too, if that is your thing. Situated 16 kilometres northeast of Hokitika, it’s well located for exploring the cool little seaside town. It’s also close to where my DOC campsite pass tale began, which is fitting as this is where it ends. For now. 8/10. $10 not spent, $26 saved.

Is it a pass?
As you can see, I got value for money from my Campsite Pass. Just. I paid $140 for it and managed camping to the value of $166. Me, a person living almost permanently in a tent, travelling the country by packraft, on foot and later in a car, managed to save just $26 from investing up front for a pass. There are obviously other factors at play: I spent the winter living on a holiday park, paid for by my employer; and I’ve camped a lot around Auckland, where DOC sites simply aren’t a thing. In one year, I managed just 13 nights in DOC camps where I would otherwise have paid. When I bought the pass, I envisaged it would be a lot higher.

That number might be a lot higher for you. The pass currently costs $195 for the year (a 39% price hike from the $140 days) and, with many sites costing $10-$15 per night, you’ll need to stay at least 20 nights in a year to make it count. Can you? Have you?