7 Autumn 2024 BUY AUTHOR INDEX AUTHORS Click on image for full view and caption Home for the next few weeks. Ruataniwha Conservation Park ©2024 Tony Kissel A swallows nest in the shelter, cute aren’t they? ©2024 Tony Kissel Fresh dusting of snow on the Ben Ohau Range this morning (11 Feb). All gone by lunchtime. ©2024 Tony Kissel ​ Home for the next few weeks Tony Kissell Up Up 7 Autumn 2024 , p 13

2 Summer 2022 BUY AUTHOR INDEX AUTHORS Click on image for full view and caption ​ Overnight beside the Aparima River Heather Auckram I slept overnight beside the Aparima River near Opio (Southland). A couple of 4WDs drove along, but apart from the noise caused us no bother. Lots and lots of wild ducks. ©2022 Heather Auckram Up Up 2 Summer 2022 , p 18

3 Autumn 2023 BUY AUTHOR INDEX AUTHORS Click on image for full view and caption Barbara Sanders’ Chameleon is ready for the road. ©2023 Barbara Sanders & M Richardson Barbara Sanders’ Chameleon is ready for the road. ©2023 Barbara Sanders & M Richardson Barbara Sanders’ Chameleon is ready for the road. ©2023 Barbara Sanders & M Richardson Barbara Sanders’ Chameleon is ready for the road. ©2023 Barbara Sanders & M Richardson Barbara Sanders’ Chameleon is ready for the road. ©2023 Barbara Sanders & M Richardson Barbara Sanders’ Chameleon is ready for the road. ©2023 Barbara Sanders & M Richardson Barbara Sanders’ Chameleon is ready for the road. ©2023 Barbara Sanders & M Richardson ​ Chameleon Anonymous Barbara Sanders’ Chameleon is ready for the road. Photos ©2023 Barbara Sanders & M Richardson Up Up 3 Autumn 2023 , p 31

8 Winter 2024 BUY AUTHOR INDEX AUTHORS Click on image for full view and caption editorial-MNR_0991_H.webp ©2024 M Richardson keep warm, keep camping, keep enjoying Editorial Miriam Richardson I have been enjoying following along on Facebook the many campers who aren’t intimidated by the season and are planning to continue camping in Winter. I have been perched at the campground in Glendhu Bay, plugged in to power while I work on this magazine, enjoying day after day of beautiful weather and stunning views, while the North Island has been cloudy, buffeted by wind, and fairly damp. I am not sure if this is a charmed spot or I have just been lucky. It has been a pretty grim time for people who want to freedom camp, having to work hard to find practical solutions within the flawed regulations. You will find some articles here on how to meet the toilet requirements for the new green warrant. There is a possibility there might be relief from the bizarre requirement to drill a hole in your toilet cassette and your vehicle. Holding off might save $ (and defer payment of the $120 government self-containment levy). There are more vehicle inspectors for the green warrants, though still not enough. You might be lucky enough to find one in your area. The government has announced an increase in the visitor levy on tourists. So far it has wasted all it collected this way on enforcement — if it created more facilities the need for enforcement would be less, but there is no impetus, either locally or nationally to improve or increase facilities for these, our most lucrative tourists. As we head in to winter, keep warm, keep camping, keep enjoying and caring for our lovely country. Tiaki mai. Miriam Richardson Image: Glendhu Bay, Wanaka, ©2024 M Richardson Up Up 8 Winter 2024 , p 4

2 Summer 2022 BUY AUTHOR INDEX AUTHORS Click on image for full view and caption camp-nzfa_w.webp ​ NZers go camping: clubs & groups on Facebook ​ NZ cycling groups Motorhomers go cycling NZ New Zealand motorhomers including those in buses and caravans who are interested in cycling trails, cycleways, roads or mountain bike trails. You can post pictures of your cycling adventures, connect with others to organise group rides, and discuss anything about bikes both electric and non electric. 3k members [ ckw.nz/motorhomers-cycle](http://ckw.nz/motorhomers-cycle) Bikepacking New Zealand Bikepacking is about getting outdoors and seeing new country. It is any ride that includes an overnight stay. This group is about sharing ideas, routes, bike hacks and ride info. 7.2k members [ ckw.nz/bikepacking](http://ckw.nz/bikepacking) NZ Cycle Touring Traditional road based cycle touring. 3.5k members [ ckw.nz/cycle-touring](http://ckw.nz/cycle-touring) Recreational Riders NZ A resource for the ever growing recreational cyclist community in NZ 6.7k members [ ckw.nz/rec-riders](http://ckw.nz/rec-riders) NZ women travelling NZ solo women travellers Discussion, support, inspiration and sharing among NZ women who travel solo (sometimes or all the time), and overnight in their vehicles. Maybe in a caravan, a motorhome, van or a car. 450 members [ ckw.nz/solo-women-travellers](http://ckw.nz/solo-women-travellers) Female Travel Buddies NZ For single NZ women who travel in a self contained motorhome /camper / caravan (not a car nor station wagon) and who do not travel with a man. 377 members [ ckw.nz/female-travel-buddies](http://ckw.nz/female-travel-buddies) Motorhome Babes This is group is capped at 500, and is currently not accepting new members, so it is hidden on Facebook. It is a very active and friendly group, and there are frequent, informal meet ups around the country. It is for women who travel on their own in their motorhomes at least some of the time. Worth keeping an eye out, so you can join up when places become available. 500 members (currently closed, so there is no link) Women Travel in New Zealand It's all about '& Travel in New Zealand'. Why travel alone? Meet other women and make the most of your trip. 1.4K members [ ckw.nz/womentravelnz](http://ckw.nz/womentravelnz) Wāhine tramping and hiking NZ 9.5K members [ ckw.nz/wahine](http://ckw.nz/wahine) Women's Hiking NZ 2.5K members [ ckw.nz/hiking](http://ckw.nz/hiking) Wāhine Outdoors New Zealand 185 members [ ckw.nz/wahine-outdoors](http://ckw.nz/wahine-outdoors) Camping groups NZ Fun Adventures Camping For all types of camping including families; to share your camps, gear and the cool locations you visit. Our aim is to inspire more people to get out camping whether it's done on a tight budget or in super luxury. 12K members [ facebook.com/groups/nzfacamping](http://facebook.com/groups/nzfacamping) All Points Camping NZ - chat, share A group run by NZ's national camping club to support campers in NZ. regularly runs camps. 8.6K members [ facebook.com/groups/AllpointsNZ](http://facebook.com/groups/AllpointsNZ) Motorhomes, Caravans, Campers NZ For motorhome, caravan and camping enthusists to buy, sell or chat about anything to do with being on the go or the best places to visit or how to solve problems. 10K members [ ckw.nz/m-c-c](http://ckw.nz/m-c-c) NZ Motorhoming/Caravanning/Camping with kids A family friendly group for those looking for places to motorhome, caravan or tent with kids and grand kids. 2.1K members [ ckw.nz/with-kids](http://ckw.nz/with-kids) New Zealand Camping Guide This group is for people to share camping spots and information with each other. 1.9K members [ ckw.nz/nzcg](http://ckw.nz/nzcg) New Zealand 4WD and Camping Show us your off-road adventures and stunning camping spots. 6.7K members [ ckw.nz/4wd](http://ckw.nz/4wd) ### NEXT ISSUE Facebook groups for particular kinds of camping or overnighting. Up Up 2 Summer 2022 , p 36

8 Winter 2024 BUY AUTHOR INDEX AUTHORS Click on image for full view and caption Where-we-MNR_2659_H.webp ©2024 M Richardson assume the new laws apply everywhere Where are we at with self-containment and freedom camping? M Richardson If you do not want to freedom camp you do not need the new green warrant. The existing blue standard and blue warrant is still acceptable for all other places that require certified self-containment (so far). ■ The new government is not making any of the changes it championed in the Select Committee stages of the amendment to the Freedom Camping Act. ■ Green warrant cards for freedom camping are being issued, as long as you meet the eight new requirements. See PGDB diagram and link, p8 ■ There are still insufficient testers across the country for the number of vehicles that need warrants in the available time. Search the list here (put in your region first). ■ Costs for getting a 4-year green warrant vary from $200 to $300, including the $120 PGDB levy. ■ The NZMCA has indicated that it will not be issuing green warrant cards until or unless the venting requirements for cassette toilets are lifted. They intend to issue non-green cards for those who do not wish to freedom camp (or pay the government levy) which will be sufficient proof of self-containment for NZMCA parks and events and, presumably, their park over properties. ■ The peculiarities around the venting of toilet cassettes is still required for a green warrant. There are indications that this vent rule will be changed to exclude cassette and compost toilets but this won’t be confirmed until later in the year, if you can trust the politicians. ■ Aside from the venting issue the other peculiarities around self-containment managed by the Plumbers and Gasfitters Board are going to remain part of the regulations. There is no process or willingness to revise any other rules. The Minister has declared he won’t look at any revisions of the law as a whole until June next year at the earliest. ■ Rental companies must have green warrants by Dec 7 this year if the tourists are to be able to use these vehicles to freedom camp. The rest of us already-certified travellers, have until 7 June 2025. ■ From June next year the law demands that the Government must review any effect on homeless vehicle dwellers. ■ Money from international tourist’s levies, that could have been used to improve facilities for freedom campers has instead been spent on Councils to fund bylaw changes, provide enforcement and ambassador programs, plus fund the new PGDB vehicle certification system. The bulk of these funds was paid by MBIE to the regions with the strongest restrictions (and least provision) for freedom camping such as Queenstown Lakes District. ■ Those with fixed toilets and a blue warrant card issued before 7 Jun 2024 will be able to continue to freedom camp until 7 June 2025. ■ There is no indication that the government will extend the available time beyond 7 June 2025 as the Act allows. ■ Only those certified before 7/7/23 with a portable toilet can freedom camp: no-one else with a portable toilet can freedom camp on council-controlled land. ■ Regions vary in their enforcement of the new legislation. Some regions simply choose not to police the certified vehicle restrictions. Some don’t yet have the bylaws in place to apply restrictions, prohibit areas or offer freedom camping areas for non-self-contained campers. ■ It is safest, from a getting fined point of view, to assume the new laws apply everywhere, and to check the region’s website and their signs very carefully for their current rules. n Image: ©2024 M Richardson Freedom camping & self-containment 2 Where are we at with self-containment and freedom camping? 2 Who can freedom camp from now until 7 June 2025? 4 Getting your camping vehicle certified 8 Am I freedom camping? 8 What you need for a green warrant for freedom camping 10 Planning a toilet for the freedom camping green warrant? 12 Venting a toilet cassette: why, what, when and how 14 Keeping up with the self-containment changes 16 Composting and coddiwompling ︎ Up Up 8 Winter 2024 , p 2

3 Autumn 2023 BUY AUTHOR INDEX AUTHORS Click on image for full view and caption ​ Game, Southern Lakes, solution ​ Here is the solution Up Up 3 Autumn 2023 , p 43

3 Autumn 2023 BUY AUTHOR INDEX AUTHORS Click on image for full view and caption ​ Ten hours into a power cut Cheine Matheson Ten hours into a power cut with this cyclone .... THEN I remembered I've got full batteries in Mavis! Cheine Matheson ©2023 Cheine Matheson Up Up 3 Autumn 2023 , p 7

7 Autumn 2024 BUY AUTHOR INDEX AUTHORS Click on image for full view and caption Self-contained in a tent. ©2024 Tony Kissel none of those involved in regulating it seem to really care about self-containment, per se What is ‘self-contained’, anyway? Miriam Richardson Self-containment is at the heart of the the latest raft of freedom camping changes instituted in 2023. What is ‘self-containment’? The NZ Standard gives us our definition of self-containment. To provide “for the containment of solid waste, toilet waste, and grey waste water, resulting from the approved number of occupants’ daily activities, and to supply their minimum fresh water needs, for at least three days.” NZ Standard, Self containment of motor caravans and caravans (NZS 5465:2001), © 2024 Standards New Zealand. Do you need a fixed toilet to be self-contained? No . Can you be self-contained and use a portable toilet in a toilet tent? Yes . Does a preference for using public toilets mean you aren’t self-contained? No . Does the one-in-many-million chance of catching Legionnaires disease feature in self-containment? What?! No! Do cassette toilets enable the containment of toilet waste? Yes . Do toilet cassettes have any problems doing it? No . Does every toilet cassette in the country need to be modified to be self-contained? No . (Do the new regulations require such a change? Yes . Why? Ignorance on the part of the regulation writers. ) What is the point of self-containment? The point is protecting the environment by making sure all those enjoying it can keep their waste contained and can dispose of it safely and cleanly in the right place and time. How did we get here? When the NZMCA first mooted self-containment as a way to protect the environment, they focused on facilities rather than behaviour. It’s much easier to work out if there is a toilet, than it is to know that a person truly knows that peeing or shitting in the bushes is not acceptable. (Oh, men, should I have left peeing in the bushes out? ) The Responsible Campers Association promoted an alternative, a teaching-based option, where campers learned how to handle their waste responsibly. Sadly, this got little traction. Climbers and trampers learn to handle their waste responsibly; it can be done, even without a vehicle. Many of the reported problems with travellers and waste are not about facilities within their vehicles so much as actions taken by the travellers: education might have successfully managed this, particularly for short term visitors. Many are self-contained but are not “certified self-contained” Some are self-contained to the same criteria as those who get certified, and some follow the definition and intent of self-containment but not all the details of the standard. It is not hard to contain your waste, and jumping through the certification hoops has only become necessary as exclusionary laws have been enacted, barring those who are not certified. There is now a legal requirement to be ‘certified self-contained’ if you want to freedom camp which means having passed the test to prove your vehicle meets either NZS 5465:2001 the ‘old’ standard (blue warrant)(until 7/6/25) or the new regulations for a green warrant. Certifying for self-containment: the laws and regulations Strangely, nowhere in either the Freedom Camping Act 2011 , or the Self-contained Motor Vehicles Legislation Act 2023 do they trouble to define self-containment. They define enforcement officer, freedom camp, motor vehicle inspection, motor vehicle inspector, Registrar of Motor Vehicles, and even the humble ‘registration plate’, but not what they mean by “self-contained”. The Plumbers, Gasfitters, and Drainlayers (Self-Contained Vehicles) Regulations 2023 which are the new regulations for self-containment, don’t define it either. They define blackwater, greywater, wastewater, wastewater system, Board, certificate of self-containment, self-containment levy, self-containment authority, enforcement officer, and warrant card, but nope, not “self-containment”. The government department charged with making the regulations, the Ministry for Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE), does not show any awareness what it means. The simplest reason to infer from these omissions is that none of those involved in regulating it really care about self-containment, per se. Being either ignorant, or able to ignore, what self-containment actually means, they can regulate to the tune of their other imperatives which are more about restricting freedom camping to large vehicles and wealthier people, than to containing waste and protecting the environment. Given that the laws and regulations are not based on any definition of self-containment, it is perhaps explicable that they demonstrate a lack of knowledge around how motorhome waste can be safely and sensibly managed, they perpetuate ex-Minister Nash’s peculiar fetish around the fixedness of toilets, and they give plenty of rope, I mean scope to show how little house-based plumbers know about vehicle-based plumbing. Usually this ignorance would have been ameliorated by the Select Committee process, and by consultation with experts during the formation of the regulations. Sadly the Select Committee process was knee-capped by the then-opposition members (now the government), and those tasked with developing the regulations seem to have taken shortcuts with the consultation, only choosing to hear who or what suited them, and their lack of knowledge and professionalism is evident in the regulations, for all to see. Unintended consequences: the mandate for large campers The shift from small vehicles to large vehicles is going to increase the impact of each traveller on the environment. Being larger, heavier, and taller, they will make a bigger impact on the roads, on the phyiscal environment and intrude much more on the scenic view. Notes The NZ standard NZS 5465:2001 About the standard Download a PDF of the standard (this free download is time limited). PGDF on self-contained vehicles MBIE on freedom camping changes Freedom camping law The Regulations Articles in this issue on the freedom camping law changes: Predictable problems with the new CSC green warrant system (p2) Editorial (p3) Self-containment warrant cards: Which one is yours? (p6) So you want to freedom camp (p8) What is ‘self-contained’, anyway? (p10) Enforcement of freedom camping rules (p12) I am not freedom camping' cards (p14) Do your bit: Task of the week (p16) No more freedom camping (p16) Kaikōura: the freedom camping Wild West (p18) Hey NZ Govt? You are messing with my mental health (p20) 7 days a week (p21) Celebrating Summer (p5) Up Up 7 Autumn 2024 , p 10

4 Winter 2023 BUY AUTHOR INDEX AUTHORS Click on image for full view and caption SStay-lakeside4ed_W.webp SStay-lakeside1_W.webp SStay-lakeside2.webp Stop and Stay stopandstay.org Lakelands Holiday Park, Whanganui, Stop and Stay Angela Bryan Just a 10 minute drive from Whanganui, on the shores of Lake Witiroa, the park is a lovely spot with everything you need for a chilled-out family holiday. Easy access, there are level sites right on the shore of the lake where you can watch water skiers and the wild life or, if you are brave, go for swim. There are also kayaks available to use. A great mountain bike track, or bush walk, is right on the boundary of the park. The park is picturesque with loads of native trees and both powered and non-powered sites that are a generous size for the biggest of rigs. They have good clean facilities complete with herb garden, and room for large groups with their own separate kitchen. This would be a great spot for family reunions and the like. Friendly and helpful hosts make this a really pleasant place to stay. Book your spring stay now. jd.dowman@gmail.com lakelands.co.nz 316 Kaitoke Rd Wanganui Closed over winter: 30 April to 1 October. Stop and Stay Check out our Stop and Stay listings for recommended places to stop and stay on your travels around NZ. Only the best. www.stopandstay.org Up Up 4 Winter 2023 , p 31

8 Winter 2024 BUY AUTHOR INDEX AUTHORS Click on image for full view and caption ​ Cycle camping Andrew Morton Cycle camping with a teardrop and a fly. ©2024 Andrew Morton Up Up 8 Winter 2024 , p 21

2 Summer 2022 BUY AUTHOR INDEX AUTHORS Click on image for full view and caption Clifden Suspension Bridge Clifden Suspension Bridge, about 10km out of Tuatapere ©2022 Heather Auckram ©2022 Heather Auckram ©2022 Heather Auckram Clifden Suspension bridge, tenting area Clifden Suspension bridge has a grassed area for tents. ©2022 Heather Auckram Clifden Suspension Bridge toilets Clifden Suspension Bridge, has new, clean toilets. ©2022 Heather Auckram Clifden Suspension Bridge parking Clifden Suspension Bridge has a stoned carpark for overnight stays. ©2022 Heather Auckram car camping Scrambling out of a tent is not so easy for me these days, so car camping allows me to still enjoy the outdoors. ©2022 Heather Auckram Friendly rooster at Clifden Suspension Bridge Clifden Suspension Bridge the only disturbances were a few cattle in a nearby paddock and a cute friendly rooster. ©2022 Heather Auckram ​ Clifden Suspension Bridge Heather Auckram Scrambling out of a tent is not so easy for me these days, so car camping allows me to still enjoy the outdoors. Clifden Suspension Bridge, about 10km out of Tuatapere, has a grassed area for tents and a stoned carpark for overnight stays. It's free and has new, clean toilets. Only disturbances were a few cattle in a nearby paddock and a cute friendly rooster. Up Up 2 Summer 2022 , p 35