Following numerous complaints about freedom camping on a roadside reserve opposite Puzzling World on SH84, the NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) will be restricting vehicle access to the site.

NZTA plans to deepen the water table along the length of the site (a rectangular area used for parking) from today (Tuesday May 13), the Wānaka App has been advised.

The Wānaka App visited the reserve on Monday morning (May 12), and spoke to a young Italian woman who was camping at the site in her car.

She said she was aware of the site by “word of mouth” and during her two week stay in the area so far she was “just moving around the free camping areas”. 

“For me it’s… temporary because I’m looking for a job and for an accommodation,” she said.

Shoulder season made this difficult, she said, and visitors were “fighting each other to get the job and a warm house… [which was] really hard”.

“Wānaka is just for fancy people, let’s say. It’s like a rich place for rich people and everything is really expensive,” she said.

The woman said she had seen between 10 and 20 vehicles camping at the SH84 reserve overnight.

“Most people are thankful for the opportunity” to camp, she said, and her view was the site was tidy and clean with no rubbish.

“There’s a bathroom less than five minutes walking from here and then everyone - at least 90 or 95 percent of people are self-contained,” she said.

The Wānaka App also spoke to a young French visitor camping in a van at the roadside reserve. She said she was working in the township and was also struggling to find secure accommodation.

Read more: NZTA takes action on freedom camping on reserve

PHOTO: Wānaka App