We kregen hier een ticket van $400. De ingang van de hoofdweg naar de grijze straat is geblokkeerd, dus we kwamen van de andere ingang naar de parkeerplaats. Er was er maar één camper. De parkeerbalken waren niet zichtbaar van waar we in gingen, dus we parkeerden gewoon naast de andere camper. Helaas was het geen "aangewezen" baai. Daarom kregen we het ticket.

We verbleven hier op de aangewezen plaats met een groene sticker, maar kregen nog steeds een boete omdat de officier zijn bril of iets niet droeg. Laden van stress en moeite om de ontheffing te krijgen - omdat we niet hebben $ 400 liggen rond voor een boete die niet bedoeld was om te worden gegeven. De "locals" in Queenstown en Wanaka leven in de illusie dat backpackers een last zijn, hoewel we deel uitmaken van de reden waarom ze zich kunnen veroorloven om alle nieuwe voorzieningen in deze plastic stad te bouwen.

Absolutely without chance. Until council in every city with this naive system starts to fine those who comes before 6pm and does not hesitate to “book” it’s place with QR code, it will never work. Been to Wānaka, Hāwea and now Queenstown and the story is always the same. The page says all places are free and once you get to the spot, the carpark is filled with nearly double number of vehicles which are there from 4 sometimes even 2pm and of course without registration… Don’t even bother trying

Be careful, the rangers patrol all day long. They're already there by 8:15, and by 2:30 PM the parking spaces are already taken. And forget about sleeping outside the parking areas; there are several police officers who think they own the place, and even if you're self-contained or only planning to sleep for two hours, don't even try. They'll fine you $400 without asking if you're inside the parking area or not. In short, leave your car in the morning like everyone else does, and don't rely 100% on the QR code availability.

Part of a normal car park with 10 hour stay, so often non-camper vehicles are parked in campervan bays

Only a few spaces in a small car park a short distance from the airport. It is noisy and dusty due to the current roadworks next door, but adequate for one night. Toilets are about a minute walk away, as is a water fountain. A short distance from the car park there is a McDonalds open 24 hours which is nice and you are also at the lake in 10 minutes.