MARLBOROUGH: PICTON

Waikawa Bay Reserve is a beautiful, sheltered reserve with stunning views and spotless public toilets.

We were lucky enough to visit on a clear sunny day, and the view over the harbour was one of the nicest that we've seen anywhere. A great location to stop for lunch.

We would love to have been able to park overnight, but the local council has erected a prominent sign forbidding overnight camping. Such a pity as it would be a great location for this. There is a really nice barbeque, a children's playground, and some of the best public toilets that we've seen anywhere.

It's not a large reserve, so we understand the need to restrict the number of vans, and for how long. But to ban overnight parking completely?

One of the reasons we invested in a self-contained motorhome was to be able to park overnight in some of our most beautiful locations around New Zealand. We really look forward to our councils finally recognizing that self-contained motor caravanners are an opportunity, not a problem.