Rankers Camping NZ app good for
Great app when you are driving around and are looking for a place to camp. Also good for planning ahead. If you send in pictures they respond promptly and publish them. The app was a BIG help whilst in New Zealand for 4 weeks.
Great app with offline mode. A must have for a New Zealand road trip.
Best for finding the free camping sights. I wish you could easily get directions to this place and I also wish it should you where bathrooms and water are. Still amazing for all the free camping sites it shows though.
The Rankers app has been indispensable throughout my 3wk tour of the South Island. Whether searching for freedom camping, DOC, or holiday park, the app provides the information needed to find the right spot to stop for the night. The amenities and cost info have been helpful, and the reviews helped make the final decisions. Being able to download the full database for the South Island ahead of time meant I didnt need wifi to search for a campsite, which was really handy.
We were in New Zealand from 16 November through 13 December 2016 and used the Camp New Zealand app to explore at the recommendation of Piwiwiwi Campervan. It was such a valuable tool, using the app to navigate our way around both the north and south islands. I liked the simplicity and did not feel overwhelmed with too much information. And to be advertising free is very refreshing. Our campervan was an ideal size and the service by the owners/managers was extremely good.
This is an awesome offline app! No need at all to carry any paper map during our trip
Some bad moments
The Rankers websites campground map page is a great resource (especially if touring in a motorhome) but required Internet access. Most of these sites arent in TripAdvisor or Lonely Planet. This app gets you the locations and descriptions and user reviews of every camping site in New Zealand. In particular, identification of the free camping sites (really important given the changes in camping laws) all downloadable for offline use (yes, lots of NZ lacks cell data, and even where you have it you might not want to burn it on using the website).
Cant quite give it five stars as I have seem some crashes in downloading, but even so, very useful.
This is the PERFECT app for a campervan tour of NZ.Awesome access to reviews and detailson each park and campground. Big Plus was the map that located our gps position consistently. Mind you this was without NZ cell service or WiFi (I suspect it must be thru the GPS location services turned on thru the icloud etc)
Predownload all maps b4Ugois a must and you can read the reviews before you book or just pull in for the night. We just returned from a 2 week blitz of both Islands and found this app INVALUABLE for 2 wandering or lost Americans ( ..at times). Huge Kudos and thanks to the developers for putting this together..
One suggestion in the future is to feature WIFI hotspots for campers, paid or otherwise. (Dependable, Non price gouging WIFI was the only frustrating thing we encountred in NZ. With the beauty of your country, to be able to share it back home on the net is a must for the 21st century)
This app is the next best thing to being an NZMCA member. The information is great, and the ability to quickly find nearby overnight parking for free or cheap has paid for the price of the app many times over in the first week of use.
Thanks for putting together such a valuable resource!
We just got back from 10 days in NZ on the South Island. We used this app to identify good campsites, but also to help with navigation. With location services turned on it was a great help for getting around.
Suggestions for improvement that would help get it 4 or 5 stars:
- when choosing favorite campsites, highlight on the map where favorites were selected, not just in the pop-out side bar. Maybe a new color.
- enable a distance calculation without going online. All the info is in the downloaded map, should be able to choose two points and calculate distance.
- include simple, local, instructions for finding campsite that does not require Internet access. Address is included, but nothing else like on the corner of pine and 3rd, across from the petrol station...
- unclear how to add our ratings or comments on the campgrounds. Should embed the feature so people can do it while at the site.
- continue to add activity info - so much available in pamphlets around the country, would be nice to include it in a more friendly fashion.
Sometimes it works. A lot of the time it freezes up. And it isnt even anywhere near close to being complete. Altogether its a rip off, and doesnt do what it advertises, even when it isnt frozen.
App works great on my iPhone 5s but crashes on startup on my 1st generation iPad that is running iOS 5.1.1. It would be awesome if that could be fixed.