Free Camping on Caroline Bay Timaru

Did you know that Caroline Bay in Timaru New Zealand is a free camping ground.
Its true, people have been camping there for years. Last week
I was on the Bay at 7.30 am in the morning and there were
9 campervans and a tent all with people in them snoring their heads off.

As one that is interested in Tourism I phoned the local campervan club and the Timaru District council to see if these people were breaking any City bylaws. I was assured by both parties that it is OK to camp on Caroline Bay free of charge provided your accommodation unit is self contained.
I understand that this privilege was once only available to members of the campervan club but now the campervan hirers have got to hear about it they are sending their customers to Timaru in droves.

Who can blame them, where else in New Zealand can you camp
on a wonderful sandy beach handy to the the city centre for free.

I’m not sure how the news got out but it may have something
to do with the magazine we printed telling people about the free
camping on Caroline Bay and Patiti Point plus the fact that we
put the news on the Timaru Directory website.
I think that free camping on Caroline Bay is a great idea in fact we should advertise it in the Timaru District Council brochure, the one that they don’t have.

I’m sure the council can provide plenty of unused land for free camping.There is plenty of land down at Patiti Point by the proposed new funeral parlour. Maori Park is not fully used so that could hold a few camper vans and tents.

Access to Maori Park and Caroline Bay is a bit of problem but we could build a bridge from Maori Park across Caroline Bay to the Port with an off ramp down onto the Bay.
Tourist could stay the night on the Bay use our showers and
toilets and the next morning bungy jump off the bridge.

Some people in certain circles will not be happy with me suggesting these crazy ideas but why should I care what people think or what happens to Timaru because no one else seems to care.