Fitted out to be a Kiwi wine bar

van on a website, Bailey said.

‘‘These sort of projects always take a little bit more time, effort and money. It was a bit of labour of love, but the guys did a really, really good job in restoring it.’’

Following the restoration, it was fitted out with machines called an Enomatic Wine Serving System.

They work when the customer inserts a card, similar to an eftpos card, into a slot above the wines and chooses a serve – either a tasting, half glass, or full glass.

Customers then put the glass under the nozzle of the wine they want and tap a button. Wine is

She says they spend a lot and a German visitor, who stays 68 days on average, will contribute $10,000 to our economy.

Later in life, one in five return to destinations they visited in their youth, Hudson says. ‘‘It’s a trip down memory lane.’’

CamperMate and Geozone apps attract 37,000 users a day in peak season and founder Adam Hutchinson says they are not all noodle munchers living on the dispensed, and argon gas is pumped into the bottle as the wine level goes down to preserve the leftover wine.

The system acts like a bar tab, in that it records what people choose and is paid for at the end.

The cost to hire the van was done on a case-by-case basis, depending on the length of the event, the number of wines featured, and the number of people attending, Bailey said.

The Winedub attended a couple of events in Dunedin during the past six months, but Bailey hoped it could go on tour this summer. smell of an oily rag.

By anonymously tracking 186 app users and matching their movements with credit card transactions, he found they each spent about $2000 over three weeks, 20 per cent of it on retail items such as clothing and camping gear.

Hutchinson’s survey of app users showed close to half chose New Zealand specifically because they could freedom camp, and he

‘‘A lot of people have never seen the wine serving systems before, let alone on the back of a VW van, so that does create a little bit of a talking point.’’

When the van was not attending an event, the machines could be taken off and it turned into The Winery’s delivery vehicle, she said.

‘‘She’s great to drive as well. The first time I drove her, I felt like I was on holiday. She doesn’t go particularly fast, but she does get to about 100 on the straight road. When you are driving around, everyone is waving at you, everyone is pointing.’’ says tighter restrictions might cost us a valuable chunk of our visitor market.

The Freedom Camping Act was passed in 2011 to overcome an accommodation shortage during the Rugby World Cup, and it was left up to individual local authorities to introduce restrictions.

The results have not always been pretty.

So-called ‘‘vanpackers’’ touring in old vehicles without any toilet facilities, cop a lot of the blame, and anecdotally, young Europeans coming here to enjoy our clean green outdoors are among the worst offenders.

Stickers denoting certified selfcontained vehicles have been forged, and many travellers skip the country without paying fines for illegal camping.

Gaskell worries that the ‘‘nasty little shitters’’ will jeopardise it for everyone.

‘‘It’s a privilege to be able to freedom camp and if you abuse it, someone will take it away.’’

Some local authorities have responded by restricting freedom camping to self-contained vehicles and the Standards New Zealand definition of self-contained was recently tightened at the instigation of the NZMCA.

It was concerned that portapotties were stashed in the back of vans, with no intention of ever being used.

Now, as well as having the capacity to store up to three days’ water and waste, certified selfcontained vehicles must have a toilet that can be used inside when the bed is made up.

David Hammond does consultancy work for councils grappling with freedom camping issues and thinks the standard should require flushable loos.

He is helping councils tweak their by-laws so the definition of self-contained includes a fully plumbed toilet.

‘‘The only reason they haven’t gone the whole hog and said you have to have a plumbed-in toilet is that some of the older NZMCA vehicles probably don’t lend themselves to that sort of design.’’

Increased Government funding for tourism infrastructure is starting to address a lack of toilets, dump stations and rubbish bins.

But Buller Mayor Garry Howard, says the differing rules on freedom camping are confusing and West Coast local authorities are attempting to align their bylaws, something the rest of the country should emulate.

‘‘How does a tourist know when they’ve crossed the border between the Buller, Grey and Westland districts?’’

Minister of Tourism Paula Bennett agrees that sticking with the status quo is not an option and changing the Act is a possibility.

However, she is acutely conscious that freedom camping in the great outdoors is also a cherished Kiwi tradition.

‘‘It cannot continue the way it is, but we need a New Zealandwide conversation about what the options are.’’