'A myth that young tourists are stingy' SARAH-JANE O'CONNOR

Sarah-Jane O'Connor Sarah-Jane O'Connor Sarah-Jane O'Connor Dean Kozanic Dean Kozanic

Olivia Clark, 23, and Byron Fay, 28, from Canberra are on a whirlwind, nine-day tour of the South Island.

GLOBETROTTERS: Bill Jackman, 28, and Hebe Henderson, 21, from Cornwall are squeezing a five-week NZ trip in between visiting Australia and Thailand.

ON TOUR: Inbar Nir, left, and Liron Yadlin, both 25, from Israel have been staying in DOC campgrounds.

No Camping signs have been erected in the public carpark in New Brighton.

German visitors, Danilson Dala, left, and Andrew Triendade pack up their gear after using the New Brighton carpark.

Sarah-Jane O'Connor

Bill Jackman, 28, and Hebe Henderson, 21, from Cornwall are squeezing a five-week NZ trip in between visiting Australia and Thailand.

Freedom-camping tourists have been filling the media with their poor behaviour. SARAH-JANE O'CONNOR goes in search of the youth tourist market and finds there are many more than the proverbial bad apples.

The rest is here:

Freedom to camp - youth travellers in New Zealand