Parking up at Home

Native Parks is an ingenious scheme that lets you park up at the home of a regular New Zealand family, free of charge. The Guardian’s Jonathan Freedland writes: “The pitch might be in a paddock on a vast sheep farm, in the driveway of a cosy cottage, even in the car park of a local business. There are currently 88 places to choose from. One of Native Parks’ aims is to draw visitors to different regions and out-of-the-way rural areas, to show off local food, drink or attractions that most tourists would otherwise miss. Our first Native Parks stop was a 9-minute drive south-west of Auckland. There was next to nothing around: just flinty, mist-shrouded hills redolent of the Scottish Highlands, the lush green broken only by outcrops of stone grey. As night fell, the lights from Anne and Philip Woodwards’ farm promised the cosy shelter of home — and they didn’t disappoint.”