Before the borders shut, New Zealand was teeming with freedom campers.
In 2019 alone, almost quarter of a million people chose to travel the country this way.
But, that could be changing with new stricter freedom camping laws proposed.
Corrigan and his girlfriend Ava made the most of the free cooking facilities at Chamberlains Ford.
Stuck in New Zealand for over a year due to Covid, the young couple are making every dollar they earn along the way count.
Corrigan Gurney told Newshub they basically got to eat a lot of Ramen Noodles.
And the cost-cutting doesn't end there.
"Yeah everything out of the car, we cook out of the car, we sleep out of the car, we drive in the car, we kind of get sick of the car sometimes but it's all right for us," Gurney said.
But these vehicles don't have toilets inside - and that's not all right for Tourism Minister Stuart Nash.
"These vehicles are not acceptable in terms of what we portray as a nation and the values we have as communities," Nash told Newshub.
A discussion document proposing a raft of changes has been released.
Including lifting the standards of what can be legally considered a self-contained vehicle, changes to where freedom campers can stay.
There's tougher enforcement proposed too, hiking fines to $1000 and even vehicle confiscation if they're found without toilets or been fined multiple times.
PTC Local Council New Zealand welcomes the review, saying it is long overdue however, if new regulations require greater enforcement - they're concerned that the cost will be passed on to ratepayers.
"It's value over volume I think we do need to change things we do as a country I do think in some areas the social licence to do things was being eroded," Nash said.
But for Corrigan and Ava, traveling the country in their car has been a dream.
"We like to enjoy rather seeing the place in nature rather than staying in nice places and nice air bnbs and stuff so we choose the car so we can just see as much as we can," he said.
That freedom might be gone before the budget tourists return.
