Dump Points Near You

Find a dump point near you — Australia & New Zealand

This page lists every verified dump point within about 50km of your location — council facilities, caravan-park dumps that accept outside vans, and commercial sites. Allow location and we'll show what's nearby; if you decline, the manual search by town still works.

The kinds of dump points you'll find

• Council dump points (AU). Free or near-free, usually beside a public toilet block, sports oval, or visitor info centre. Often basic — a drain and a rinse hose — but they keep the entire AU caravan touring scene affordable. Mid-sized regional towns in QLD, NSW, and VIC have especially good council coverage.
• Caravan park dump points (AU + NZ). Available to guests, usually free. Most parks also accept non-guests for $5-$15. BIG4, Discovery, NRMA, and most council parks fall here.
• Service-station dump points. Some larger BP, Caltex, and United stations on highway routes have dump points alongside their truck facilities. Usually a small fee. Best for highway-day overnight stops.
• NZMCA member dump stations (NZ). The NZ Motor Caravan Association runs a national network of member-only dump points and parks. Annual membership is worthwhile for any NZ touring trip longer than a week.
• Highway rest-area dumps (limited). Australian state-government rest areas occasionally have dump points; New Zealand DOC sites rarely do. Always check before relying on one.

What to bring

• Waste hose (4-6m).Even though most dumps have a drain that's close, the bay layout varies wildly.
• Cassette hose adapter.Critical if you run a cassette van — not all dumps have a built-in cassette flush.
• Disposable gloves.Always. Every dump. Australian sun is brutal on hands too.
• A separate rinse hose.Never your drinking-water hose. Black or white only.
• Hose fitting kit.Many AU council dumps have non-standard threads; a small adapter set covers most.
• Tank treatment.Drop one in after dumping — Australian heat amplifies smells fast.

How to use a dump point

1. Pull up close, chock the van. Position so the waste outlet sits near or just past the drain. Chock — even on the flattest pad.
2. Glove up and connect. Hose to the van first, then to the drain. That order avoids the mess if the valve isn't sealed properly.
3. Black tank first, grey tank second. Open the black valve, wait for full flow to stop, then close. Open the grey valve — it rinses the hose on its way out.
4. Rinse if there's a flush. Backflush the tank for a couple of minutes, dump again. The single best thing you can do for sensors.
5. Disconnect carefully, rinse the area. Lift the hose end gradually so the water drains. Hose down the pad with the dedicated rinse hose.
6. Treat the tanks, top up fresh. Add a digester to the black tank, refill with a few litres of fresh water, and you're done.

Freedom camping & the dump-point relationship

In New Zealand particularly, freedom camping is closely tied to dump-point access — councils restrict overnight stops to vans with a current self-containment certificate, which itself requires a certified black-water tank and a documented dump-point routine. If you're touring NZ on a long trip:

• Carry your self-containment certificate where it's easy to show.
• Plan dump-point stops every 4-7 days depending on tank size and party size.
• Free council dumps are common in tourist regions; sealed roads often have one every 50-80km on the South Island.
• NZMCA membership unlocks a meaningful additional network and is good value if you're in NZ for more than 2-3 weeks.

Australia's freedom-camping rules vary wildly by state and even by council; check the council's website for the town you're heading to before you arrive.

Seasonality

Australian dump points are almost universally open year-round — temperatures rarely cause freeze closures. New Zealand South Island dumps in alpine areas occasionally close in deep winter, but it's rare. The real seasonality is queues: school holidays + the long weekends after Easter and the King's Birthday weekend create serious peak demand at popular coastal council dumps.

Frequently asked questions