How ParkUp works
ParkUp is a community network across Aotearoa for people living and travelling on the road, and the people whose land they cross. It began with places to stay and has grown to include storage, shared rides, gatherings, and a feed where members ask each other for everything else.
Different things, one idea underneath them. Someone offers what they have, someone else asks, and the person offering decides who arrives and when the address is shared. The one exception is events, where an organiser can choose to let people confirm their own place without waiting on approval.
What you will find here
You do not have to pick one. Plenty of people arrive looking for somewhere to park and end up at a working bee down the road.
Stays
Somewhere to park and sleep on private land: driveways, paddocks, farms, lifestyle blocks, orchards, quiet corners. A night, or a good deal longer.
Browse staysStorage
Sheds, garages, containers, yards, workshops and hardstand. For the van over winter, the trailer between trips, or the gear that will not fit where you are living.
Browse storageRides
Someone driving your way with a spare seat. Rides are cost sharing, a fuel contribution or koha towards what the trip actually costs, never a fare.
Browse ridesEvents
Working bees, markets, workshops, saunas, walks, music, campouts and community hui. Free to list, free to find, and open to anyone with an account.
Browse eventsAnd Kōrero, which is where the rest of it happens
The four above are things people list. Kōrero is the conversation around them: the feed where members ask and answer whatever does not fit a listing. Where is the water in this town. Has anyone done this pass in a house truck. I am heading south on Thursday, does anyone need anything moved. Can someone lend a hand for an afternoon.
It also carries the quiet news of the network, so a new stay, gathering, ride or storage space turns up there as it is posted. You can filter it down to just the parts you care about.
Kōrero is members only, and it stays that way. It is people talking to each other, not a shopfront.
The part that never changes
Whatever you are asking for, the shape is the same. You send a request with a message. The person offering reads it and decides. Only after they approve does the exact address, the pickup point or the arrival detail get shared.
That is slower than tapping a button, and it is meant to be. It means a host is never surprised by who turns up, and it means the first thing between two people is a conversation rather than a transaction.
Asking for a stay
Browse what people are offering
Look through stays, storage, rides and gatherings. You can read everything without an account.
Check the details
Every stay lists what is there and what is expected: toilet access, water, pets, maximum vehicle length, whether a certified self-contained vehicle is required, and how the host prefers to be contacted.
Send a request
Tell the host who you are, what you are travelling in, and when you would like to come. This is a message to a person, not a booking form.
Wait for the host to decide
The host reads your request and approves or declines it. The exact address and arrival instructions arrive only once they have approved.
Arrive well, and leave well
Follow the rules the host set out, take your waste with you, and let them know when you have gone. How you leave is what the host reviews, and that review stays on your profile, so a good departure is worth more than a good first impression.
Offering something
The same five steps hold whether you are offering a paddock, a shed, a seat in the car or a gathering on your land.
Describe what you are offering
A driveway, a paddock, a corner of a lifestyle block, a shed, a spare seat in the car, or a gathering you are putting on. You write it in your own words.
Set your terms
Who it suits, what is available, whether pets are welcome, vehicle size limits, and whether it is free, koha, paid or a work exchange.
Read each request
Requests come to you with a message and a profile. Nothing is automatic and nothing is instant. You decide.
Approve, and only then share the address
Your exact location stays private until you approve someone. Approving is what releases it, so it is worth knowing that before you press it.
Keep the arrangement clear
Clear expectations up front, written down, are what prevent most problems. Message through ParkUp so there is a record of what was agreed.
Where the four differ
Storage runs on longer arrangements
A stay is usually nights. Storage is usually weeks or months, so the listing carries a price by the week or month and says what kind of space it is. You send a request with a start date, and the provider approves it before the address is shared.
Rides are cost sharing, not a service
A driver posts a trip they were already making. You ask for a seat, say where you would like to be picked up, and they accept or decline. What you contribute is fuel or koha towards the running costs of that trip. Anything beyond that is a commercial passenger service, which needs a licence ParkUp does not provide.
Events can approve you automatically
Events are the one place an organiser can choose to let people in without reviewing each request, because a public working bee is not a stranger parked on your driveway overnight. Most still review. Once you are in, there is an event wall for the people going, and the exact location follows the same rule as everything else.
Communities and organisations
Retreat centres, intentional communities, eco-villages, permaculture projects, working farms, wellness spaces and community hubs can join as a community rather than a person. A community account carries the full name of the place rather than a first name, plus a description, website and social links, so people can find out who they would be arriving to.
You choose this when you sign up. It cannot be switched afterwards without asking support, because the name and the trust attached to it are not things to swap around casually.
What you stay in control of
You set the terms. ParkUp helps the right people find them.
- Whether you are listed at all, and when
- Free, koha, paid, or work exchange
- Maximum vehicle size, and how many vehicles
- Pets, or no pets
- Toilet access, or certified self-contained only
- Quiet hours, arrival and departure times
- Whether water, power, bins, shower or laundry can be used
- Whether you want conversation or would rather be left alone
- Who arrives, every single time
Money, koha and work exchange
A stay can be free, koha, paid, or a work exchange where you help out instead of paying. Storage is usually paid by the week or month. Rides are a fuel or koha contribution. Events are free to list and free to RSVP, though an organiser may ask for a koha they have described up front.
ParkUp does not process payments for rides or events. Anything you receive, including koha and work exchange, may still count as income, so keep a record and talk to IRD or a tax adviser if you are unsure.
Hosts who have said what they are open to.
Before you list, check what applies to your place
ParkUp does not give blanket approval for any property or arrangement. Council rules, district plans, camping-ground regulations, insurance, tax and health requirements all vary with your location, your facilities, how many people come and whether money changes hands. Check with your council and your insurer before you accept anyone, and get legal or tax advice where you need it.
Read the Legal and Safety GuideWhat we do and do not promise
- Request first, approval second. There is no instant booking anywhere on ParkUp.
- Exact addresses stay hidden until the person offering approves the request.
- Hosts write their own rules, and those rules sit on the listing where you can read them before asking.
- Travellers are expected to respect self-containment requirements where a host sets them.
- Support is there for safety concerns, misleading listings and account problems.
- Listings may be reviewed or moderated while ParkUp is still growing.
- Reviews go both ways and stay sealed until you have both written one, so nobody is answering a review with a review.
- Reviews are a record, not a safety net. They tell you how someone has been, not how they will be.
Have a look around first
You can read every listing, gathering and ride without signing up. An account is only needed to ask for something.