Jens Richter, who takes his dogs walking in the bay every day, has seen an increasing number of vans parked by the lake in the past month.
"We can see evidence of toileting in the bushes along the shoreline, and I’ve repeatedly seen campers brushing teeth and washing their clothes in the lake," Mr Richter said.
He decided he had "had enough" last week when he saw one van dweller washing cooking utensils and a frying pan in the lake.
He took a photo and sent it to council last Friday, only to be told the land was administered by Land Information NZ (Linz) and that he should contact the Crown agency directly.
Given freedom camping was illegal on Linz land, he was wondering why nothing had been done about travellers using Lake Wakatipu as their kitchen sink, bathroom and washing machine, Mr Richter said.
"To push any activities on non-council land to landowners like Linz, there’s no chance anything will happen.
"With the current government specifically stating all tourists are welcome and the more the better, these problems will only increase."
Linz land and waterways leader Lee Farnhill said Linz might trespass people in "extreme cases", but did not keep a record of complaints in the district.
"However, we are aware there have been some isolated issues, which we have responded to."
Mr Farnhill said Linz had worked with Queenstown’s council on signs for "some known hotspots".
"We have minimal resourcing to actively manage freedom camping issues beyond our designated [freedom camping] sites."
Mr Richter’s photos are yet more evidence, following another story last month, of tourists finding legal loopholes enabling them to camp for free.
The situation has not been helped by the High Court quashing the council’s freedom camping bylaw last year — due to a technical flaw in its consultation process — after a legal challenge by the NZ Motor Caravan Association.
In the meantime, as the council scrambles to develop a replacement bylaw, the occupants of any blue-stickered vehicle can legally sleep in them across the Wakatipu, provided they are not on a council reserve or in breach of parking restrictions.
The blue stickers, which denote the vehicles as "certified self-contained", apply to any slider van or station wagon with a portable toilet and a container of fresh water inside.
Freedom campers spoken to last month said they had never heard of anyone actually using the portable toilets. The blue stickers were to be phased out in June, leaving stricter, green-sticker requirements in place.
However, the government is in the process of extending that deadline by another 12 months, to next June.
Announcing the extension last week, Tourism and Hospitality Minister Louise Upston said it would be "reassuring for people who enjoy freedom camping as a way to get off the beaten track and explore everything our beautiful country has to offer".
