The settlement of seven Queenstown residents face eviction by the landowner, the Department of Conservation (Doc), having overstayed on the nohoanga (camping) site they had rights to as members of the Ngāi Tahu iwi.
A family of six has been living on site in a full-size bus, complete with kitchen, bathroom and heating, for several months.
Jeremiah Greenbank is a recent arrival, who in the past week has built a shack nearby using wooden pallets, complete with a log burner he found on the side of the road.
The camp sits on one of 72 nohoanga sites allocated by Ngāi Tahu across the South Island.
It includes a Portaloo and outdoor shower, in compliance with nohoanga rules.
It is also home to many wildlife species, including native birds that nest from August to January.
Under the Ngāi Tahu Claims Settlement Act 1998, nohoanga sites are specific areas of Crown-owned land alongside lake shores or riverbanks, usually 1ha in size.
Ngāi Tahu whānui - tribal members - have temporary, but exclusive rights to camp on nohoanga sites for certain months of the year, but
the group has exceeded its entitlement, which ran from September 1 to May 16.
Mr Greenback, who identifies as Ngāi Tahu, said he contacted the iwi when he first came to the site "and they basically rung Doc on us [including the family in the bus]".
"A Doc guy came and talked to both of us a couple of weeks ago.
"He said ‘if people start complaining, you’ll just have to leave’."
Doc acting operations manager Rebecca Teele said they were working with local authorities to "resolve the situation".
"The authority to camp over the summer months [on the nohoanga site] has expired and it has now reverted to public conservation land under the Reserves Act.
"Authorisations are required to help with the management and monitoring of site usage and to prevent over-populating and degradation of a site.
"There are certain legal requirements that have to be adhered to and when these are not followed, Doc works with local iwi and other authorities to ensure compliance and preserve the site."
Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu strategy and environment group head Jacqui Caine said it was their duty "to support these whānau and we will continue to work with them".
Born in Invercargill and raised in Alexandra, Mr Greenbank first came to Queenstown 25 years ago and has since divided his time between the resort and Australia.
He returned to New Zealand about two months ago with his wife, but had no joy finding a place to live in Queenstown.
He lived with his wife in a tent for a while until she left him to it.
For a period he paid $375 a week to live in a car outside a Queenstown backpackers with access to the hostel’s facilities, such as shower and kitchen.
Since then he had been living out of a tent or his car on the Doc site and had spent the past week building the 13sq m pallet shack.
The father and children of the family living in the bus also identify as Ngāi Tahu.
The mother said they had been living in a house in the district until last year when the landlord put the price up and "we got the boot".
Since then they had "applied for so many f ... ing houses".
"They always say ‘four children — too many’. There’s nothing available for housing."
She believed because she and her husband both worked, "we don’t fit the criteria for [housing] assistance".
"We’ve filled out all these forms with all these different agencies ... [We’re] doing too good, but not good enough."
Mr Greenbank was philosophical about being forced to leave.
"If I had to move on I’d just jump in the car.
"I wouldn’t be that bitter about it ... I don’t want to be here forever."
The family said if evicted they would "go park [the bus] up the side of the road - there’s nowhere else for us to go".
