Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
(
www.waipouakauriforest.co.nz
;
1 Waipoua River Rd; 9am-6.30pm summer, to 4pm winter)
Inter-
esting exhibition on the kauri forests, guided tours ($25), flax-weaving lessons ($5) and a
good cafe. You can also plant your own kauri tree - complete with GPS coordinates - for
$180.
Sleeping & Eating
Waipoua Forest Campground
CAMPSITE $
( 09-439 6445;
www.waipouakauriforest.co.nz
;
1 Waipoua River Rd; site/unit/house from $15/
20/175)
Situated next to the Waipoua River and the visitor centre, this peaceful camping
ground offers hot showers, flush toilets and a kitchen. The cabins are extremely spartan,
with unmade squab beds (bring your own linen or hire it). There are also whole houses
for rent, sleeping 10.
Waipoua Lodge
B&B $$$
$$$
( 09-439 0422;
www.waipoualodge.co.nz
;
SH12; r $585)
This fine old villa at the southern
edge of the forest has four luxurious, spacious suites, which were originally the stables,
the woolshed and the calf-rearing pen. Decadent dinners ($75) are available.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Trounson Kauri Park
The 450-hectare Trounson Kauri Park has an easy half-hour loop walk that leads from
the picnic area by the road. It passes through beautiful forest with streams, some fine
kauri stands, a couple of fallen trees and another Four Sisters - two pairs of trees with
the edge of the park with a communal kitchen and hot showers.
Just 2km from SH12,
Kauri Coast Top 10 Holiday Park
( 09-439 0621;
www.kauricoasttop10.co.nz
; Trounson Park Rd; site/unit from $42/95; )
is an attractive
riverside camping ground with good facilities and a small shop. It also organises night-
time
nature walks
(adult/child $25/15)
, which explain the flora and nocturnal wildlife
that thrives here. This is a rare chance to see a kiwi in the wild. Trounson has a predator--
eradication program and has become a mainland refuge for threatened native bird spe-
cies, so you should at least hear a morepork (a native owl) or a brown kiwi.
If you're approaching from the north, it's easier to take the second turn-off to the park,
near Kaihu, which avoids a rough unsealed road.
