6 PRIVATE AIR BNBS SET ON 70 ACRES IN KAI IWI LAKES
8 AUGUST 2022
Sienna & Arabella at the forest behind the resort
Our New Home For 3 Weeks
It was time for us to start our new adventure and it all began at Kai Iwi Lakes Resort. We had seen a house-sitting job about a place up at Kai Iwi Lakes through Kiwi House Sitters and decided it was perfect for us.
We had never been to the area before but had heard it was beautiful. We messaged the owner, Julie, and once all the details were confirmed, it was time to pack up our lives (check out our story here if you haven't read it already) and move to Kai Iwi Lakes for 3 weeks. We were keeping an eye on the property while the owners were away and taking care of bookings and cleaning after each guest checked out.
Kai Iwi Lakes resort is a beautiful country setting with 70 acres. It’s so quiet and peaceful and there’s so much land and greenery around, you really do feel like you can unwind and enjoy the country - which is exactly what Julie and Rod encourage.
We stayed in winter so it was reasonably quiet and we had the resort to ourselves a lot of the time which was amazing! Also, our house was right beside the AWESOME playground and the girls loved playing on it every day!
In winter, the beds in all the houses have these suuuuper warm velvet sheets on them which are sooooo good and keep you super warm during the night. Our house warmed up well with the electric heater. One of the houses, the Kaipara House, has a log fire and the rest of the houses have electric heaters.
We had never been to the area before but had heard it was beautiful. We messaged the owner, Julie, and once all the details were confirmed, it was time to pack up our lives (check out our story here if you haven't read it already) and move to Kai Iwi Lakes for 3 weeks. We were keeping an eye on the property while the owners were away and taking care of bookings and cleaning after each guest checked out.
Kai Iwi Lakes resort is a beautiful country setting with 70 acres. It’s so quiet and peaceful and there’s so much land and greenery around, you really do feel like you can unwind and enjoy the country - which is exactly what Julie and Rod encourage.
We stayed in winter so it was reasonably quiet and we had the resort to ourselves a lot of the time which was amazing! Also, our house was right beside the AWESOME playground and the girls loved playing on it every day!
In winter, the beds in all the houses have these suuuuper warm velvet sheets on them which are sooooo good and keep you super warm during the night. Our house warmed up well with the electric heater. One of the houses, the Kaipara House, has a log fire and the rest of the houses have electric heaters.
Kai Iwi House
Enjoying a cuppa in front of Kai Iwi House
We Had The Entire Playground To Ourselves!
The main attraction for families - the playground! It’s super fun, has great colours and a lot of different areas to play on. There is also a HUGE tramp! Arabella loved hanging off the bar that takes you from one wooden deck to the other. Sienna was too short for this but she didn't mind so much as she spent most of it up on the top deck looking through the binoculars.
The playhouse opposite the playground is colourful and fun with toy food inside for the kids to play shops. The playground is a short walk from each house and you’re only sharing it with others in the resort which makes it private.
The playhouse opposite the playground is colourful and fun with toy food inside for the kids to play shops. The playground is a short walk from each house and you’re only sharing it with others in the resort which makes it private.
Sienna on the binoculars at the resort playground
Cosmo The Alpaca (Aka Loco)
Around the 70 acres are 6 alpacas, one called Cosmo who is free range and loves to get a closer look but is still a bit shy – he’s also known as Loco (crazy), he’s pretty funny to interact with! He’s intrigued by humans and always wonders what you’re up to. He gallops towards you at full speed, then all of a sudden his body has move away while his head takes a couple of seconds to catch up... it’s hilarious to watch and he is definitely one of the main attractions of the place! He mainly stays in his paddock but often just bends and twists and pops out under the fence – sometimes at full running speed!
When we walked to the forest he would follow us to the entrance then run away and sometimes when the kids were on the playground he would randomly appear.
When we walked to the forest he would follow us to the entrance then run away and sometimes when the kids were on the playground he would randomly appear.
Cosmo following us to the forest
Cosmo checking Sienna out at the playground
Kai Iwi House
Kai Iwi Lakes Resort has 6 houses to choose from. We stayed in the Kai Iwi house which is a 2 bedroom place that can sleep up to 6 people. It was the perfect size for our family and it had everything we needed, we just needed to bring food and water and we were sorted!
The house had a queen bed for us and two singles for the girls and in addition there was another queen bed in the lounge/kitchen area (which makes extra seating for chilling on while watching tv). The girl’s room had cute duvets and pillows and some bedside shelves that the girls used to put their toys and books in. Each room had a full length mirror. Our room had a chandelier which was stunning and a wardrobe with plenty of coat hangers.
The house also had 2 fridges (because it’s so far to the supermarket so you need to stock up) and everything else you need for your holiday. Pots & pans, peeler, mixing bowls, washing powder, dishwashing liquid, washing machine. Julie & Rod really have thought it all out for the guests to have as easy of a stay as possible.
The house had a queen bed for us and two singles for the girls and in addition there was another queen bed in the lounge/kitchen area (which makes extra seating for chilling on while watching tv). The girl’s room had cute duvets and pillows and some bedside shelves that the girls used to put their toys and books in. Each room had a full length mirror. Our room had a chandelier which was stunning and a wardrobe with plenty of coat hangers.
The house also had 2 fridges (because it’s so far to the supermarket so you need to stock up) and everything else you need for your holiday. Pots & pans, peeler, mixing bowls, washing powder, dishwashing liquid, washing machine. Julie & Rod really have thought it all out for the guests to have as easy of a stay as possible.
Arabella in her room at Kai Iwi House
The Magical Forest
Whether it’s sunny and hot or cold and drizzling, the forest is a MUST to explore! We had so much fun climbing the hills, looking for fairy houses (the girls LOVE hunting for them), finding colourful toadstools and basically just enjoying the peace and quiet away from all the crazy of people and towns.
The forest is only 100m from the houses, which is great if the kids are a bit tired but need something to do – just a short walk but lots of exploring and a short walk back.
We love to explore off the beaten track, we climbed up the hill about 3/4 quarters of the way through the forest path and found a random tree, amongst all the pine trees. Pretty sure it was the fairy headquarters ;)
The forest was super quite... it was so peaceful to be in and great to sit and enjoy. The only sounds were the occasional fantail or the faint roar of the ocean at Ripiro Beach. Kai Iwi has a lot of sand in the soil so going up and down the hills were quite slippery, so if you don’t have good footing then stick to the main track.
The girls kept searching for fairy houses amongst the trees and fallen pine needles – real ones, not ones that people had made... ones that fairies had made! They found a few ;)
We crossed the paper road on the way back from one of our adventures and had a small picnic amongst some trees on the other side of the forest. We tried to enjoy the peace there but it was hard with the crunching and crinkling packets lol.
Every time we went into the forest we sat and enjoyed the peace, even the girls enjoyed just chilling and enjoying nature. It really was insanely quiet... almost eerily quiet. There were a few fantails playing in the trees and Bella spotted a few bunnies at the bottom of the hill. We tried to find their burrow and we think we found one but couldn’t see far inside.
If you’re there in winter, the fallen pine needles are super soft to sit on, great to picnic on and I’m sure even to have a nap on.
The forest has great photo ops, we spent ages taking photos of the girls, the fly agaric (yes, magic mushrooms) and the forest itself.
You can read the full blog on the Kai Iwi Lakes Resort forest here.
The forest is only 100m from the houses, which is great if the kids are a bit tired but need something to do – just a short walk but lots of exploring and a short walk back.
We love to explore off the beaten track, we climbed up the hill about 3/4 quarters of the way through the forest path and found a random tree, amongst all the pine trees. Pretty sure it was the fairy headquarters ;)
The forest was super quite... it was so peaceful to be in and great to sit and enjoy. The only sounds were the occasional fantail or the faint roar of the ocean at Ripiro Beach. Kai Iwi has a lot of sand in the soil so going up and down the hills were quite slippery, so if you don’t have good footing then stick to the main track.
The girls kept searching for fairy houses amongst the trees and fallen pine needles – real ones, not ones that people had made... ones that fairies had made! They found a few ;)
We crossed the paper road on the way back from one of our adventures and had a small picnic amongst some trees on the other side of the forest. We tried to enjoy the peace there but it was hard with the crunching and crinkling packets lol.
Every time we went into the forest we sat and enjoyed the peace, even the girls enjoyed just chilling and enjoying nature. It really was insanely quiet... almost eerily quiet. There were a few fantails playing in the trees and Bella spotted a few bunnies at the bottom of the hill. We tried to find their burrow and we think we found one but couldn’t see far inside.
If you’re there in winter, the fallen pine needles are super soft to sit on, great to picnic on and I’m sure even to have a nap on.
The forest has great photo ops, we spent ages taking photos of the girls, the fly agaric (yes, magic mushrooms) and the forest itself.
You can read the full blog on the Kai Iwi Lakes Resort forest here.
Entrance to the forest
Tash and Sienna by the fairy headquarters
Magic Mushrooms
Amongst all the fallen brown pine needles, it was easy to spot the colourful toadstools in the gully because of the vibrant orange colour. We did some research on them and found out they are Fly Agaric – magic mushrooms if you will, but also can be deadly. I loved photographing them with my macro lense. It was hard to get the settings right on my camera with the lack of natural light beaming in.
The were also some other beautiful toadstools, including vibrant yellow ones which had mosquitos all over them.
The were also some other beautiful toadstools, including vibrant yellow ones which had mosquitos all over them.
Fly agalic
Toadstool in the forest with Mr Slug making his way to the top
Sienna walking to Ripiro Beach
Beach Access
Ripiro Beach is New Zealand’s longest drivable beach and you have full access to it through the resort farmland by either 4WDing, biking or walking along a private paper road from the resort.
We walked it and it took us around 40 minutes. It’s a fairly easy track, you just have to watch out for the giant cow pats! Sometimes there are cows in the paddocks and they may follow you but they’re just curious.
As you walk along the track, you’re surrounded by lush, green rolling hills which are quite the sight. When you get to the beach, the view from the top of the sand dunes is stunning, but we actually preferred the view looking back across the farmland!
There is also another option to drive to Omamari Beach which is only 3 minutes from the resort, but you will need a 4WD to cross the stream to get onto the beach. We didn’t get to go here as we didn’t have a 4WD.
We have a full blog on our adventure to Ripiro Beach - read it here!
We walked it and it took us around 40 minutes. It’s a fairly easy track, you just have to watch out for the giant cow pats! Sometimes there are cows in the paddocks and they may follow you but they’re just curious.
As you walk along the track, you’re surrounded by lush, green rolling hills which are quite the sight. When you get to the beach, the view from the top of the sand dunes is stunning, but we actually preferred the view looking back across the farmland!
There is also another option to drive to Omamari Beach which is only 3 minutes from the resort, but you will need a 4WD to cross the stream to get onto the beach. We didn’t get to go here as we didn’t have a 4WD.
We have a full blog on our adventure to Ripiro Beach - read it here!
The track to Ripiro Beach
Isolated Ripiro Beach
Accommodation at the Resort
Julie and Rod have added their own flair to the houses with gorgeous touches around the place, including French furniture, chandeliers and beautiful bedspreads.
There are 3 glamping tents which are set up mainly in summer (and which have pretty fairy lights set up around each tent). You share the Moana house which is a communal house for cooking, use of the bathroom and a lounge area with a tv. There are extra toilets set up outside for when it’s super busy.
There are 6 houses on the resort
1. Kaipara Executive House (biggest house, spa pool, spa bath, large entertaining deck)
2. Moana House (communal kitchen and bathroom, plus one bedroom)
3. Kai Iwi House (2 bedroom – great for families!)
4. Omamari House (1 bedroom - sleeps 2 adults 2 kids)
5. Waikere House (3 bedrooms)
6. Taharoa House (4 bedrooms - one of the largest houses)
Each house has their own bbq, including the glamping tents, 2 fridges (except Omamari which is the smallest house) which is great because the nearest supermarket is half an hour away, you want to stock up. All houses have TVs, washing machine, oil, salt, sugar etc and heaps of parking!
Kai Iwi Lakes Resort really is the ultimate place to get away and not have to pack too much stuff.
There are 3 glamping tents which are set up mainly in summer (and which have pretty fairy lights set up around each tent). You share the Moana house which is a communal house for cooking, use of the bathroom and a lounge area with a tv. There are extra toilets set up outside for when it’s super busy.
There are 6 houses on the resort
1. Kaipara Executive House (biggest house, spa pool, spa bath, large entertaining deck)
2. Moana House (communal kitchen and bathroom, plus one bedroom)
3. Kai Iwi House (2 bedroom – great for families!)
4. Omamari House (1 bedroom - sleeps 2 adults 2 kids)
5. Waikere House (3 bedrooms)
6. Taharoa House (4 bedrooms - one of the largest houses)
Each house has their own bbq, including the glamping tents, 2 fridges (except Omamari which is the smallest house) which is great because the nearest supermarket is half an hour away, you want to stock up. All houses have TVs, washing machine, oil, salt, sugar etc and heaps of parking!
Kai Iwi Lakes Resort really is the ultimate place to get away and not have to pack too much stuff.
The girls watching the huge TV at Kaipara House. Our power had gone off one night so we needed to use the kitchen while the power was getting fixed
Cool dude Sienna helping with the property maintenance
Sienna in the awesome French chair at Moana House
Arabella & Sienna out the back of the Kaipara House
We Can't Believe THIS Happened!
About a week in to our stay, Phoenix managed to slip out of his collar and went wandering. I had let him out in the morning and hooked him onto his long leash and when I went to check on him an hour later he was gone!
We were a bit panicked because we were on 70 acres and he could have gone anywhere including on the 100k road. And especially because he’s so old and doesn’t have good footing, he can fall easily and get stuck.
Luckily we only found him after a few minutes but... he had fallen through a cattle stop! It took about half an hour and a lot of brute force on Lath’s part to remove the rusted parts underneath the metal sleepers so we could slip him out. We managed to squeeze his shoulders together and pull him out – not easy when you’re trying to get good footing and not fall in yourself!
We still to this day, have no idea how he managed to get in because it’s such a tight squeeze. The one good thing to happen was his jacket got caught on the rusty metal which prevented him from wandering around down there and getting cut up. Always fun and games with this boy!
SAD UPDATE: Phoenix passed away in October 2022. He was an absolute trooper and we miss him soooo much :'(
We were a bit panicked because we were on 70 acres and he could have gone anywhere including on the 100k road. And especially because he’s so old and doesn’t have good footing, he can fall easily and get stuck.
Luckily we only found him after a few minutes but... he had fallen through a cattle stop! It took about half an hour and a lot of brute force on Lath’s part to remove the rusted parts underneath the metal sleepers so we could slip him out. We managed to squeeze his shoulders together and pull him out – not easy when you’re trying to get good footing and not fall in yourself!
We still to this day, have no idea how he managed to get in because it’s such a tight squeeze. The one good thing to happen was his jacket got caught on the rusty metal which prevented him from wandering around down there and getting cut up. Always fun and games with this boy!
SAD UPDATE: Phoenix passed away in October 2022. He was an absolute trooper and we miss him soooo much :'(
Phoenix stuck under the cattle stop
Know Before You Go
- Kayaks and paddle boards - In summer you can can hire kayaks and paddle boards (incl life jackets) for the lakes.
- Just bring food and drink – The houses are ready to go! All linen, towels, toilet paper, oil, pots & pans etc are provided. There’s even a washing machine, 2 fridges and a washing line.
- Dogs are allowed – It’s just a small extra cost per night to bring your dogs and there is even a kennel & run at each house. How cool is this? It's rare to find accommodation which allows dogs.
- Dargaville and Opononi are the closest supermarkets – Nothing but nature is around! You will need to stock up to avoid driving 30 minutes to Dargaville every time you need something. In saying that, there is a gas station 8 minutes away at Kaihu which has some basic items to purchase.
- Don’t drink the tap water – drinking the water isn’t advised so bring plenty of bottled water or boil the jug and drink it cool or use the water filter jug provided. Tip – to save money on bottle water, fill and boil the jug and leave it to cool overnight.
- Just bring food and drink – The houses are ready to go! All linen, towels, toilet paper, oil, pots & pans etc are provided. There’s even a washing machine, 2 fridges and a washing line.
- Dogs are allowed – It’s just a small extra cost per night to bring your dogs and there is even a kennel & run at each house. How cool is this? It's rare to find accommodation which allows dogs.
- Dargaville and Opononi are the closest supermarkets – Nothing but nature is around! You will need to stock up to avoid driving 30 minutes to Dargaville every time you need something. In saying that, there is a gas station 8 minutes away at Kaihu which has some basic items to purchase.
- Don’t drink the tap water – drinking the water isn’t advised so bring plenty of bottled water or boil the jug and drink it cool or use the water filter jug provided. Tip – to save money on bottle water, fill and boil the jug and leave it to cool overnight.
Mappy McMap Face
Getting There
30 mins from Dargaville
3 hours north of Auckland
1 hour south of Opononi
There are 3 entrances at the resort, Julie will tell you which to use when she sends arrival instructions.
63 Kai Iwi Lakes Road, Omamari
3 hours north of Auckland
1 hour south of Opononi
There are 3 entrances at the resort, Julie will tell you which to use when she sends arrival instructions.
63 Kai Iwi Lakes Road, Omamari
Conclusion
Staying only 3 minutes way from Kai Iwi Lakes, in a self-contained house with a big playground for the kids? Yes please! There’s nothing better than packing clothes, food and water knowing that everything else is provided.
The forest and beach walk were huge highlights for us (and the playground of course) and we can’t believe it was all on private land so we didn’t have to share it with a million other people.
Julie & Rod are very friendly and accommodating to all your needs. You can book your stay here.
The forest and beach walk were huge highlights for us (and the playground of course) and we can’t believe it was all on private land so we didn’t have to share it with a million other people.
Julie & Rod are very friendly and accommodating to all your needs. You can book your stay here.
Gallery of Kai Iwi Lakes Resort
Check out the rest of the awesomeness that didn't make it to the main blog but deserves to be shown.
More to see and do in Northland
MAUNGANUI BLUFF
NORTHLAND A rugged and wild west coast beach you can drive your 4x4 on and see seals, collect mussels and explore rock pools.
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WAIRERE BOULDERS
NORTHLAND More than just a bunch of rocks! This walk offers incredible views, a swimming hole and you may even spot some rock animals.
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KAI IWI LAKES
NORTHLAND These are the clearest lakes we have seen in the North Island. Perfect place to relax in summer or take the boat out and catch some trout.
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