| 3 REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Waipu Caves Farm Park T TKelly Deeks Creating a destination at Waipu Caves The limestone glowworm cave is the cornerstone of the operation, which also offers bush walking, hut building, an obstacle course, bouldering and rock climbing. “We’ve got a lot of different activities here, giving people plenty of things to do, and this creates a destination rather than a stopover.” As a growing visitor destination, Waipu Caves Farm Park is bringing international tourists, domestic travellers, school groups, and event-goers into the Northland region, while creating new reasons for visitors to stay longer. Owner, Ian Fox, says the 130ha, privately owned conservation and recreation park has been deliberately developed as a destination, with camping for motor homes and tents and a wide range of outdoor activities complementing its major attraction, the Milky Way Glowworm Cave. The property was purchased in 2018, with the cave, which had been kept secret for more than 100 years, being one of the main reasons Ian and his family wanted the site. It took five years of development before the park opened to visitors in 2023, including installing a large off-grid power system, fencing to protect the 200 acres of bush and streams, drinking and wastewater treatment systems, roads, camping infrastructure, and facilities capable of handling larger visitor numbers. “We’ve got a lot of different activities here, giving people plenty of things to do, and this creates a destination rather than a stopover,” Ian says. “We don’t want people to just come and stay at our campground, arriving late and leaving early on their way to ‘somewhere else’. We want people to really appreciate this spot.” The glowworm cave is the cornerstone of the operation, with two options of guided tours taking visitors 125m or 250m into the limestone cave. Unlike ‘adventure caving’, requiring wetsuits, helmets, and harnesses, these tours are on formed paths and are accessible to a broad range of visitors in their street clothes. The park also offers bush walking, hut building, an obstacle course, bouldering and rock climbing, with more than 75 climbing routes across its Jurassic Crags. School and youth groups can use the property for outdoor education, and regular events including the Mud Run, Colour Run, trail running, and cave concerts bring additional visitors. That breadth is important to Ian’s vision for regional tourism, allowing visitors to spend several days at the property, rather than simply stopping for a single activity. “We’ve had people staying for a couple of weeks,” he says. “They might go away for a day or two, but then they come back here and use us as a base for their Northland holiday.” Waipu Caves Farm Park has been growing by about 80% a year, and Ian expects future growth to come from increasing visitor numbers through existing activities, as well as adding new experiences. Adventure caving is one of the next developments, offering a more active caving experience. Ian sees the park’s location as another advantage, as Northland works to capture more of the international visitor market. Situated north of Auckland and not far off the State Highway, Waipu Caves Farm Park provides an accessible destination for travellers heading into the region. “Glowworms are on the list for just about every international visitor,” Ian says. The park is contributing to Northland’s appeal through its focus on nature-based tourism, with the property’s native forest, streams, limestone formations, and farm environment forming part of the visitor experience. Developing the park has been a natural extension of Ian’s long entrepreneurial career, bringing together his experience in farming, tourism, ecology, and outdoor education, and so creating a destination that gives visitors more reasons to spend time in Northland. “This is a great attraction for Northland, and it hasn’t happened by luck or chance. It’s a lot of hard work, but when you’ve got ideas and a vision, you just keep working at it and eventually you get there,” he says.
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