Auckland
Holiday park · North Island
Kai Iwi Lakes
Northland
Three freshwater dune lakes in Northland, so blue they look artificial. Camping right on the sand.
Kai Iwi Lakes — Taharoa Domain on the maps — are dune lakes, which means no rivers feed them and none drain them. They sit on sand, filled by rainwater, and the result is water of a blue that photographs badly because nobody believes it. Lake Taharoa is the largest and the one you camp beside.
Two campgrounds sit on the shore: Pine Beach and Promenade Point. Both put you a few steps from the water, both are largely unpowered, and both are a world away from a coastal holiday park. Swimming here is fresh water and warm by late summer, with a sandy bottom that shelves gently.
It is about two and a half hours north of Auckland, which puts it comfortably within reach on the way to the Bay of Islands or Cape Rēinga. Bring supplies; Dargaville is the nearest town of any size, half an hour away.
