Waipu cave adventure makes nature accessible to everyone

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JULIA WADE

 

10 Apr, 2023

 

Deep down in Waipu’s cool earth, a new local venture is offering a chance for people to take a wander into an ancient place, full of spectacular natural terrain, millions of years in the making.

 

After five years of hard work and construction, Waipu Caves Farm Park opened on February 25, revealing an adventure park where visitors can step confidently and immerse themselves in the underground wonders of stalagmites and stalactites, cave-dwelling creatures and fossilised old bones, due to a newly-constructed concrete pathway and handrails.

The park’s forest beauty also includes ten kilometres of walking tracks, natural limestone climbing crags and abseiling sites, with future plans for more adventurous activities such as mountain biking and high ropes with the grounds also an ideal place for camping.

Since buying the 320-acre property in 2018, husband and wife team Cindy and Ian Fox have been working on their vision for the park, created from a passion and careers in adventure, outdoor education and conservation. The couple were already familiar with the land due to having access to the cave systems for running outdoor pursuit camps through their previous company Peak Adventures, and also owned a Whangarei-based nursery, Alter-Natives, for 16 years. Combining the two interests was just a natural thing, Ian says, who also volunteers for search and rescue, specialising in cave rescues.

“It's also about education because if people can appreciate and know about the environment, the cave environment, then they will help protect it further in the future. They can see the beauty of it.”

A former occupational therapist and special education advisor for 18 years, and now a child-centred play therapist, Cindy’s personal passion and vision for the park is to see young people re-engage in the outdoors, ‘and not need absolute close supervision the whole time.’

“A lot of kids are disconnected from nature and that reconnection is so important for well-being,” she says. “I’d like to see youth groups, schools, scouts, camp on this land, for the kids to have an outdoor experience, to explore the rocks and rivers and see what they find, to spend some time and to hang out in this beautiful space.”

The concrete pathway, which took two years to complete and blends into the natural rock environment, and the added hand rails around the entry steps and platforms, enables an easier navigation of the darkened cave interior, especially for certain visitors such as the elderly, parents carrying babies and the cave-wary.

“We've even had a 95-year-old lady come through who said it was lovely to do, so that's a real big value which we want the cave to be, that people get to see the beauty of this environment who normally wouldn't be able to.”

Neighbouring public caves, owned by Whangarei District Council, have been open with free entry for many years, however Cindy says there has been little governance or care of the area, ‘so people have loved it and played in it but not necessarily known how to care for it.’

“We have a different vision for protecting this cave, the walk itself is only 160 metres but the cave system is actually three kilometres, so we feel it's really important to care for it,” Cindy says. “The walk-in cave tour is very manageable and we've made it as accessible as possible within the terrain while keeping it looking beautiful and natural.”

Powered entirely off-grid, the park employs five guides who conduct hourly tours from 9am-4pm, seven days a week and also pitch in with planting, track maintenance and digger driving, as well as office staff.

Besides attracting a steady flow of sightseers to the hour-long Milky Way Cave guided tours, walkers keen on the 10km tracks and climbing enthusiasts have made their way to the park, including Whangarei Climbing Club members taking on the range of climbing crags and abseiling sites which are available for beginners through to the more experienced.

The park has also been visited by school groups with one tallying up to 60 students, as well as teams through Auckland outdoor organisation Adventure Specialists, who Cindy and Ian work alongside, ‘we manage the education side of the visits while they manage the adventure side.’

“The requirement is visitors do the educational tour first so they understand care and protection as well as how a cave is formed, then they are allowed to do their adventure caving,” Cindy says. “This cave is an ancient, ancient space and needs, deserves, looking after.”

 

“This cave is an ancient, ancient space and needs, deserves, looking after.”

- Cindy Fox

 

 

1:

This way to the spectacular Milky Way Cave; brand-new adventure business Waipu Caves Farm Park husband and wife team Ian and Cindy Fox. Cindy says Ian’s the visionary and she’s the pioneer.

 

2:

Stalactites, some millions of years in the making are one of the awe-inspiring wonders found dripping down from the cave roof, which has an intense depth consisting of 50 metres of limestone topped with 20 metres of siltstone lying under a hill alive with beautiful forestry.

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