Photos

The fresh water Kai Iwi lakes are situated 25.8 kilometres north-west of Dargaville along State Highway 12 near the small settlement of Kaihu. The turnoff to the lakes is signposted at Omamari Road, which is on the regions Twin Coast Discovery Tourist Route. There are three lakes. Lake Kai-Iwi in the south, Lake Taharoa (the largest), and Lake Waikere in the north, situated within Taharoa Domain, a 538 ha recreation reserve.

They come alive in summer as a popular camping spot. There are facilities for swimming, boating, windsurfing, water-skiing, camping and trout fishing. You can walk through lush farmland to the wild west coast where 100km of golden sands stretch south to Pouto, the northern headland of the notorious entrance to the Kaipara Harbour.

For more information have a look at the Fish and Game New Zealand brochure for this location or the New Zealand communities webpage for Kai Iwi Lakes.

This is a pic of Lake Waikere, just around the corner from the water skiing club. The blue shelter on the water’s edge (the location is known as Ski Point) was the judging platform for the national water ski championships, which were being held all week leading up to the day I was here. This image was heavily cropped to eliminate a lot of dead area and in an effort to alter the proportions so they were closer to the ‘rule of thirds’. I also reduced the contrast slightly but increased saturation to compensate as the original image was a little glary.

Kind regards,
Tony