Kaipara camping grounds packed

Camping grounds are packed on both Kaipara coasts, with thousands of holidaymakers anxiously hoping sunshine will soon replace the dark clouds over the district yesterday.
Baylys Beach Holiday Park lessee Maurice Weatherall said "every square inch" of the camping ground had been booked since Boxing Day with about 210 people staying there yesterday.
"We are fully booked until January 3, but there might be a mass exodus if we get a lot of rain. We're praying it won't be too bad," he said.
Mr Weatherall, who with his wife Nelsa has been running the holiday park for six years, said a strong north-west wind yesterday was bearable "as long as we don't get rain".
A little further north on the west coast about 600 people have packed the leased Kaipara District Council camping grounds at Kai Iwi Lakes.
Cold showers at the unelectrified lakes sites fail to deter the people who turn up there every Christmas and now have the camping ground booked out until January 8. Bookings for the lakes sites are handled by the Kauri Coast Information Centre in Dargaville, where manager Claudia Guthrie said yesterday that pressure for accommodation at the camping ground was expected to ease in mid-January, but would be back for the Northland Anniversary Weekend at the end of next month when the grounds could be packed.
Motels and cabins were full at the Kauri Coast "Top Ten" Holiday Park at Kaihu yesterday, but proprietor Alan Wilkie said dormitory rooms and tent sites were still available.
The 333 people at the park yesterday could increase to 600 over the New Year if the weather was fine, he said.
"We need sunshine down in Auckland. People in the city seem to think if it is fine there it will be up here too," Mr Wilkie said.
Tent sites were also available yesterday at the Dargaville Holiday Park in Dargaville, but manager Pauline Symons said all motel unit and cabin accommodation was booked until January 10.
About 80 people are now staying at the Dargaville park, which with all tent sites filled can accommodate about 200.
On the east coast, Mangawhai Heads Hideaway Park owner Harry Foote said he had full bookings until mid-January with most customers repeat booking.
Mr Foote, who has been running the 4ha park with his wife Hazel and son Neil for 13 years, said people were coming up from the south for holidays later than they had done in the past.
"We used to generally have 20 or 30 couples in the camping ground by Christmas Day, but this year we had one."
Mr Foote expected the park to be full from New Year's Day until about January 14.
Mangawhai Village Holiday Park owner Bill Bosman had his camping ground on the market earlier this year, but yesterday he was still in the camping business and declaring he loved the lifestyle. He had about 130 guests and with more "rolling up every 10 minutes" he was predicting the park would be "chocker block" on its 200 capacity in the New Year if the weather improved on the warm but overcast conditions yesterday with winds of six or seven knots.
The "full house" sign may have been out yesterday at the Mangawhai Heads Camping Ground owned by the Kaipara council and managed by Andrae Newing.
The park holds 400 people and Ms Newing said it was booked out until January 4, when it could follow the same pattern as last year and stay full until the end of next month.