Fire lights the way to fresh start for Far North holiday park owners

Aerial view of the Waitiki Holiday Park about 20 km south of Cape Reinga. Photo / Supplied

Just a week after its general store and petrol station were damaged badly by fire, New Zealand's northern-most commercial camping ground and restaurant is on the market.

The Waitiki Holiday Park, about 20km south of Cape Reinga, is the last accommodation and hospitality provider before the famous lighthouse.

As well as catering for tourists, the holiday park also serves the general community and Department of Conservation personnel working in the surrounding rural countryside.

Business activities associated with the park include a fully licensed restaurant and bar, serving a la carte and takeaway meals, a three-pump petrol station, a convenience and general-supplies store, cafe, laundromat, accommodation block, and grassed sites for campervans and tents.

The petrol station and corner store, which operated out of a large aluminium garage-like building, were damaged beyond repair by fire this month. However, the rest of the campground was unscathed.

The business is for sale through Bayleys Real Estate with an asking price of $670,000. Far North sales specialist Alan Broadbent says the owners are committed to the sale process, although the fire has added "a distraction" to what would have been a straightforward procedure.

"The petrol-pump amenities, the building which housed the general store and service station, and the store's stock were all fully insured. There will be a rebuilding of the infrastructure, so this is a perfect opportunity for any new owners of the Waitiki Holiday Park to be involved in how the new store and service station area could look," Broadbent says.

Broadbent says the operators have initiated a business-continuance plan for the general store, restocking essential items in the restaurant area.

He said the holiday park was fortunate to derive revenues from multiple commercial activities - all of which were part of the sale package.

Accommodation facilities include 16 cabins with their own en suite bathrooms and toilets; a backpacker block sleeping up to 10 people in either two- or three-bedroom dormitories with access to a communal kitchen; scores of tent sites; and 12 powered camping sites.

In addition, the 50-seater bar and cafe on the site has a range of target markets including locals, guests at the camping ground and the passing traffic of tourists heading to and from the Cape Reinga lighthouse.

About 1300 vehicles travel past the settlement every day during the busy summer period. As the northernmost petrol station on the sealed route in and out of Cape Reinga, Waitiki Landing's cafe and store has had a captive market. But until reconstruction is completed, the nearest petrol pumps are now at the Houhora Service Station, 50km to the south. However, the Houhora station will close at the end of the month.

Waitiki Holiday Park co-owner Carl Pascoe says his company will work closely with potential buyers to ensure they are involved in the insurance claim and rebuilding process.