Marokopa is a small village of about they 1500, I am sure these numbers would easily double in the summer season as the area is a beautiful getaway from it all (literally….you are in the middle of nowhere). The perfect place to camp out, fish, play tennis on the one public court, drink beer and….fish.
Rosie and The Operator rolled into town after their long hot dusty journey, it wasn’t hard to find the motor camp, we had toured the whole town for a looksie within a couple of minuets and pulled up outside a wee shop of sorts that served as the local dairy come campground office. It is the only shop in town and sold the essentials, pies, milk and bread. Tables and chairs sit outside the front of this former schoolhouse where alot of the locals seem to gather for an ice cream and a chat. A cute wee library is attached and the local tennis court with obligatory saggy net is off to the side along with the campground, and, round the corner, is the local….phone box….I think telecom forgot to remove it 12 years ago from this forgotten bastion of near civilisation!
Rosie went into the shop and booked a campsite, no problem, just pick one that suits and make yourself at home, it was all pretty casual, no name or registration required. We were given a key to the camp kitchen and shower block….to this day Rosie is not sure if it was a joke….The Operator walked the whole camp…it is a small but tidy one…to find the elusive door that the key fitted into….we will be damned if we could find any ‘block’, the only loo and shower we found were the ones we parked next to and they were ingeniously made out of concrete tanks, and were open access to the world at large. Bizarre.
It is a short walk to the beach from the campground, although no one walks in this village, everyone has some form of motorised transport, the majority sans mufflers, quad bikes, trail bikes, motorised scooters and even motorised push bikes, I kid you not, the noise pollution was outstanding! It kind of detracted for the natural beauty of the area.
A large fast flowing river warning swimmers to beware is the first access you have to Marokopa Beach, from there is is a stiff walk, or a couple of mins on your quad to the river mouth and the beach front. It is a guys paradise here, the tide wasn’t right but the abundance of camo fleeced, moustached and bearded men that lined the river and beach holding rods and cans o beer in their hands were amazing….The Operator even noted one fisherman so intent on downing his dozen he had failed to notice his hook, sinker and bait had washed up 40 metres away on the beach…..hhhmmmm.
Easter Saturday was the day of the annual Marokopa Trail Ride, it is a fundraiser for the community and is a trail bike ride of 100km duration over 14 farms in the area, it is a mega all day event and Rosie had just settled into the sun with a glass of Pinot Gris when the bikers started their downhill run high above the beach at the back of the campground and wound their way forward to culminate at the Marokopa Domain just past Rosie’s deckchair, from 2-4.30 the noise was horrendous. All for a good cause The Operator kept reminding Rosie as he watched the ride through binoculars….but the noise didn’t stop
there…well into the night kids and fisherman were blasting up and down the road, Rosie is forever haunted by the noise of two stroke motors going through the gears. Then there was the rooster. You have got to be kidding, is everyone crazy in this place under a full moon…it was bright, but the moon was not that bright for the rooster to think it was daybreak at 3.37am, it crowed and crowed and crowed! Rosie was going bananas!
Marokopa is a lovely place, with just a tad to much testosterone for Rosie’s liking….
As we were rudely awakened early, we pushed on and out, heading towards Waitomo. On the way we made some beautiful discoveries and if you take the time to get out of the car (or in Rosie’s case, the camper and do a little easy hiking) you will be marvelled!
The impressively tiered Marokopa Falls are a short drive away and about a 15 min return walk along a lovely smooth walking track. You walk through native bush and the sound of the falling water gets louder and louder and then you burst into a clearing and the falls are majestically right in front of you. it was a beautiful start to the morning and a nice way to shake off the lack of sleep and put a smile on Rosie’s face, much to the relief of The Operator.
4 km on, The Piripiri Caves were the next stop. The word ‘cave’ should really have been the give away….
There is alot of Department Of Conservation steps to negotiate here, the walk itself only takes about 5 mins to get to the gaping mouth of the cave…..please bring a torch, it is pitch 
black
Rosie had to use the camera flash to light the way…then it got that dark the auto flash couldn’t sense anything to focus on……it was a real surprise when the flash illuminated the the beautiful eerie interior of the cave. The ceiling was festooned with stalactite’s and The Operator was a little disappointed the flash didn’t disturb a flock of bats….. the cave sparkled and shimmered and the real attraction was the
giant fossilised oysters that have been captured in the rocks in the depth of the cave for millions of years. Rosie does apologise but due to technical difficulties she cannot show you the giant oysters….Rosie is not even sure she saw any giant oysters due to the poor light quality….TIP – BRING A TORCH.
Back in the camper Rosie is invigorated by her early morning exercise and goes for the treble, another hike to the next stop on the road, The Mangapohue Natural Bridge Scenic Reserve.
This stop is unassuming to begin with but quickly takes your breath away! A beautifully crafted DOC walkway which is pretty much wheelchair assessable leads you into a sun dappled chasm via a swing bridge. There, soaring above you is a breathtaking natural archway of limestone.
My photos do not do it justice, the lighting, acoustics and spine tingling beauty is incredible.
A few groups were visiting at the same time as us and all were using hushed tones of awe. We viewed and photographed our fill and then carried on around the loop walk out onto farmland, passing rocks containing fossilised oysters…..we climbed styles over fences and went up hill and down dale…..wished we had just turned around and wandered back through the beauty.
Waitomo and the famous glow worm caves are only a few kms further along the road. Rosie and The Operator have not been here for many years and we were shocked and surprised at the tourism megalopolis this sleepy hollow has become, cafes, restaurants and accommodation has sprung up around slick attractions. It was Easter Sunday and the famed HuHu restaurant was opening late,,,,we didn’t hang around but carried on to meet State Highway 3 where we turned for home.
