Accommodation

Address: 282 Old Kaimai Road, Lower Kaimai 3171

Accomodation

We are very fortunate to have been able to book the accommodation we did. In order to ensure the safety, and smooth running, of happenings while at our accommodation, we will need support with the following:

• Ensuring students are in bed on time and are quiet from 10pm onwards. Have one or two parents in each dorm will help with this

• Ensure students are supervised if they are playing outside

• Helping with cooking/cleaning/washing clothes etc. A list of responsibilities/duties will be added soon

• Support with maintaining cleanliness of bathrooms/common spaces. Students are aware they need to help with this.

MORE TO BE ADDED

Here's a few things for your stay:

Reminder normal check in/out times are from 4pm check in, 10am check out.  

If you are driving from Matamata/Auckland/Taupo direction, please don't take the first left turn onto Old Kaimai Road even if google maps tells you to. It is a gravel road and not very wide. Continue to drive and it will reroute you for 5kms for you to turn left onto the sealed part of our road. Coming from Tauranga, be very careful with the right turn onto Old Kaimai Road. You'll see our sign at 282 Old Kaimai Road.  Our driveway itself is gravel and about a km long through a couple of paddocks.

There are places to park right near the lodge and more space in the lower area of the driveway.  If your group could please leave a space for cars to freely move up the top and the area in front of the carport free at all times, we'd be very grateful

Once you've arrived you don't need to wait before entering the lodge, go in and make yourselves at home!

The beds will be made up on your arrival, they have a bottom sheet, and you guys are bringing your sleeping bags and pillows. We will show you the heater buttons when we come to meet you.  They are on a 12-hour timer, so will go off automatically the next morning. Please make sure all the outside doors and windows are shut before you turn them on. The dorm areas will heat up nicely. Each of the guest rooms have their own heating and will need to be manually turned off.  Everyone will need to bring their own towels and personal toiletries, as we do not provide them. Toilet paper, paper towels, dish liquid, handsoap etc are all provided.

Laundry is available on site.  We have a low water pressure system, so it takes much longer for the wash than what the washer tells you. We have an honesty box for $2 per wash and $4 per dry.  Both the washer and dryer are commercial size, so can do a lot at once. We know that most teams use the laundry each day. Please come prepared with cash payment or let us know if that is not going to work for you, so we can arrange an invoice.

We will have wood next to the fireplace for your use in the lounge fireplace. You can gain access to the fire pit in the woods behind the lodge by heading out the back glass sliding door next to the dorms and bathrooms. There is wood by the fire pit for your use there.  You will also be able to head up to the glow worms via that path as well. Follow the path to the prayer room and you'll see a side path that will take you down to the stream. All the paths are roped, so you don't have to worry about getting lost, and there are signs for each area. You may need gumboots and torches if you plan on having a nighttime adventure, as it can be dark and muddy. We do have a few pairs of gumboots at the back of the lodge, but some might want to bring their own. If you get muddy while out there are a few old towels in the cupboard in the living area. 

The taps in the shower blocks do not work as labeled.  The further you turn to the right, the hotter the water will be, even if the label says “cold”.  It does take a few minutes for the hot water to reach the showers. 

The dishwasher/steriliser needs to be drained when you are finished using it.  Please follow the directions posted.

You can leave the covers off the BBQs until they cool completely.

You’ll want to close all outside doors before sleeping, to keep the possums from coming in to have a party.  They don't come in through the windows.     

If you run out of gas for the BBQs or kitchen stove cooker, just let us know and we will come and replace the gas bottles.

A reminder that we do not provide wifi, but you will be able to use your own data in the main areas of the lodge.

If you would like to use our table tennis table, we'll need a refundable $50 deposit.  We have had difficult situations with schools destroying paddles and the table, so please help your students care for them well.

It's fine for you to move the furniture around if you need to, but please put everything back as you found it before you go.

Please bag up your rubbish before you go and put it in the big green bins just outside the lodge, to the right of the stairs behind the BBQs. 

Please leave the recycling and the compost in the lodge, and we will take care of it after you go.

And if you can leave things in a tidy state we would very much appreciate it. Deep cleaning isn't necessary as we do that after every group has been in. 

And lastly, our caretaker’s whānau live in the caretaker’s cottage next to the lodge so just ask that loud music and noise is contained inside the lodge by 10pm and things remain family friendly.