Gale force winds were forecast for the day that we were due to drive from Russell to Ahipara Beachfront Accommodation. It didn't feel safe to drive there so we checked with the facility if they would enforce the 100% cancellation penalty in the circumstances. They said that they would and that "the forecasters always over dramatise our weather". The drive there was horrendous and when we stopped for lunch in Kaitaia at 3pm the power went out. The power was still out when we arrived at Ahipara half an hour later and did not come back on till 7:30pm that night, just as we were on the verge of going to bed early in the absence of any other real option. We had at that stage already had a dinner of precooked sausages bought from the local store that we barbequed, because as far as we could tell all food establishments were closed, due to the power being out. That wasn't the dinner we planned.
The next day we took a bus tour along ninety mile beach to Cape Reinga. Although Paul from Ahipara Beachfront Accommodation was very dismissive of them, we found Cape Tours Petricevich to have a very comfortable bus and provide as good a tour as they could to the Cape. The conditions weren't right to go sand boarding unfortunately. The day before Petricevich's apparently lost a bus when a tree branch crushed the cab, during the gale force winds which hit 168km/hr at the Cape. That night the power was again out at Ahipara for most of the evening. With the power out the taps don't work and the toilet doesn't flush. We therefore asked for a bucket in case we needed to get water to flush the toilet with. Paul seemed to think that that was unnecessary (being as dismissive as he had been about the weather) but eventually relented and provided a bucket.
On our 2 night stay there was no heat, no light, no running water and no flush both evenings, with no expectation of power being restored, though fortunately it eventually was restored on both nights.
When I paid for the accommodation Paul charged me $10 more than the price on my confirmation. The confirmation was from the booking system on the Ahipara Beachfront Accommodation web site. Paul said that the booking system was wrong and added up a series of numbers on a calculator to show me that the booking system was wrong. I disagreed with the idea that Paul's calculator trumped his web site's booking system. Eventually Paul unhappily refunded me the $10 difference. The only reason that I got the refund was because I had my booking confirmation with me and stuck to my guns. If you do choose to stay here, do bring your booking details.
That still meant that we paid full price to stay for two evenings where we had no power for a big chunk of the time, when our better judgement would have had us not there at all. Almost all roads were closed when we tried to return home. It was only by driving through flood waters that we got through before all roads were closed. Far from the weather being over dramatised, Kaitaia's chief fire officer Colin Kitchin told ONE News: "It's like a war zone, it really is." http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/10256405/Northland-on-brink-of-more-severe-floods
The unit was nice and well appointed, with a great view. It is not huge but both bedrooms have a nice en-suite, the fridge is a good size and there is a smallish but effective barbeque available. There is a modest size kitchen/lounge separating the two bedrooms. Those were the saving graces of this establishment and the reason that I've still given it 3 stars despite our enormously disappointing experience.
Clearly Ahipara Beachfront Accommodation could not not control the weather or the power. They did however have the ability to recognise that our somewhat involuntary stay with them was in almost every way less than ideal. They could have been less patronising about basic needs like a bucket to flush the toilet, or they could have offered some sort of discount as a sign of good will. Instead they tried to charge us more than the agreed price. Our experience was poor.