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DOMINICO ZAPATA / THINGS
Simon Bourke is upset that Paddock 66 had to be closed to the public.
A seat in a farmer’s field that offered breathtaking views of the Waikato is now off-limits to hordes of visitors.
Peace International Headquarters has been a tourist hotspot for years, but now the man behind it has made the difficult decision to shut it down from public visits.
The $ 11.8 million farm has been put on the market and Matamata farmer Simon Bourke said Things He can’t afford to keep the paddock open after the year he had.
Three years ago, Bourke closed Paddock 66 on his family’s 313-hectare farm, keeping the cows outside and welcoming visitors.
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Its prized maintained meadow is located in the Kaimai Mamaku Conservation Park and can be found 15 minutes down the trail from Wairere Falls near an opening in Mt.
He made the seat with a railroad bed and engraved on it ‘international seat of peace’.
It has welcomed people from all over the world, brought its creator endless joy, and provided views that people normally pay to see.
DOMINICO ZAPATA / THINGS
Simon Bourke and his ‘International Peace Headquarters’ in Wairere Falls, Waikato.
It was such a hit that the location was listed a spot on Tripadvisor and was dubbed a “tourist attraction” online.
According to Bourke, about 1,200 people check the seat every day, all year long.
“On the weekend the parking lot is full, you can’t even get a parking lot,” Bourke said.
The public has been devastated because it has closed, he said, “a lot of people use it, it is a tourist destination.”
Wairere Falls, one of the highest waterfalls on the North Island, has around 60,000 visitors each year.
The track winds through mossy rocks and tree roots. Large round rocks form natural pools and waterfalls.
DOMINICO ZAPATA / THINGS
The attraction draws large crowds throughout the year.
But after 18 years of working on the farm, it’s now up for sale and Bourke can’t afford to keep the meadow open.
Bourke pays $ 15,000 out of pocket after his portable ice cream parlor was stolen from the meadow in June.
“I have $ 15,000 in my pocket and no one was prosecuted for it.
“I have wasted so much time, money and effort making someone responsible for it.
“I used to bring my building [icecream shop] Up here on a tractor, with a generator in the back and I could hook up an ice cream machine in the back. “
DOMINICO ZAPATA / THINGS
The track leading to Wairere Falls.
In April, Bourke handed out 150 free ice creams to Wairere Falls hikers in two hours. I was one gear away from opening the store forever.
“When my store was robbed, I didn’t get a response, so I can’t afford to continue.
“I’d be here selling ice cream if I could.
“I’m going to miss it.”
Bourke hopes that whoever buys the estate will keep Paddock 66 as a public preserve so that people can once again enjoy the seat and its view.
“Once it’s sold, it becomes farmland.
“It should be a public reserve and create a non-profit organization to maintain it.”
Otherwise, it will stay as it is and will be whoever owns the farm, he said.
“If I could bring the ice cream shop back after the farm was sold, I would do it in a heartbeat.”
DOMINICO ZAPATA / THINGS
Wairere Falls is a popular walking trail in Waikato.
