I finally had a sunny saturday afternoon that coincided with me being off (took a month for that to happen)...so I packed up my new camera and headed off to Auckland's western beaches.
A mere 15 minutes from Auckland you pass through the verdant pastures of the Waitakere region where I finally saw, and heard, my first sheep.
From there I turned onto the scenic route and it slowly becomes a tropical rainforest as the cypress trees are replaced with palms and ferns. I descended down the windy one lane wide road to Karekare beach. 'Karekare' means breaking surf in Maori. The windswept cliffs of the Waitakere range part for this small beach of metallic black sand which is silky smooth.
Panatahi Island is just off the coast and I think it looks like a shark's tooth.
From there I took windy roads back up the range and back down to Piha Beach.
It's probably the most popular of the black sand beaches. The beach is amazingly flat and wide...Here I dipped my toes in the Tasman Sea (and froze them). It's known for Lion's Head, the rock outcropping from the beach. I hiked to the top and enjoyed the views until sunset.
Lion's Head at sunset (from the beach).
Piha at sunset from the overlook.
I finished the day watching the New Zealand "All Blacks" beat the South African "Steinboks" at rugby. Awesome day!!!
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