Karekare & Piha
A picture is worth 1000 words and that is the only way we will be able to describe our weekend without writing a small novel. This weekend we took Bachie [batch-ee] (the van) on her maiden voyage; west of Auckland to the Waitakere ranges. We planned to travel from the south, up the coast North, but found that the area is too much for one weekend. Instead, we took our time exploring the black sand beaches, Karekare and Piha, with some tramping in between.
Karekare beach
Karekare was my highlight of the weekend and the first place we visited. Karekare is a black sand beach surrounded by enormous rocky peaks. I don't think the pictures can do much justice as to how big the area was. We spent a long time wandering the beach experiencing changes from sunny and hot to raining.
Karekare waterfall
Piha beach
Following the waterfall we drove North to Piha, another black sand beach. This is the more popular of the two, and maybe the most picturesque. We stopped off at a lookout on the way down to take it in. After that we drove down the mountain and had an explore of the beach. We climbed Lyon rock (the big rock in the middle of the beach) to about half way. The upper path was closed because of a collapse of the path.
We decided that rather than cooking dinner at our campsite, we would head back up to the lookout and have dinner there. It was a pretty good idea.
McCreadies campground
We spent the night at a little campground. It came with a mosquito infested outhouse and a little sink which was more than enough. We spent the night hunting mosquitoes that found their way into the van, but otherwise had a good sleep. Next time we'll be sure to bring some citronella candles.
Mercer Bay Loop Track
In the morning we tramped the Mercer Bay Loop Track. This took us near some very dramatic cliffs and coastline, and towards the site of an old Maori settlement. We took a few detours and ended up not completing the loop by accident (we went back the same way we came in).
Kitekite Waterfall
We were told to get here early because it gets busy, but we only arrived at the carpark for Kitekite waterfall around 10:30am. There were a few canyoning groups setting up, but apparently 10:30am is early enough. We did the 30 minute walk to the waterfall and only saw a few groups of people. There was a brilliant view of the falls half way up the track, however the view at the base of the falls wasn't quite so good. We hung out for about 30 minutes at the base, in which time everyone else arrived. By the time we left there must have been 50 people squished into the little area of rock at the waterfall base.
Piha beach
It was time for a swim, so we went back to Piha. It was very warm and sunny when we arrived, but by the time we got in the water it was already cooling off. The undercurrents were really strong, pulling straight out and then wave surges pushed it all back in. One minute we were waist deep, the next the water was at our ankles. After some sitting around some throwing of the frisbee we headed back to Auckland, concluding our first weekend trip in Bachie.
James