Beach Day: Piha!

Piha, New Zealand

After traveling for 9+ months, and now with Mac & I (and our flatmates) working during the week, we’ve begun to savour the true idea of a weekend again. This was especially apparent this past weekend which was a long one in NZ as everyone had Monday off for Labour Day. Our one flatmate, Mark, has a car so the 4 of us living upstairs in our flat (Mark, Cristina, Mac & I) took a drive to the coast for a beach day!! Piha is an area on the west coast of the North Island about an hour away from Auckland. We chose to take the “scenic route” the 40 or so kms there. Scenic = a LOT of hills & curving roads. My weary stomach was happy when the views changed from forests to shining coasts! Not stopping on the side of the road to take in the amazing views was simply not an option! And some potentially less-than-safe measures may have been taken to get ‘the perfect shot’!

Once we found parking, the 4 of us made our way towards the water where we kicked off our sandals and walked through the sand. This area is supposed to be a great surf spot, but it also is known to have a pretty strong rip current. Even though it’s springtime here, it’s still too cold for this wimp to go swimming!! We stuck to just wading in the cold water, so we didn’t have to worry about the waves or currents. Though we did see a few brave souls battle the cold temperatures & harsh waves! There was a whole slew of surfers out for the day – donning full wetsuits of course!!

Piha beach is split into two sections, and the division is in the form of a giant rock – Lion Rock. A trail has been built into the rock face which allowed us to climb pretty high up (though not right to the very top) to take in the views from above. After snapping a bunch of pictures, it was pretty serene to just sit back and take it all in.

The day started off with blue skies, but turned to grey clouds during the drive. We were happy to see that most of the clouds had parted by the time we got to Piha. I lathered on the sunscreen for the first time in a long time!!

On the way back to Auckland, we stopped at the Arataki Visitor Centre which overlooks Symonds Bay, and later Manukau Harbour. We had some fun posing with the giant picture frame that provides a great view out into the Bay.

Afterwards, it was time to head back into the city. I loved this day trip though, and it’s so awesome to think about all of the other beaches that are nearby. I’m thinking these beach days may become a bit of a habit with Mac, Mark, Cristina and I!