Piha Beach. Lion Rock. Have you heard of them?
Chances are you have, or at least seen a photo of the two as they make up one of New Zealand's most popular beach destinations.
And while I tend to err on the "Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded" side when picking places to explore, I have to say Piha Beach is worth every bit of acclaim it gets.
It's an amazing beach, with moody black sand, incredible rock formations, rollicking surf and that great Lion Rock just roaring in the middle of it all. I LOVE it.
We checked it out as a family last Saturday, the first real sunny, warm spring day we've had here yet. The drive down to the beach, which is in the Waitakere Ranges on the west coast of Auckland, is jaw-dropping beautiful. Every few feet, you can see the blue surf and giant Lion Rock peeking out from between houses and trees.
We (and everyone else headed there that day) stopped at a lookout along the road a couple hundred meters above the beach and took postcard-worthy photos with our little Android phones. When we got down to the beach and walked out on the sand for the first time, I think I uttered about 100 "wows," turning in place to take it all in.
We set out our towels, ate a picnic lunch, made sandcastles, went swimming (Moses), chased the seagulls (Moses) and even got a little sunbathing time in, all while surrounded by some of the most beautiful landscape I've ever seen. Shane did the climb up Lion Rock, which is a little too steep and narrow for the kids. He took the camera along though, so there's some great footage of his hike in the video we made from that day.
I just don't think my words will do it justice. So I'll let you flip through the photos and watch our video to get a better sense of it all. And then I fully expect you to start saving pennies for your trip to New Zealand, as this is one beach every beachlover needs to experience at some time in his or her life.
Piha, you romanced me good last Saturday. I expect we'll be seeing more of each other soon.
