All About Auckland

Beaches, beaches, and more beaches! I’ll tell you, you could spend a while checking out all of the beaches around the area. One fun fact, since Auckland is in such a narrow part of the island, there’s one place where the east and west coast is only 2 km apart.
Anywho.

I spent 2 weekends with a friend I had made (actually, the cousin of the hosts I had stayed with in the Bay of Plenty, that I met at their Christmas Party) and I saw some of the best of Auckland’s natural areas.

Our first stop was just down the road to Long Bay Beach, where there are many picnicking areas and a lot of sand to walk along.

We visited the Waitakere Ranges and hiked down to a hidden waterfall.

I could have spent all day down in this little tucked away spot, where the waterfall hid behind the corner and the boulders were fusions of smaller rocks. The water slowly and steadily dripped down from the ground above and the air was cool and fresh.

Then on to Miurai Beach! The air was foggy and when you looked off to the horizon the sky blended into the sea and it looked like the world and time stopped just ahead.

The sand was black and luckily the sun was hidden by the clouds, so our feet were not burnt this time around. I gradually tested the water and then soon found myself as deep as the bottom of my shorts would let me go (although that didn’t stop the waves from going higher) and I ran and jumped through the water, testing the waves and resisting the riptide, that was surprisingly strong, even just at the edge of the water. I played around with the underwater feature of my camera and got several videos (accidentally) of me running away as the waves became to big, then walking back in to try to get the shot I was hoping for (I got a few interesting ones, and some funny clips too).

The following weekend brought more exploration and sites to visit.
This time, we started with Piha, one of the more popular beaches in Auckland, and I can see why. The view is gorgeous, the sand goes on for quite a ways, and Lion Rock was not only spectacular to see from the beach, but amazing to climb up and then view the beach below.

After Piha, we went to a neighboring beach where the crowd was (slightly) smaller, but the water and sand were just as nice. (Actually, the sand burnt the bottom of my feet and was terribly painful to walk across. It was like I was walking on fire..) The water was delightful and the waves were fun to jump into and ride back to shore. The riptide was almost scarily strong and while I was fine and stayed close enough to keep my head above the surface, I definitely crossed my comfort/safety limit when I found the waves pulling me out were stronger than the waves pushing me to the shore. At this point, there were still people farther out than I was, and I’m sure any one of them could/would have helped me get back, but for a split second I thought the water was going to be stronger than me as the waves picked me up off the bottom and pulled me just more than I could push. But all was fine and I made my way back to the shallow end and then ended my day of swimming.

The surprise cat!
The day started with a skype call to my sister and the house to myself. As we were chatting a small tri-colored cat walked by my outside door. I opened the window and reached my hand outward and kitty reached up to the window and happily accepted pets. I swear, I have been the cat whisperer on this trip. Each cat I come across where the owner says “they’re a tough nut to crack” or “they’re really shy, you probably won’t see them much” I’ve befriended the cat within 2 minutes of arriving, and many have come my way. I spoke to my host about this friendly window cat and she said she had never seen him/her before. I looked out my window each day in the hopes that surprise, friendly cat would return, but it turned out to be a one time treat. But more friendly neighborhood cats found their way to me as the weeks continued; all is well. :)

Overall, I had a nice time in Auckland, but truth be told, I was never really in the city, which I wish I had gotten the chance to see; I was about 30 minutes north. This experience did feel a bit more lonesome than the others and I was ready to see new places by the time I was going to the airport. I think this was due mostly to the house dynamic, as it was an interesting one. Some places you feel right at home and a part of the family, some places you are very much aware that you are a visitor, and some places are in between. This one was in between. We had many nice conversations, but they definitely had their own separate agenda at times and I felt on my own to make things interesting, which is definitely a big part of traveling alone, and a good way to push yourself to do and see new things and to make things happen. And so I did. I took the bike that they let me borrow and I happily biked around town, and back down to Long Bay Beach. I would have biked everywhere much more, except the majority of the time I was there, the sun  was no stranger and beat down with a fiery fury, reminding us all to wear sunblock, stay in the shade, or just lay down flat and hope you don’t melt and stick into the floor. Ahh, summer.