Morning walk along the black sand beach at the end of our two-night stay in Piha, a world away from Auckland, just a 45-minute Uber ride.
Category: Walk
The easy beauty of a waterfall
Hiked more beautiful bush trails today: again up, up, up. It’s impossible to pick just one photo to encapsulate the beauty here, so here’s a waterfall we passed this morning.
A trek around Tiritiri Matangi Island
We took the ferry to Tiritiri Matangi Island, about 20 miles from downtown Auckland. The entire island is a nature reserve, home to restored native bush and bird species once thought extinct. We spent three hours hiking the coastal trails that ring the island. The birdsong was magical: we got to hear sounds that were once thought lost forever.
Exploring our neighborhood: “The Point”
We’ve been in Auckland for ten days, and we finally walked onto the beach directly in front of our rental. Normally the tide has been in when we wanted to go exploring. Today we stuck to our Point Chevalier neighborhood rather than exploring further. Wandering along the peninsula, we found sandy stretches, parks, a great view of downtown, and yet another decent hole-in-the-wall cafe.
The long way to lunch
Ferry to Waiheke Island, followed by a coastal trek: steep up, steep down, repeat. Revived by a fine mid-afternoon lunch of grilled fish overlooking the water. Waiheke’s own Passage Rock Pinot Gris made the revival complete.
A landscape reframed
A massive cruise ship dwarfed the Island Direct Waiheke Island ferry. With 5,000 passengers suddenly in town for the day and a long holiday weekend approaching, the ferry lines were daunting. We quickly abandoned our plan to hike on Waiheke and instead trekked several miles back home, following the coastline for much of the way. Next week will be much quieter for our Waiheke hike.
Where the road ends
Our dead-end road leads to a coastal path, but high tide had other plans for us. We detoured a few blocks over to pick up the trail through parks and urban stretches. A few miles later, we looped back to the start via train and bus.
The final stretch
The Cougar Line boat arrived to collect us for our return to Picton after the final section of our hike. It was another day of lovely wooded trails that sheltered us from the sun, offering views of coves, mossy rocks, and vegetation indigenous to New Zealand. Whenever we encountered other hikers, they were invariably in a good mood, and so were we.
The space between: between resorts, between sounds
Queen Charlotte Sound to our left and Kenepuru Sound to our right, the trail proceeds between the two, offering lovely views. Another hour or two of hiking and we’ll reach the Te Mahia Bay Resort, our comfy doss for the night.
Ridges, rocks, and a resort
Continued hiking the Queen Charlotte Track, passing lovely mossy rock walls and lush epiphytes. Ridges offered great views of the sounds on both sides, with enough climbing to make it feel like a true hike rather than a walk in the park. A beautiful day on the trail, interrupted by a comfortable resort hotel for the night.