Stop #02: Piha

Number of nights: 1
Distance: 73 KM (73 KM Total)

After two weeks stationed in Auckland, we were itching to get out on the road. Our first stop was Piha, which was surprisingly close to the city and only took about 30 minutes to drive there.

Piha Beach from the cliff-side road leading into town

This also marks our first foray into “booking as you go”: normally we book our accommodations ahead of time, sometimes months in advance, but now that we were traveling we no strict itinerary, we had to change our mindset and book on the fly. In the days leading up to our departure I become more and more anxious not knowing where were were going to stay, but everything turned out fine and on the last day I booked a very nice place high up on a cliff. It was a bit of a splurge, but I felt we needed to reward ourselves a bit to help us ease into this new routine (nice excuse, Michael).

Enjoying the view from our deck above Piha
Walking on the path leading to Karekare beach
Karekare beach
Karekare beach
Walking along Karekare beach
Dreary Karekare beach, just like in the movie “The Piano”
Sort of where the piano was placed for the film “The Piano”
Karekare beach
Karekare waterfall
Piha beach
Piha beach
Lion Rock at Piha beach, which you can climb
Piha beach, beautiful in a rugged kind of way
Piha beach. Even when the weather isn’t perfect, it can still make for a great photo!
Piha beach atop Lion Rock.
Descending Lion Rock. The sun came out at this point making for a nice sunset. You can see the shadow of the rock in the distance.
A typical New Zealand jungle, right outside our accommodation.