They predicted showers, overcast skies, and general miserableness this weekend, instead it was gloriously sunny and warm. I spent Saturday cutting gorse in just the right temperatures, then Sunday, a visit to Anawhata. The house is Keddle House, part of Auckland Council’s Bach Escapes. It has just got a new Marseilles Tile roof, like the [ Read More ]
The name means the sea mist that hangs in this small, remote bay at the end of North Piha Beach. Although only 5 minutes walk from the North Piha carpark, this is another world. It is a small bay, surrounded by tall cliffs, covered in pohutukawa. A small steep dune at the back of the [ Read More ]
Anawhata is north of White’s Beach. You can walk from Piha, or there is a long winding metal road that turns off Piha Road. Anawhata is part of the regional parkland though a great deal is actually private land. There is a steep walk down to Anawhata beach from the road end. Once there, [ Read More ]
 White’s Beach is a small beach to the north of Piha. On the headland between North Piha and White’s Beach, the Te Waha point was the site of one of Piha’s pa. Today, this small headland, surrounded by steep cliffs, is the home to grey-faced petrels, which nest in the ground around the roots [ Read More ]
 Mercer Bay is to the south of the Piha between The Gap and Karekare. It sits at the bottom of precipitous cliffs, the highest in the Auckland region in this area, and access down these is only for the brave and fit. It can also be accessed from the seawards by swimming but once again, [ Read More ]
   The Gap is a low point between Taitomo Island and cliffs where waves come crashing through, providing a spectacular sight in big surf. At low tide a pool is created called the Blue Pool, a favourite place for children and adults to swim and as the tide comes in, to be buffeted by surges [ Read More ]
This bay is located between Taitomo Island and the mainland. Its name denotes the foam that piles up on the beach in stormy weather. Opening onto the beach is a vent through Taitomo Island called by Pakeha “the Keyhole”. A ledge created by locals leads through the tunnel to a fishing platform, not to be [ Read More ]
The broad black sand beach south of Karekare running down to the entrance to the Manukau Harbour is the Whatipu Scientific Reserve, a large sand accretion that has built up over the last 90 years. Maori history tells of a large flat sand island off the shore called Parore, an area of swamp, lakes and [ Read More ]