Bush and Beach

Bright eyed & bushy tailed at the start of the day!

We leave the caves to head to our final stop in New Zealand - Auckland!  I know, it seems like we've moved down here, but we only have a couple of days left of our vacation.  Steve has mastered driving on the left over the past two weeks and has no problems with the Auckland traffic.  It's actually nice to be back in a city again!  We stay at a B&B in Parnell, a pleasant neighborhood area about a mile from downtown and the harbor.

 It's interesting staying in the B&Bs because we're able to have more in depth conversations with locals and other visitors.  One of the big events going on while we're in New Zealand is the vote for the country's flag.  Everyone has definite opinions regarding changing it or leaving it the same, and has a strong theory on other people's choices, too.  It sounds to us like the flag will be changed....but the final count is in favor of keeping it the same.   So you'll still have to count the stars to tell the difference between the NZ & Australia flags.

We take the day to hike around the rainforest and beaches to the east of Auckland.  Hard to believe this is all within a 30 minute drive of the busiest city in New Zealand!  Our first stop is at the Arataki Visitor Center.  From here you have some pretty views of the bays around Auckland.  We then tramp along the cliffs for some dramatic scenery. 

Don't slip!

Next we trek to Karekare Falls in the western part of the Waitakere Ranges Regional Park....because we haven't seen enough waterfalls yet!  What's fun about this one is the popular swimming hole at its base.  We didn't know to bring our swimsuits, but the cold water feels good on our feet after the uphill climb.  Some people are rappelling down beside the waterfall - how did I miss signing up for that!

Not another one!

Deja vu..

The return walk downhill is relaxing and Steve manages to conquer a troublesome rock.

Another version of rock climbing

Can I grow these at home?

I love the forest!  It feels almost prehistoric, and there's very few people around (other than at the waterfall).  My favorite are the ferny palms - they are anywhere from a few feet high to twenty-five feet.  

Is that a triceretops peeking out?

Bubbling creek - I haven't seen that before in New Zealand (ha!)

1000 year old tree!

Steve is crouching in the stump of a kauri tree.  These are humongous trees growing to 165 ft, with girths of over 50 ft.  They live for about 2000 years (maybe not this one).  We see a live one later in the day, estimated to be around 1000 years old.

Steve is too tall to be a hobbit - he bumped his head coming out of the trunk.

Close-up of the sand

After a lunch break we go to the black sand of Piha beach.  The sand is very dark, but I'd actually classify it as more of a brown then a black.  It has a metallic sheen to it though, which my camera cannot quite pick up.  It's known for surfers, but we don't see anyone out there today.  The swim area is very narrow - the lifeguards have the flags cordoning off a region only about 50 feet wide. There have also been multiple movies filmed here.

I can't resist putting my feet in the Tasman Sea! 

Pedicure still looks good!

And the beach selfie

 

Mussels piled on the rocks.  Lunch!  Darn it, we already ate.

  

Love looking up in the canopy!

We go on last one hike in the rainforest near Piha.  More ferny trees!

Many different types of trees - I lost count!

We're not really bushwhacking - there's a path through the rainforest.

I finally got a good shot of the famous New Zealand silver fern.  I flipped up the tip so I could see the silvery backside.

Only one more day left before we fly home to Japan....or so we thought...