Saturday arrived with a heavy morning shower (seems to be common round here) but what followed was a gorgeous day of sunshine, sand and subtropical landscapes.
We headed south west out of the Auckland suburbs through a small village suburb of Titirangi and onto Waitakere Ranges Regional Park. These are the hills rising to the West of Auckland and the road, aptly called Scenic Drive, winds its way past lush ferns and palm trees (which seem to me more reminiscent of Vietnam than New Zealand). The first stop was the impressive and pleasing Arataki Visitor Centre, with a short little boardwalk offering some fine views of the jungle clad hills.
More overlooks followed and we stopped for lunch at one of these places called Pukematekeo, which had 360 degree views across to the west coast and back to Auckland and its volcanoes and harbours.
Scenic Drive eventually wound its way back down to a lower level dotted with small towns and vineyards before we turned off the main road and headed to the coast at a place called Muriwai. Here is where the wild Tasman Sea meets the volcanic sand and rugged cliffs of the west coast.
It was a bit breezy but smashing, don’t you think. Here’s Jenn and I on some rock or something (probably was a bubbling lava pool once).
We headed south west out of the Auckland suburbs through a small village suburb of Titirangi and onto Waitakere Ranges Regional Park. These are the hills rising to the West of Auckland and the road, aptly called Scenic Drive, winds its way past lush ferns and palm trees (which seem to me more reminiscent of Vietnam than New Zealand). The first stop was the impressive and pleasing Arataki Visitor Centre, with a short little boardwalk offering some fine views of the jungle clad hills.
More overlooks followed and we stopped for lunch at one of these places called Pukematekeo, which had 360 degree views across to the west coast and back to Auckland and its volcanoes and harbours.
Scenic Drive eventually wound its way back down to a lower level dotted with small towns and vineyards before we turned off the main road and headed to the coast at a place called Muriwai. Here is where the wild Tasman Sea meets the volcanic sand and rugged cliffs of the west coast.
It was a bit breezy but smashing, don’t you think. Here’s Jenn and I on some rock or something (probably was a bubbling lava pool once).We weren’t the only ones at Muriwai, not only were there many Japanese tourists there were thousands of smelly gannets who nest on the nearby rocks. No matter how smelly, they had a nice home with dazzling waterside apartments.
Muriwai served up some delicious and large ice cream (mmm hokey pokey) and it was with full bellies and the satisfaction of being beside the seaside that we journeyed the short trip back to Auckland and settled in for the night.
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