A forest giant, black sand beaches & new Kiwi friends

 Kia ora e hoa

We hope this finds you enjoying your own summer adventures!  We are still finding plenty of new things to explore on the North Island.  If you have read any of our previous posts, you'll know that we are fascinated by large trees.   As we wandered from the North Land to Auckland, we had to stop to see Tane Mahuta, one of the most ancient of trees found in NZ.   Tane is considered by the Maori as the life giver and believe that all living creatures are his children.  Standing next to this magnificent 2000 year old Kauri tree, one knows that you are in the presence of a wise sentient being.  The essence/karma/life energy that surrounds this tree is palpable.

This ancient tree reaches 168 feet with a trunk girth of 45 feet

At more than 200 centuries old, this tree was a seedling when Christ was living. 

Spending the past five months in NZ, we've spent plenty of time researching things to see and do.  One of the "must do" items is to see the black sand beaches of Piha.  Located on the west coast just 45 minutes from Auckland, Piha offers glorious black beaches and great surfing waves.  Piha is a tiny village with one general store and a couple of places to eat.  It is hard to imagine how it accommodates between 8000 and 10,000 daily visitors during the summer months.  

 

Volcanic material high in iron content creates these black sand beaches

Even in winter, hardy souls surf & swim

Our draw to Piha was more than another pretty beach though.  We were following up on an invite from a couple we met back in September in Palm Cove, Australia.  Lyn & Dudley are a Kiwi couple that we met during lunch one day.  We started to chat and learned that they had spent nearly 6 months touring the US while in their 20's.  During their US tour, they had many hospitable folks offer them a good meal or a place to stay.  They wanted to return the hospitality and so invited us to join them at their home in Piha whenever our travels brought us close to the area.  We have so enjoyed our time together and hearing about their many adventures across the US as well as Europe with little more than their backpacks.  We share an affinity for hiking and the outdoors so are planning some tramps we can do together.  It is wonderful to make new friends who are so interesting and kind.  

Our new friends Lyn & Dudley at Kitekite falls

Our next landing spot is Auckland for a few weeks to explore the city a wee bit more.  We have tickets to a concert as well as our first rugby match so are taking advantage of the big city offerings!  Plus August is restaurant month in Auckland so there are plenty of eats to explore. 

We hope ya'll enjoy the rest of your summer!  

Stay Curious.

Cheryl & Dan