Piha is on the West Coast of Auckland; the journey out there is as enjoyable as the destination itself. From South Auckland we drive through Hillsborough, Blockhouse Bay, Green Bay and Titirangi – the suburbs getting progressively more wild and beautiful, the road progessively more twisted, narrow and heart-stopping. We follow signs for the Twin Coast Discovery Highway, taking Scenic Drive to skirt the edge of the Waitakere Ranges, then turning onto the wide and empty Piha Road, a long stretch of hot tarmac flanked by bush that runs right up to the coast itself, giving way to the exhilirating hairpin bends of Seaview Road which drop you down from the top of the ranges to sea level, finally petering out onto Beach Valley Road.
I first came to Piha when K was in the UK. I drove myself out there towards the end of October, late Spring, when the air was cool but the sun already harsh. I sat in the dunes overlooking Lion Rock, I watched the waves crashing and seaspray misting the horizon, I marvelled at the warmth and softness of the golden black sand underfoot, the majestic skies reflected in the tide, and I felt very lonely.
A few photos here from a recent visit with K, a few from that very first time I was there.
Mad to Live 