Sunday February 16, 2014

Chris took us for a drive today to the west coast of Auckland –  Waitakere.  We drove up the Scenic Drive to the Waitakere Ranges Regional Park.

It would have been a great ride on the bikes, but what we saw today would have taken us three days!  We stopped a couple of times at pull-outs to take some photos and then stopped for about an hour at the Education Centre. There was about a 10 minute video to watch about the region and the flora and fauna of the area.

The decking around the visitor centre was really well done, you didn’t realize how high up you were until you looked straight down.

It was a great spot to take some photos and see Auckland from this area. I really loved the idea of this picture frame.

\”This natural masterpiece is cared for by the Auckland Regional Council\”.

I also liked the words on this board.

We then drove to Piha Beach, we had a nice lunch and climbed the Lion’s Rock and paddled in the sea.  The sand here is black.

Chris used to come here when he was younger and was a surfing dude and lifeguard.

After Piha, we went to Cornwallis (not the one in Nova Scotia where Ralf did his basic training for the military) it was a lovely area to do some fishing.  Chris used to come here with his son Steven to fish.

Sometimes while we are out and about we see Hobbit houses, this time we were really lucky and actually spotted a Hobbit.

We had a great day. Thanks Chris.