Friday 6 January 2017

Piha, Lion Rock, and hot iron sand

So much for keeping this blog up to date. Never mind. I'll just post things when I get around to it :) They just might not be in the order we did them. But you'll still get to see some of the loveliness of New Zealand. We took a trip out to Piha - it isn't really that far, it just feels like it because the road is so windy.

When you finally get through the Waitakere ranges you come around the corner and all the glory of Piha is laid out in front of you. We couldn't stop to take a good photo as the parking bays were all full (and you really can't stop anywhere else as the road is so narrow), so I had to get a shot on the move, so it's not the best, but it still works.

Lion Rock is that big rock in the middle of the beach. You are allowed to climb about 2/3rds of the way up and then there is a gate/fence stopping you from going any further (supposedly, we saw a few people go around it).

So we had our lunch sitting in the shade of the rock, and then climbed it.

See our tiny car down there? And all the little ant people :)

Then we came down again.

After coming down we played in the surf for a while. We didn't go too far out, partly because we didn't have our togs, and partly because the currents and rips at Piha can be dangerous and we weren't in one of the two lifeguard patrolled areas.

The patterns the iron in the sand made when the waves washed over it were pretty cool.

If I remember what they told us when we moved here the year 8's get to learn surf safety in their swimming lessons during the first term. DS missed it last year due to our late start at that school, but DD will get it this year. With so many beaches around I think that is a good idea.