A beach view

My friend Amanda has all sorts of excursions planned and we're into the school holidays so Anouk can come too. It's a lovely clear day when we drive up to the Waitakere range of mountains west of Auckland. The range is part of the rim of a gigantic volcanic caldera. Before I've even got the map out we're in Titirangi, a village in the foothills. Strung out along the main road are cafes with outdoor tables surrounded by hippy types. Over the tops of the trees we can see Auckland's Sky Tower and the gentle curves of Rangitoto beyond.

We stop for lattes and a piece of ginger slice, which has become my New Zealand biscuit of choice. Where have you been all my life? A short drive on from Titirangi we call in at the Arataki visitor centre with its, ahem, graphic totem pole and no end of fascinating blurb on the geology (volcanic, natch) and wildlife of the national park. 

I read an inspiring quote by a Kiwi photographer, Craig Potton, printed onto one of the panels here, and it reminds me of Scotland: 'We need civilisation with all its comforts and wilderness with all its discomforts. We are both social and solitary beings whose personalities as much as our culture derive from the interplay of the wild and the ordered. If there is too much planning something inside of us gets suffocated. There are occasions when we need a huge place where time and space are measured out by natural rhythms and where we see, hear, taste and smell only what we can never create.' It's good preparation for the wonders of the west coast. As if illustrating the point Anouk poses in a big picture frame looking in that direction.
Piha is our first beach stop and I'm speechless when I see it. But first we have spicy pumpkin soup at Piha's newish organic cafe. Apparently the owners struggled at first because locals thought Piha would become overrun with organic jet setters but that hasn't happened and everyone loves the place now, especially the locals. Amanda points out typical baches dotted around the hills behind the beach. A bach is a New Zealander's holiday home (short for bachelor, I think, from when they were men's fishing or hunting retreats).


Piha has some fantastic little hikes, up the cliffs at the southern end, my viewpoint for the shot above, and down to an adjacent beach that has a gap in the rocks called the Gap, and to the top of Lion Rock, or Te Piha, a sacred (and defensive) landmark to the local Maori tribe, Te Kawerau a Maki, soaring up out of the middle of the beach, dividing it into north and south. When I get to the top I find a whole crowd of youngsters chilling out beneath the carved wooden guardian.

Down on the beach the black volcanic sand glistens in the sunshine – New Zealanders used it to make steel, a plentiful resource right on their doorstep. Anouk is loving it and ends up covered in the stuff.

We move on to Karekare but before walking down to the beach I stroll up to the waterfall, then approach the beach the long way round.

Karekare was used as a location in the filming of The Piano and I've been looking forward to seeing it all day. It does not disappoint. It's a spectacular stretch of coastline backed by dark cliffs and rolls on for miles. It's more difficult to get to than Piha so as I walk towards the sea on the soft black sand I'm the only person on it. Then I see Amanda collecting curly white shells.



We all meet at a large tree trunk in the middle of the beach. We're the only three here. I'm quite stunned by how wild and beautiful it is. The sun dips down and as we leave a couple and their dog pass by, on a sunset walk (you can just make them out on the last photo below). Craig Potton's inspiration must have come from this place – New Zealand may be a small country but it is abundant with huge, open spaces.