Anawhata

Hello, it's been a while since I have posted! I suddenly got really busy! Also, I have been told I cannot call my blog the Lone Traveler anymore because now that school has started I have made some of the best friends I have ever had! Regardless of titles, in the end it's about adventure, so here we go!

 

Today we went to the Waitakere Ranges which is a huge park on the West Coast of the North Island. We went down Anawhata Road which happens to be a very long, and windy road that is all on gravel with scattered hiking trails. First we walked on a small loop that led to a lookout over the whole range. It was a fantastic view, and I suggest foreigners use it so they can get their bearings with sense of direction. It is through a really beautiful little part of the forest as well!

 After a 15 minute jaunt to the lookout, we drove on down the winding street and eventually broke out into some pastures. Everywhere in New Zealand is so fricken green (or at least up north, I can't speak for the South... yet). What is funny about some of the hiking trails here is that there will be a trail just through someone's yard, or pasture, and you're walking with a herd of cattle or sheep. It's pretty flippin awesome. Don't worry the animals are pretty calm. We roamed around and avoided cow pies for a while and headed back to the car.

 

We were on a mission to find the coastal track! Eventually we did, and there was a trail down the White Beach. We jumped out of the car and began our fast pace down the hill. Halfway down I realized that later, we would be coming up this very hill. That is the downside to hikes, if they begin downhill, it's no fun because all the work you do will be on the way back up. None the less, we kept on and trudged down the hill. From the steep slope, which is partially paved by the way, we could see Piha Beach in the distance. As you get down to the bottom of the paved part, there is a fork in the road, either way leads you to another daunting and steep decent downwards. So we went right towards White beach and finally reached the base. It is amazing to look back up and see how steep of a hill you just climbed down! And also it is a very sheltered beach with cliffs on all sides! the waves looked a bit crazy and rugged, but it is winter, so we didn't plan on swimming anyways.

After we pulled muscles off the rocks, we climbed back up to the top, taking a victory selfie once we got there. As you can see from the pictures, New Zealand is so bland, un-colorful, and lame, OH WAIT IT IS ALL THE OPPOSITES OF THOSE THINGS. I have a few more hikes I photographed, that I will upload within a few weeks. Thanks for reading! Have a radical day!