all good things must come to an end

Someone has booked the beach house for 3 days over New Year's so all of us have to check out, even the WWOOFers. 

The French surfer is flying home tonight; a few of us are headed over the hill to Auckland. 

Only the German woman is at the start of her trip, excited about all the places and people ahead of her.

I give away most of the staples from my traveling pantry: a bag of rice and mango chutney and oatmeal although I'm bringing home the jar of Marmite.

It's a perfect, peaceful spot, so we're lingering until the last possible moment, kicked out of paradise. 

I hope this place is still here next time I come. 

In the mean time, it's back to civilization. 

Eventually. 

It's just over the horizon

extinct volcano in the distance 

past the vanishing point. 

refuge

Driving down from Northland yesterday, I began to question my decision to spend the last few days close to Auckland. 

I hadn't made it to Matai Beach or Kerikeri or Doubtless Bay and Puketi Forest. And after hours of driving, I got closer and closer but was still an hour away over a windy mountain road. 

All that doubt evaporated once I laid my eyes on Piha, a famous black sand surfing beach separated from Auckland by the rugged Waitakere Range. 

The lodge is a little slice of heaven with a big open central space. Above is the view from my room. 

It's an easy walk up the street and through the forest to Kitekite Falls. 

There were lots of families from Auckland in flip flops with kids and dogs. 

And these crazy people climbing. 

After that I set off for the beach. The town reminds me of Stinson Beach. 

That's Lion Rock. It's even better from the other side. 

You can take a trail nearly to the top, but I left that to more ambitious people and splashed in the waves instead. 

Lots of swimmers though the surf is chilly and a little dangerous. 

The valley is stunning too. 

Someone has rented out the beach house starting tomorrow so everyone staying here has to leave. A few people are flying home today. 

We're all pretending that our trips aren't ending, enjoying late checkout (noon, an extravagance in New Zealand) and the sumptuous view surrounded by trees and  birdsong. 

Hard to imagine a better place to be.