Huia Road

Today is our last day in Auckland.  We followed the coast along the Huia Road, stopping at a few beaches along the way.

Cornwallis Beach

Cornwallis Beach

We stopped at a café in Huia for a  drink.  I’ve noticed a trend… I always get a little marshmallow candy with my Mochas.  Yum.

At the end of the road is Whatipu Beach.  We’re realizing that many of the beaches here are beautiful but not practical.  This one is again so shallow that it would be impossible to swim.  We’ve been told it has a dangerous undercurrent, so I suppose that’s for the best.

I thought What-I-Poo was a funny name for scientific research. J  Turns out “Wh” is pronounced “F” so it actually sounds like “Fattipoo” Beach.

This shoreline is known for it’s black sand beaches.

Very black.  Even blacker when it's wet.

A real live hobbit!  Big hairy feet and all.

Chris likes to climb things…

…while I prefer sea level.

There he goes again.

I decided to give this climbing thing a try.  The volcanic rock makes wall climbing a breeze, with many foot and hand holds built into the rock.

On the way back we saw a sign to some caves, and thought we’d check it out.

The path was muddy, and even washed out in parts.  At the end, we found this crappy little cave filled with water.  Really?  This is the cave?

Chris expressed his disappointment by peeing.

But luckily we found a makeshift bridge across a muddy section, and finally we found the real caves.  This one was far more impressive.

The second one we came across was very narrow, but after about 30 feet it opened up into a large room.  I wish I had thought to bring a flashlight, because from the echo the room sounded huge.  I tried to use my camera’s flash to look around, but it was large enough the flash wouldn’t reach the far wall… so I was forced to turn back.

The third gave wasn’t very deep, but framed the view nicely.

The fourth cave had all sorts of trees and vines.

The fifth looked like the Dimwalt Road.  We could go in about 100 feet, but then it became too wet.  We’d need rubber boots to explore deeper.

Chris heading into the light.

The sixth one was the largest of all.

This photo doesn’t do it justice.  To give some idea, the roof was easily 40 or 50 feet high.

It began with a huge open space, and as we went deeper it split off into smaller rooms.

We heard some odd noises, kinda like breathing, coming from deep in the darkness, and decided that was enough cave exploration for one day.