Paradise in Piha

Where was I today? Paradise :) New Zealand is known for some incredible black sand beaches, and we finally got to experience them today! We were a little nervous going to Piha Beach, because everyone has reminded us a million times to "only swim between the flags!" Apparently, there is an unusually and extremely strong current and undertow at the west coast beaches. So much so that each of these beaches have lifeguards on duty all day every day to keep everyone safe in between the flags. Also so much so that they have a TV show every Monday night called, "Piha Rescue" with all the crazy rescues made by the lifeguards (successful and unsuccessful). Most of the rescues and most of the deaths have been tourist because they aren't used to the strong current/undertow and don't know what to do. We were trained on what to do if we got swept away, (don't fight it, just go along with it and put your hand up as high as you can so the lifeguards will come save you) but luckily we were all very safe and didn't need any rescues. Phew!

It truly was paradise :) This massive rock right on the shore is called Lion's Rock.

James took us all to a beautiful secluded cove at Piha Beach. It was absolutely beautiful. On the way there we found this hole in the rock. The tide was starting to come in, and huge waves started crashing right through this hole. It was sweet as!

To get to the cove we had to climb over all these huge rocks. Many of them were covered in these black things. When we took a closer look, we discovered that they were all tiny black clams! There were SO many!

This was on our way to the cove. The rocks on the left were the ones covered in the black clam shells. This was also the area where James scared us all a bit by telling us the tide was coming in and if we didn't hurry, this area would be covered in water and we wouldn't make it to the cove. Luckily, we made it there, and then there was a different hike back over the mountain on the left.

At the cove, the waves were crashing in and putting on a spectacular show for us! None of the pictures we got do it justice, but it was so beautiful.

The waves were bigger and more often than I have ever seen before!

We also climbed up as high as we could and found some incredible lookouts to experience tons of waves crashing up against these rocky mountains every few seconds. Amazing.

It was really cool because there was a kids surfing competition going on today! It took lots of time waiting to get the good waves, but we all loved it when they finally got some good ones to ride. I think it would be terrifying to let my children out there when so many people have died, but they said that they're locals and they've grown up in this water. I guess they know what they're doing!

Before leaving Piha, we hiked up Lion's Rock. It's not safe to go to the top, but there was a path to take us halfway and it was beautiful!

After Piha we went to Karekare Beach and actually swam this time. It was exhilerating to get in because the waves were HUGE! We really could feel the strong current...much stronger than I've ever felt it. Just before we left, James started picking up the dead jellyfish that were all over the beach. I've always thought they were poisonous or something, even if they're dead on the beach, but apparently not these ones. We had fun picking them and taking some cool jellyfish pictures (unfortunately they're on someone else's camera!)

Next we hiked to a beautiful waterfall in the middle of a jungle on one of the mountains right by the beach. It was incredible to see such a contrast in scenery. JJ told us a quote from some guy (I remember he was important, but I can't remember his name right now...) who said that we often get tired of seeing manmade creations over and over, but we never tire of seeing God's creations--they are always so magnificent. It is so true. The whole day was breathtaking, taking in so many of God's creations. I feel so blessed to be here in this beautiful country of New Zealand :)