Bethell's Beach

Lance Again:

So there’s a few themes to our adventures out here, one of them being that we've really enjoyed the hiking trails and the ability to see some really cool things off the beaten path.  Maggie and I decided that we wanted to head to the Waitakere on the weekend of February 28th to do some hiking / take in the beach a little bit.  The Waitakere region is on the west side of Auckland only about 45 min to an hour outside the city.  It doesn't look very far on the map, but the roads aren't straight once you start to get into the hilly region.  It’s also the home to some great black sand beaches.  As Maggie has previously pointed out, the north island has black sand beaches on the west side and white sand beaches on the east side.  Not sure why.

It just so happened that a group of our friends out here (Americans) wanted to do a hike around Bethell’s beach that very same day and we decided to join forces and go for a group hike.  It was great to have a group along, especially Katie who had done the hike before and could show us the best way to enjoy a leisurely tramp around the area.

The path through Bethell’s entailed a great walk through a stream next to black sand dunes that led to Lake Kawaupaka.  Don’t worry if you can’t pronounce the names of these things, I give up after the first 4 vowels.  This tramp was probably one of the best we've done out here.  It was such a hot day that walking barefoot through the stream felt amazing.  The black sand made for one of the best feeling stream beds ever.

As we started along the stream, it opened up to a clearing of sand dunes.  Naturally, I wanted to race up them.  So I put down James, and my friend Rob and I raced up the dunes.  Now as most of you know, I have climbed the dunes out in Colorado and have made sprints up those with backpacking gear on.  So when you watch this video or pictures (whatever Maggie inserts) just know that Rob and I stopped about three quarters of the way up because the black sand was burning the bottom of our feet, not because we were wimps.  It was terribly hot.  However, not one to call it quits, we sat on it for a while and then made a break to the top.  It was beautiful up top and the view shows the dunes melting into the ocean in the distance (wish I had a camera for that one).

After the fun run down the dunes we proceeded to the lake.  Some clever locals had built a waterslide down the side of the dune into the lake, using a long plastic sheet.  It looked like a lot of work hauling full buckets of water up and down the dune.

"Truffula trees are what everyone needs!"

We hiked around the lake and decided to eat lunch at a set of waterfalls on the opposite side of the lake.  When we got to these secluded waterfalls, we were astonished that they were a series and we were able to get to the 4^th set of waterfalls that emptied into the lake.  They were really cool.  We decided not to jump in though as we did sight an eel in one of the lower falls and none of us knew if eels attacked people or not.

Kowhatukiteuru, a famous Maori (Native New Zealanders) pa (fort) builder

 

Even in the most glamorous places, poop happens.

We then continued on around the rest of the lake before heading back to the beach.  But first, I wanted to give it one more shot at the sand dunes, this time with James on my back.  I coated my feet in mud to prevent the burning and headed up to one of the highest dunes.  I didn't make it there in my first burst of effort, but did not give up.  Soon James and I were the only people with a view from the highest dune.

We then headed out to the beach where half of the group played around in the waves and had fun fighting against the surf and the other half just soaked up the sun.

However, there were the outliers of Maggie and James who found where the stream we had just hiked emptied into the ocean.  At this point the stream was only about an inch to 3 inches deep and James had himself a blast fording the river.  It’s like the kid was born with an inherent knowledge of playing ‘The Oregon Trail’.

After that we headed back for some grub and brew and called it a day.