Piha to the rescue

Thanks to a generously loaned car, we made our first pilgrimage out of the city yesterday. We drove not quite an hour, much of it on a tiny little twisty toad, to Piha. 

It is a beautiful black sand beach, with a decent surf break, but lots of tough currents, resulting in lots of water rescue activity. In fact the Piha Surf Lifesaving Club was the subject of a reality show a few years back. 

We didn’t go near the water, because it was butt-ass cold, but we did need rescuing from the wind. Some people were in fact surfing, and some kids were frolicking a little, but Kiwis seem tough about the cold. 

Luckily, the PSLC (that’s what we locals call it) runs a cafe and bar, and you can buy a membership for $5… shades of old Utah! We found the beach to still be very pretty from the lounge area. 

The car was great, a Saab convertible. Unfortunately, one other memory this weekend was filling up the car to return it… $7+ per gallon, yikes. Still and all, it was really fun to get out and see such a beautiful place, and come summer… we’ll be back!