In the States, especially in Massachusetts, going to the beach has a standard meaning. There’s the cutesy beach towns, crab shacks, ice cream stands, boardwalks, and white grainy sand that leads down to a more or less flat tide of ocean.This is how I grew up going to the beach, and when it comes down to it, this is what going to the beach will always mean to me. I love New England beaches, but I’ve now found a place in my heart for a very different type of beach as well.

The west coast of New Zealand is known for its black sand beaches that are noted surf beaches as the waves fly high over one’s head and come crashing hard towards the shore. Last weekend, I visited three of these beaches, one of which I had already seen but did not fully explore, and two of which were completely new territory and brought with them new experiences and new surprises.

The first beach we visited I may have already written about here. I would check my past posts, but that just seems so daunting to save this draft then check the page and then come back and write more or less depending on what I find, so it can’t hurt to just write a blurb on Piha beach regardless. Walking up to the beach, one is instantly drawn towards the large rock in the middle, named Lion’s rock after the sound the waves make hitting its side. Lions rock is huge, with a trail up to the mid-point that one can climb to get a better view of the whole beach. I did this mini-hike last time I visited Piha, but what I hadn’t done yet was another hike on the far side that leads you up a steep hill to another gorgeous lookout, then down a slope to a second more secluded section of the beach. In this area, we had the space to ourselves, using it wisely to do handstands and sand angels, and to draw pictures in the black sand with our toes.

The second beach we drove to is called KareKare. This beach has a similar feel to Piha in that mountains rise up on all sides and black sand stretches out for as far as the I can see in both directions. But unlike Piha, this beach transitioned after a short walk from flat sand to rising sand dunes that could be climbed if one had enough energy for it. On one of the dunes bordering the mountain, someone had left a couple pieces of cardboard under a rock. Sand boarding is very much a thing here, though normally done on the Bay of Islands with an actual board, but we didn’t care and grabbed the cardboard anyways to give it a shot. Unfortunately, the cardboard was not the best at replacing an actual board. Little progress was made trying to board down the dunes. But that didn’t stop us as instead of using the cardboard we just rolled down the dune hill, rapidly gaining speed and turning dizzily without control until we reached the bottom. 

The third beach we drove to again was a close match to KareKare with it’s dunes and endless sand beach, however this beach, Bethells Beach, had caves in the side of the rock of the mountains that you could go quite deep into. Granted these caves involved crossing a river of ocean run-off . . . which I was not exactly prepared for as it was a cloudy day and I hadn’t bothered to put my bathing suit on. But curiosity got the best of me, as it so often does, and I rolled up my leggings to cross anyways. Rolling up my leggings proved to be of no help at all, as the current and waves were strong enough to get me wet up to my thighs, but exploring the caves was very much worth it. There was one narrow one, just big enough to walk inside a few steps, and one larger one that we could walk deep into though it narrowed considerably the deeper we got and eventually we could not go any further.

Some of the most gorgeous pictures I have of New Zealand to date come from these beaches, and some of the best memories I have with friends here also come from this day. Thinking back on this day and these beaches reminds me of how grateful I am for all the beauty this country has to offer, but also for the beautiful people I have here to make these memories with.