day one: auckland to piha with a side trip to whatipu
Key
- Destinations
- Apex Locations
High in the foothills of the Waitakere Ranges the elevated township of Titirangi
is reached via the North Western Motorway. We arrive ready to breakfast and follow
our noses to the German café, Boss Konditorei, where fresh organic and wholegrain
breads are baked daily. Its street appeal isn’t up to much and Bob screws up his
nose, but once inside the views of the Manukau Harbour and selection of specialty
cakes and breads win him over and he winds up telling its friendly owner, Ewald
Boss, that he intends to return for lunch.
Instead we purchase a selection of thick-cut sandwiches and pastries so we can picnic
at our leisure, then visit the art gallery at Lopdell House where locals exhibit
their work. As we leave Bob strikes up a conversation with a student-type with gorgeous
long red locks. Her T-shirt states “Titirangi - it’s the west but with a special
flavour all its own. Titirangi is more than a village; it’s a way of living; it’s
a feeling - it’s a state of mind.” She tells Bob to get out to Whatipu, “You
won’t believe you’re in Auckland,” and departs to the local hairdressing salon,
where all the products used are organic. And so we take the road to Whatipu, past
popular Cornwallis Beach with its icecream and coffee caravan, the bottle-green
horseshoe of Huia Bay and over the hills to Whatipu, nestled amongst the dunes.
The boom of the ocean can be heard from the carpark and it becomes thunderous as
we walk along a sandy pathway lined with colourful. owering grasses to the beach.
Here surf pounds relentlessly against Paratutae Island which marks the northern
head of the Manukau Harbour. It was the site of one of NZ’s most disastrous shipwrecks
in 1863, when the HMS Orpheus ran aground at the cost of 189 lives.
I lead Bob along a rough unmarked route to the sea caves that were used in early
days as shelter by local Maori, and later -in the 1920s -as a ballroom for timber
workers. We pass Whatipu Lodge, built for the mill manager in 1867, and Liebergreen
Cottage, a former mill workers cottage, thought to date from the 1860s.
We picnic amongst the dunes in swaying grasses watching the surf pound in. Bob reminisces
about a surfing holiday he once had in Hawaii and how he was a dab hand on a Malibu
board. As I watch him gobble pastries it’s pretty hard to imagine but I simply suggest
that he hires a board and gives it a go...
please click the link to download the full
Auckland's West Coast Beaches scenic drive, courtesy of apex car rentals
new zealand... the kiwi way
to read more extracts from our driving holiday's guidebook please click on any of
the following links:
north island scenic drives
south island scenic drives