huia and whatipu

a chance to visit family and do some errands in auckland this weekend, found us in huia and whatipu, the beginning of the waitakere ranges and a place of raw beauty...

we started at the huia store, a delicious lunch and a similar atmosphere meant there was lots to sit and look at and the food was everything we hoped it would be. a winding crawl around the shore line and up and down a steep range, we found ourselves at whatipu, a remote beach on the most southern part of the west coast.

gran shared stories of visiting as a young child and my great great aunt having dance parties in the cave as a young woman (aunty dora was my great grandmother's sister). my mum loves this place too and pointed out places they had visited before. isaiah and hubby explored further along and because the area has strict dog free signs, we stayed back to keep tarla company.

huia was previously known as te huia as the area is thought to be named after chief, te huia, who stayed in the bay and was so taken by the area that he remained there. i can completely relate and vowed we would return to explore further another day. it is a beautiful, raw place to visit and well worth the effort to get there.

:: holding on to the good ::