March 20, 2008

March 19, 2009

Remuera, Auckland

Piha

With 2 days til I fly home, I was just about to sell Rose.......until the water pump blew going over the Piha Pass this morning(!) -- an NZ$450 repair on a car that I would sell for NZ$2000.  She's a tosser, now.  At first, I got bummed out about this stroke of apparent bad luck.  And then I realized that  Rose did everything she was supposed to do:  she got me safely around all of New Zealand in one piece.  In fact, she pretty much took me everywhere, and in great comfort.  What more could you ask?     Hats off to The Rose Coach!  I'll miss you, kiddo.

Anyway, while trying to sell Rose, I commuted to Piha, Auckland's primary surf spot, 1 hour west of town.  I was skeptical about any surf spot so close to a major metro area.  As it turns out, NZ pulled one last slapper on me:  Piha is really amazing:  great surf, super-beautiful, and some of the friendliest folks anywhere.   It's a lot like a Bolinas, without all the freaky assholes.  There's one little deli-restaurant that serves as the nexus of the community;  it's a good place to grab an espresso and panini and shoot the breeze with the locals.  Like West Marin, the road brings in droves of day trippers, but by 8 or 9, it's super-quiet and peaceful.  

Particularly charming was the "RSA", which is the NZ Officer's Club, and the only place in town to get dinner.  It was a stone's throw from the campground and just happened to have a deck overlooking the Piha Valley with a million-dollar view -- and great food.  At one point, they stopped dinner and said a "grace" and had a moment for all of the fallen soldiers. 

Next time I fly into Auckland Int'l, I'm bee-lining for Piha.   Auckland is not a bad City...but no tourist really wants to be here.  When you arrive, you're itching to see the country.  And when you are at the end of the trip -- like I am -- you're ready to go home.   Poor Auckland:  it'll never get a fair shake from the tourists...