Piha

The weekend before last I took a trip out to Piha to meet up with Emma, another girl here from KSU. I was considering going to Piha on my own, then found out she was planning to go as well. When she invited me to come along and volunteer at an event with her, I decided to make the Piha trip happen! I booked a shuttle to get there, as well as a place to stay once I got there. I was very excited for my weekend trip to a west coast beach!

Piha is famous for its black sand beach. I had been told that the currents in the ocean there are really strong and dangerous. For that reason, it is also a spot where many people like to go to surf.

At Piha Beach the Disable Surfers Association put on an event where they provide people with all different disabilities the opportunity to surf. It was a wonderful experience. I was in the ocean most of the morning with them. The water was so rough that it was a struggle to get out very deep.  A lot of the people were pretty good at surfing! While they needed assistance getting out there or getting up out of the water after they fell, they were pretty good at getting up on the board and balancing to ride the waves in.

Watching people coming from all different circumstances and different abilities get up and surf was inspirational. The person who was the most inspiring to me was a teenage girl whose arm ended at the elbows, and legs ended at the knees. She was good at surfing and had a blast while doing it! It caused me to think about the limitations we give ourselves and the things that we think we can or cannot do. It is amazing what a person can do when they have the drive and dedication to do it!

This guy was great!

Three of the most awesome people I think I will ever meet!

Piha Beach. The big rock is Lion Rock. If you look closely, it resembles a lion lying down.

Once the event was over, two teachers from the school that my friend Emma has been at invited me to come stay at their house. It was a little cold and very rainy, so I was happy for the chance to leave Piha! It is such a beautiful place, but with the rainy weather, there was nothing to do but sit in my cabin. Duncan and Eleanor have the cutest house. They were such good hosts and are such sweet people! Duncan made a delicious dinner, then Eleanor and I went to see the new Hunger Games movie. It cost us $18nzd a piece to see it! That seems outrageous to me. We also went down town in Auckland to explore for a few hours. We came across some very interesting things!

Eleanor's cute car! 

This was a cute little library set up downtown Auckland where people can go to hang out. It is also useful for keeping out of the rain!

Some cute little shops where they sold jewelry, clothes, and some other things. There was a girl selling a heap of dresses. Each one was unique and created from an old dress, reshaped and sewn to be more modern.

We had to bike to blend our smoothies! It was fun!

Duncan and Eleanor's cute house! I loved it so much!

The following day we went to the Auckland museum. There was an exhibit that was quite interesting. It was the Wearable Art exhibit. When these were first made, there was actually a fashion show with real people in the clothing. After the museum, we went out to a delicious lunch where I discovered the amazing condiment, HP Sauce. It was fabulous! 

All in all, it was a fabulous weekend! Now my sister is here and we are heading to the South Island for the week. Be prepared for some truly amazing photos in my next post!