Karekare, New Zealand
Karekare is a small coastal town on the west coast of Auckland known for its black sand beach, rainforests, and waterfalls. While the stunning scenery absolutely makes it worth it, I will say getting there is not for the weak. After picking up our rental car and doing no research on the roads getting there we made the very windy and sketchy drive up the mountains to Karekare from the Auckland airport. This was 100x scarier because it was my first time ever driving on the other side of the road. But we made it!
Terrified to drive on the wrong side of the road!
We checked into the airbnb that we ended up staying 2 nights at and it had perfect cozy, rainforest vibes. We took the time to unwind here and had slow mornings doing yoga, reading and drinking tea on the patio before going out to explore the gorgeous scenery.
Karekare beach was less than a 10 minute walk from our place and we pretty much had it all to ourselves. The dramatic coastline and black sand made for some stunning views and reminded me a lot of the Oregon Coast. We walked over here both days (the first time we got soaking wet from the rain, but it just added to the misty/rainforest ambience).
The next morning we walked over to Karekare Falls. The hike was only a short trek and very beginner friendly. I had high hopes of cold plunging into the falls but the murky water scared me away. Nonetheless, it was still a beautiful hike.
That afternoon we made our way over to Comans’ track for some more hiking. Our host recommended this hike and I’m so glad he did! Because all the other hikes around were very beginner friendly with no elevation, we definitely weren’t expecting this hike at all. It was more moderate with some steep elevation gain, lots of stairs, and even some rock climbing. But my gosh was it worth it. It just kept getting prettier and we were in awe the entire hike!
If you find yourself in New Zealand, definitely add Karekare to your list of places to visit! I hope this inspires you to go someplace new. Have a beautiful day!