This was the last vlog we made shortly before Auckland went into lockdown again. The Waitakere Ranges is a regional park out in West Auckland that includes more than 16,000 hectares of native rainforests and beautiful coastline as well as stunning secluded treasures like Karekare waterfall and Karekare beach.
Our first stop of the day though was to fuel up at Jemima's Kitchen with some scrumptious toasties. Jemima's throwback (Peter's toastie) is a finalist in The Great New Zealand Toastie Takeover competition and we hope Jemima takes out the winner's top spot :) FYI, Jemima's Kitchen is the last food stop before Piha if you're headed out to West Auckland.
Jemima's Kitchen
Address: 470 West Coast Road, Glen Eden, Auckland 0602
Hours: Sunday - Monday: CLOSED
Tuesday - Friday: 09:30 - 17:00
Saturday 09:30 - 15:00
==UPDATE 2021== unfortunately Jemima has had to close up her kitchen since but check out her Facebook for any new updates.
Next we made a short stop off at Arataki Visitor Centre which is a really cool spot to get some sweet views of the Waitakere Ranges, learn about NZ's wilderness, plants and creatures, pick up some souvenirs and also see some interesting displays. The Arataki Vistor Centre is basically your gateaway to the Waitakere Ranges Regional Park with friendly staff there to help recommend great walks and sights to check out in the area.
Arataki Visitor Centre
Address: 300 Scenic Drive, Oratia, Waitakere 0604
Hours: The Arataki Visitor Centre is open 9am to 5pm every day except Christmas day.
Thanks to Joss who works at the Arataki Visitor Centre and Kevin (one of our viewers that we happened to bump into there on the day!) we were recommended the Mercer Bay Loop walk. This was on our list of places we thought we would check out but it was great to have it confirmed as a must-see by them too. It was a wonderful walk where we could see the spectacular West Auckland coastline with the likes of Piha beach too.
Mercer Bay Loop Walk
Address: Log Race Road, Auckland 0772
After our hike through Mercer Bay, we took a short drive over to Karekare. From the carpark it's a short walk to both Karekare waterfall and Karekare beach. The two are in opposite directions and secluded away. Well worth checking out when you're out in West Auckland for more scenic sights. Karekare beach is a gorgeous black sand beach (close to popular Piha beach) and it was lovely going in winter since the sand was soft and warm to cool (not hot like it would be in summer due the high iron content from its volcanic origin).
Karekare Falls
Address: Huia, Auckland 0772
Karekare Beach
Address: 2 Karekare Road, Auckland 0772
With both Karekare falls and Karekare beach being in close proximity to each other, it's worth checking the two out while you're there. Be sure to stay for the sunset! It's amazing from the top of the sand dunes.
#westauckland #waitakere #waitakereranges #newzealand #nz
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VLOG DATE: 05 Aug 2020
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