The Black Sand Coast

Back in Wellington we headed north to Auckland on the last stint of our grand NZ road trip.  The route we chose brought us through the only region of NZ we hadn't yet seen.  The rugged West coast of the North Island is dominated by the influence of Mt Taranaki and the ruff 'n' tumble Tasman Sea.  The combination of ash fields and volcanic rock from the mountain and high surf and rain from the sea ensure very fertile soils and tons of black sand beaches and high sea cliffs.  In fact, the black sand that now resides on the beaches west of the Waitakeres up the coast near Auckland came from Mt Taranaki some (?) km to the south!  On a clear day the hazy specter of Mt Taranaki floats over the horizon, visible from almost anywhere along the entire West coast. 

The first noteworthy stop we made on the coast was at the base of Mt Taranaki itself.  Egmont National Park encompasses the mountain and a dense ring of bushland flowing down from the alpine area until it yields to private farmlands.  It's quite an unusual site from the upper areas of the mountain, as you can clearly see the well defined circumference of the tree line.  The bush on and around Mt Taranaki is quite unique in terms of NZ bush as well, with the forest generally being much shorter and more gnarled looking - very LOTR-ish.  With the ever present clouds shielding the top of the mountain I embarked on my trek to sample some of the best areas of the National Park.  

The hike started with a walk through the before mentioned Goblin Forest before coming to a small stream featuring some small waterfalls and pools (no doubt made less impressive by the lateness of the season).  Continuing on to the halfway point at Egmont Plateau, the trail became much less manicured.  Much of the time I couldn't see through the brush to my feet and on a few occasions I may as well have been bushwhacking.  This coupled with the muddy and uneven surface of the trail made for some fun times.  Eventually I did emerge onto the plateau, but still the clouds obscured the grand view of the peak.  No matter, the view over the vast landscape of the North Isle lie at my feet, stretching endlessly to the south and to the coast on the west.  To complete the loop I began to descend via the "Enchanting Trail".  There was nothing enchanting about this endless decent down steep and uneven wooden stairs and more overgrown underbrush.  The last section of the hike was over undulating steep ridges through some amazing ancient-looking forest before crossing a very high and ultra-swingy one person bridge over a deep river gorge.  Creepy stuff.  Overall a very diverse and unique hike.  I'm glad I did it, though I'm not sure I'd do it again.

Looking West from the plateau - that little building in the lower right is where I started from

Scariest swing bridge in NZ

During our drive up the coast we visited many black sand beaches, most of them only accessible a few hours either side of low tide before the ocean swallows them up, erases footprints and bashes against the tall sandstone cliffs.  Easily the most impressive of them all was Tongaportu.  Relatively unknown by mainstream tourists this beach might just be one of the most impressive in all of NZ.  If you were to measure its merits using the traditional vacation beach standards it would fall hopelessly short, but I've never seen such a feast of rugged beachy beauty so concentrated in one spot.  At low tide you follow the rocky sides of the river passed numerous moist ocean caves penetrating deep into the cliffs before emerging onto a massive sparkling black sand beach decorated with a plethora of yellow-orange arches.  If you're lucky (and we were), in the background to the south is the giant face of Mt Taranaki.  The guidebook we were using described this beach as plopping Arches National Park onto a beach with Mt Fuji in the background.  It seems like an apt description to me.  Some further exploration to the north of the river (which was nerve-racking to cross due to the double threat of soft sands and fast moving water) revealed some spherical boulders half buried in the sand and tidal waters.  How this spot has escaped the masses of tourism is unbeknownst to me.