I had yesterday off work, so I decided to take advantage of the sun and head out to Karekare. I think I prefer Karekare to close-by Piha, the beach is not as good for swimming but the landscape is certainly more interesting.
With 
only a couple of hours to spare, I decided to check out a short track that promised to take me to a lookout and back in 40 minutes. It is not a well maintained track but 20 minutes of picking my way uphill through the bush found me standing at the top of cliffs overlooking the Karekare waterfall. The view was certainly worth the steep climb.
I still had some time left, so I went for a walk along the spectacular beach. Large cliffs drop straight down onto a wide black-sand expanse. Just around the bay to the south is what seems to be an endless series of low dunes stretching as far as the eye could see. Unfortunately lack of time and proper footwear (that black sand gets HOT!) prevented me from exploring further.
One day I will mount a proper expedition around the cliffs, there is supposed to be a good track that heads south around the bays.