Ahh, Piha

A view of Piha Beach, one of NZ's most famous, with Lion Rock keeping watch

If you leave our house in Henderson and head for Piha, you'll find that it will take you nearly an hour to get there. The main reason for this is that the road builders here did not, and I'm sure to this day, do not, believe in blasting away sides of beautiful hills, just to make a roadway straight and allow traffic to speed up. The road to anywhere, New Zealand, will be found to twist and turn. It will be nicely paved and maintained, be banked and have good signage regarding directions and speed limits. But drivers here cannot take their eyes off the road at all, PERIOD. I know, because I have driven enough of them now to know that the next curve is likely to appear even as you straighten out from the last one.  

When you do arrive in the town of Piha, population 600, you find that a unique feeling is in the air. I think it comes about because of the hundreds of surfers and beach goers that show up each day in the summer. It's a carnival-like atmosphere. Little places, like the Piha Store, itself an institution in the town, do a huge business in milkshakes, chips, curries, and sunblock. It's been there doing the same thing since 1945.

Piha also boasts the location for the NZ tv show, Piha Rescue. I mentioned this show once before in an email. Very young and very good-looking men and women bounce around the beach each episode in very brief swimwear, saving the lives of generally less young and good-looking swimmers. As you might imagine, the show is a hit.     

Piha Beach is divided into North Piha and South Piha, and Lion Rock sits between them, patiently keeping watch on the Tasman Sea, but studiously ignoring the activities of the puny humans that swarm on either side and sometimes, even up his colossal back.  

Yes, it is a popular pastime, when one is tired of surfing, swimming or soaking up the rays, to climb along a trail that leads up to the lion's "shoulder" area. Believe it or not, some people have even climbed beyond. 

  

You can tell the scale of the Lion from the size of the people up there.

Unfortunately there is an occasional tragedy on the lion. 

In the first one I read about, a group of 4 guys decided to camp over night on the very top of the lion. At some point during the night, one of them got up to respond to a 'call of nature,' stepped over the edge and disappeared.

And, just over a year ago, a young woman, who had reportedly been partying on the beach, decided to climb the lion after dark wearing a short skirt and knee high leather boots with spike heals. I guess you'd have to give her credit for making it as high as she did, but those boots, questionable wear even for a beach, were definitely not made for climbing the lion, and she fell to her death.

You know, I've got to wonder. 

In the U.S., if people were falling off a natural monument like the Lion, I think that some politician, whose popularity might be slipping or whose campaign fund might be in need of another kickback, would come up with a bill that would either ban hazardous natural monument climbing altogether, in the interests of safety or national security, or would generate Federal funds to build a stairway to the top with appropriate guard rails and benches to rest on along the way. (Of course an elevator would be required as well, to meet the ADA of 1990)

In New Zealand, people recognize that their country's natural resources are there to be used and enjoyed, but that the very wildness that makes it beautiful and exciting can also make it deadly. Every one of us makes decisions by our actions, every day and when a few people make foolish decisions, sometimes they pay the price. It's as simple as that.  

Since we're been here, Kiwis have been drowned in rivers, swept away from beaches, lost from boats, eaten by sharks, fallen down blow-holes, frozen on mountain tops, and yes, even fallen off a Lion. The Kiwi attitude is to grieve fully for the loss of life, but then to go on with life too and realize that 'things happen.'  The Kiwis don't seem ready yet to start trying to legislate safety. To 'dumb down' all of society because of the actions of a few. I hope they don't.  

I'm probably being too hard on the politician mentioned above. We all know how unselfish and devoted to the public our elected representatives are. It's hard of course to understand how our country can be in the state it is with so many selfless and devoted men and women working for it's betterment, but then I guess, stuff happens.  

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Disclaimer: In writing what I have above, I do not mean to disparage any politician,living or dead, or his political party or political fund-raising machine or his bodyguards.  Or the CIA, or the Social Security Administration, or the State Department or the TSA, or Homeland Security or Customs. Or the other political party or in fact, any of the organizations listed on The A-Z Index of U.S. Government Departments and Agencies. Or their dependents.  
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I don't know who the artist in flax was who produced this simple but beautiful little display we found on the beach, or what it's purpose was. I'm guessing that it was meant as a tribute of some kind. I'm glad to be able to use this picture in the way the display was intended.                                               -djf