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Discover one of New Zealand's famous black sand beaches on the west coast. Muriwai is an impressive coastline with cliff-top trails to a huge gannet colony, with easy access and viewing platforms that let you get up close. A windswept rugged coastline stretching 60 kilometres, and interrupted only by streams and rivers, makes Muriwai one of New Zealand's most spectacular black-sand surf beaches.

Muriwai's gannet colony is a one hour drive from the centre of Auckland. About 1,200 pairs of gannets nest here from August to March each year. The nests are just centimetres apart. It's an air traffic controller's nightmare, but somehow the birds have it under control. Those coming in to land must glide over the squawking raised beaks of their neighbours - so getting it wrong can be painful. These two-and-a-half kilogram birds have a wingspan of two metres, and their mastery of the onshore updrafts is impressive to say the least. Once airborne, the young gannets leave the colony and cross the Tasman Sea to Australia. A few years later, surviving birds return to secure a nest site at the colony. The views from the colony are very impressive. Muriwai Beach extends 60 kilometres to the north - a line of black sand between the thundering surf and the sand hills. Far below, enthusiastic surfers look like seals on the large ocean swells.