Piha is forty minutes west of central Auckland on a road that takes longer than the distance suggests. You drive through the Waitākere Ranges - the forested hills that separate the city from its iconic west coast beaches - and somewhere in the middle of that bush, the air changes. By the time the Tasman opens up in front of you, you've left the city behind in a way the distance shouldn't really allow.

This is the case for Piha. What it is, what it isn't, why it stays with you. And why, after six years of living here, it still surprises us most days.