Day 27: On The Road Again

November 6th, 2019

Kilometers: 580.6-620.1

Silver Fern Backpackers to Puhinui Creek Track

Charlie was the first one awake as per usual this morning at around 6:30. The noise he made woke me up momentarily but I figured I had until 7 and I was going to enjoy every moment of it.

Alex and I had gotten most of our stuff together last night so we were pretty quick out this morning. We returned the key and set off for breakfast.

We went to the McDonalds in the heart of the Central Business District and told the others to meet us there when ready. I got hotcakes and some orange juice for breakfast and Alex got a muffin and a ham and cheese from the gourmet McCafe, which we do not have back in the states. Peter and Charlie were the first to arrive and naturally, they each ordered two cheeseburgers for breakfast.

While we were eating, Phillip arrived and informed us he wouldn’t be hiking today. His feet and ankles were still quite swollen and knowing today was going to be long, he felt it best to take another day off.

Of the original group starting on Day 2, we are down to just four of us.

Following breakfast, we headed up to a park, which once we crossed, put us on the campus of the University of Auckland. We walked straight through campus and made our way to Mt. Eden, with the famous view point of Auckland.

Mt. Eden would be our only real elevation change for the entire day.

We descended down back into a neighborhood, where we would spend most of our day walking. Unfortunately, this meant there was not a lot of scenery worth photographing.

At 19 kilometers into our day, we joined the Mangere Foreshore Track. After following that for less than half a kilometer, we hit the 600 kilometer mark for the trip and decided to celebrate with lunch. The temperature was 77 degrees and there was no shade so we ate quickly while sweating and continued on.

The track went through farmland with tons of sheep. We found a ton of them laying in the shade of one of the few trees along the coast.

Peter decided to try and get a hitch as he is dealing with a toe injury. Alex, Charlie, and I continued along the road we believed was correct. After 1.5km, we realized the road we were actually supposed to be on was running parallel to us but a river divided us. We had to walk all the way back to where we separated with Peter and walk the remaining five kilometers to our resupply.

With our lunch being small today, we all got something more to eat at the Countdown. For whatever reason, with seven kilometers left in the day, Charlie decided a big bowl of potato salad was a good option. Alex’s Snapchat best described how we felt about his decision.

Charlie trying to hide the fact that he’s eating potato salad from the camera

We only resupplied for three days as the walk between here and Hamilton will be littered with towns with grocery stores and places to eat. There is no reason to carry the extra weight if we don’t need to.

The Countdown is right next to Auckland’s airport so we were able to watch planes take off and land as we walked by.

After a few more kilometers, we found ourselves at the Puhinui Creek Track. There are a ton of great places to free camp along the track, which sits nestled in between a farm run by TA Supporters and a business park. The only downside is that the runway from the airport is just three kilometers away and facing us. The planes flying overhead mixed with the business park has led to a noisy evening.

For dinner, Alex and I picked up chicken, a pepper, and some taco seasoning to go with our rice. We both agreed it was easily the best meal we have made while camping.

Today ended up being a long day at 39.5km. With there being limited camping options in Auckland, we have to hike until we can get to a good spot.

Tomorrow, we are planning on matching our distance from today and staying with a trail angel. Another ~40km day will take us out of the region of Auckland and into Waikato/King Country, our third region.

-Ethan