Day 20: From Northland Into Auckland

October 30, 2019

Kilometers: 436.3-463.1

Coastal Cow Hostel at Mangawhai Heads to Pakiri Beach Holiday Park 

The discomfort I’ve been having in my lower left shin/ankle has progressively gotten worse the last few days. Last night before bed there was very noticeable swelling. The tight and swollen muscles made sleeping very uncomfortable. When I woke this morning it was still swollen and tight and I knew it was gonna be an unpleasant 27km walk. 

I took off a bit before the rest of the group this morning in anticipation of a slow pace. The ibuprofen I took only somewhat helped the pain as I limped down the road that led us through town. The road eventually left town and turned into gravel. After about two hours of walking we crossed from the Northland region into the Auckland region. I was super disappointed that there was no “Welcome to Auckland” sign that we are accustomed to in America when entering a new state. The gravel road led us through a huge pine forest to the ocean. 

Once we got to the beach we took a break, preparing for the last 15km of the day which would all be on the beach. At the beach we could see the Whangarei Heads we had climbed just a few days before. 

The beach walk was quickly interrupted by a river crossing. Not wanting to get our feet wet we all stopped and waded across with our shoes in our hands. About one km further down we had to climb up off the beach to get around the rocky shoreline. The views it provided were definitely the highlight in an otherwise painful day. 

After the short climb up and down we had lunch. I once again took off early from lunch in anticipation of being caught and passed by the group. The ibuprofen had started wearing off and the 45min-hour it took for the new dose to kick in was miserable. I was barely moving, constantly stopping to stretch, and limping pretty severely. Eventually I was able to pick up my pace and finish the beach section about 45 minutes after the others. 

Ethan and I purchased a bed at the holiday park, giving me the best chance to heal up faster. We went to the camp store to buy ice for my swelling and took hot showers while closely following the Nats game. 

After some snacking and icing we went to the communal kitchen area to make dinner. There are about 15 other TA hikers at the holiday park tonight so the kitchen was quite crowded. Ethan and I had fried rice with teriyaki sauce and crunchy noodles on top. Not totally satisfied or full we also made ramen afterwards. Two dinners is starting to become an every night thing. 

Hopefully the swelling in my ankle subsides a bit by tomorrow morning. It doesn’t hurt when i’m climbing upwards, only when i’m walking downhill or on flat surfaces. Luckily tomorrow has a lot of climbing, which is not something you’d usually hear many be happy about. Really want to make it to Auckland before taking a zero or two. 

-Alex