- Days 55-57
- This section: 93 km
- Total: 1702 km
The final section of the North Island begins the way the first one began: along the beach. Looking at the pictures, you can barely tell the difference: we have been wearing the same clothes for two months; I am still pale, Jan considerably more tanned (with pretty white feet).
And yet so much has happened in these two months that the remaining ten months of the year seem completely meaningless to us.
At the end of the day we experienced, for the last time on New Zealand’s North Island, the thing that will stay with us more than anything else: the hospitality of the Kiwis.
We were strolling along the Queen Elizabeth Walkway towards Paekakariki when a woman spoke to us:
“Hey, where are you sleeping tonight?”
“At the holiday park a few kilometres on.”
“If you like, come along with us. We live in that house back there in the hills.”
We have learned not to turn down a well-meant offer.
A hot shower, a washing machine, our own room with a big bed, dinner, breakfast and a lift to the trailhead the next morning – the Kiwis know exactly what makes us happy…
Along the Escarpment Track, the Colonial Knob Walkway and the Skyline Track we made our way to Mount Kaukau, from where we had a fantastic view of our North Island destination: Wellington.
Close enough to touch – yet the actual end point of the trail on the North Island was still 30 km away from there!
We saved the last 10 kilometres, pack-free, for a New Year’s Day walk. Because even though we would rather have been somewhere in the middle of nowhere for New Year’s Eve, our feet drove us to Wellington faster than planned, so as not to put off their well-earned rest any longer.
In two days our ferry crosses to the South Island. We are incredibly excited about the second half of the Te Araroa. We have lost count of how many times we have been told how much lovelier the South Island is.
Pure nature does not only mean fewer road stretches, though, it also means fewer places to shop. We are sending three parcels packed with food to three places to stay along the way. 18 days of food in total. We spent so much in the supermarket that we even got a coffee coupon?
A few statistics for the North Island:
