Te Araroa (day 15) - Stillwater to Auckland / mile 367 [skip to Hamilton]

Another day another river crossing. For this one, being precise was important as the water during high tide could reach over two metres. I left the campground at five with the head torch on, listening to the bird noises hoping they were kiwis. I still need to check on YouTube how they sound like, they are rare, nocturnal and notoriously hard to spot, most of the New Zealanders probably never seen a wild kiwi bird in their life.

I got to the crossing by 6am during low tide, it was pretty easy going but I hit a muddy section towards the end and started to sink above my hips level, I had to swiftly retreat and find more suitable section to cross. Ten minutes later I helped Lukas who started later to cross as well. We exchanged the phone numbers and he added me to the TA WhatsApp group which might come in handy in the future.

From here on, it was easy going, path was leading through beaches and urban areas with plenty of shops, public toilets and water fountains, the only downside was the rain. I met two more hikers along the way and I kept on going with them for a while. One was from New Zealand, her family was living in Auckland so she was going home for few days taking along her American friend. I met them again later on during the ferry crossing to central Auckland.

I had a coffee and resupplied in Countdown, got myself quarter of chicken with a baguette. I sat down behind the supermarket on the parking lot like a true hiker trash and started eating. I got joined by two seagulls, smaller one ate some meat and skin of the chicken, I threw the carcass to the bigger one and it ate it ALL! I never knew seagulls could eat and digest chicken bones, well.. no wastage!

Few more hours of walking and I reached the ferry crossing to Auckland, got to the other side only a mile away from the bus station. I made a decision a while ago to skip about 100 miles of the trail between two major cities Auckland and Hamilton, to give myself enough time in the South Island. This section was an ideal skip as it was mainly road walking and urban areas which I was not particularly interested in. I could possibly push myself to hike entire TA in three months but luckily this trail had its own set of rules and walking every single mile was not necessary.

I had just enough time in Auckland to get some Maccas and write and send few postcards, bus left the station at 5:45pm, scheduled to arrive in Hamilton two hours later, I've booked there a backpackers hostel for the might. Initially plan was to contact few trail angels but they only operated on Facebook which I refused to use. In words of Omar Little: "A man's need to have a code!"

 

I arrived on time and found the hostel. I had a whole room to myself with fresh linen, towel and TV in the room! Not bad for a 40$. I took a shower, cooked and ate sausages and beans from a can with the rest of the baguette and watched some "Wonders of the World I Can't See" and "Family Guy" on TV. I took a shower and hand washed my swampy smelling clothes, then it was lights off for the day.

Monday, 4th of December 2013, roll on the second part of North Island!