Return to the familiar

9 May
Pokeno to Pukekohe
KM 652
Distance: 27.2km
Elevation: ascent 708m; descent 690m
Steps: 39,000
Time: 8:20am - 3:20pm

Today marked the end of our 21 day journey through the Waikato region, as we entered the familiar surroundings of Auckland.

Starting from the base of a scenic reserve we ascended to the 332m summit of Mt William through protected native forest. Forest which felt immdiately familiar from our decade spent living in Auckland. A mixture of nikau, puriri, hard beech, and king fern was given a sub-tropical feel by the high ambient humidity of impending rain. Once clear of the forest we walked up paddocks occupied by sheep largely blasé to our presence. The view from the top was for many kilometers in all directions.
Continuing on the stile education theme from yesterday we came across one of the more fancy designs; complete with wide steps, a sturdy central pole and insulation around the electric wire. Seldom did we see all these features in combination before now.
Once clear of the reserve we were finally inside the Auckland boundary and onto roads for the remainder of the day. Initially country roads and then into the new residential and industrial developments of Drury. 

At 1pm we finally found a cafe to get our coffee fix before settling down in a community park for our lunch. 

We finally made it to trail angel extraordinaire and Eliza's former work colleague Zoe in Papakura. Zoe has walked part of Te Araroa and gave us some incredibly helpful advice before we started. We called it a day here and spent the afternooon sharing trail stories and petting her cats.

Tonight we are staying with friends Mary and Richard who have a sauna! We've used it, it was amazing, we may use it again tomorrow. They overfed us with pasta, cheese, fruit and crackers, and now we're nearly passed out in bed. 

Tomorrow is a rest day, but more importantly a washing and planning day. Tomorrow we plan how we're going to approach the final few weeks in Auckland, Northland and the Far North regions to get as far as we can before our deadline.  

Comments

  1. AnonymousMay 10, 2022 at 5:14 PM

    I vote you skip any sections you may have been on together in the past ten years, and skip any long road sections. But then, I do understand that I don't get to vote. It's amazing that you are already this close to Aukland. Bub

    ReplyDelete

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