Start – Whangarei
Finish – Whangarei
Daily Distance – 0km
TA Distance – 399km
Two very relaxing days of sloth and gluttony. The weather has made a slight mockery of my plans by
steadfastly refusing to rain, but I may yet come to be glad of the extra day off as the next leg is an 8-9
day, 200km push through to Auckland. Physically, I think the rest has helped as my leg no longer hurts
beyond a little tenderness, which is a considerable relief. For this forthcoming leg, I have decided to try
stretching at breaks and the end of the day. I’ve noticed that while I am growing physically stronger, my
body is feeling really tight at the moment, which may well account for why I’m finding anything beyond
flat walking unusually tiring. It may help, it may not, but it could well lead to an amusing series of photos
featuring me in various yoga poses, so it will at least be fun.
As an aside from walking, I highly recommend Abbey Caves on the outskirts of Whangarei. It’s a fun
scramble down rocks into the caves and once into the pitch black away from the entrance it’s amazing to
turn off the headtorch, look up and a beautiful, night sky tapestry formed by scores of glowworms.
There’s not much else to say about the last few days. I’m feeling customarily excited to hit the trail again.
I don’t know why, but reaching Auckland has become something of a milestone in my mind and one that
I’m impatient to see again.
