Te Araroa: Wellington

After having walked 1.720 kilometer, it was nice to have a few days of rest. We enjoyed having a normal bed and eating normal food again. On our first ‘rest day’ in Wellington, we went out to search for new shoes for Jasper. However, none of the stores had trailrunning shoes in his size. We considered ordering them online, but as packages will not be delivered for the next 4 four days, this didn’t made any sense. Jasper therefore decided to buy light hiking boots instead.

Snickers

In the afternoon, we made a start with our grocery shopping: we plan to send four food parcels with 36 days of food to the South Island. We therefore went to the nearest supermarket and to our surprise, they had everything that we needed. They even had enough Snickers! We literally bought all the Snickers they had: 72 in total! Besides the Snickers, we also bought 30 x 6 wraps, 12 chocolate bars and much, much more.

New year’s eve

After we went out for dinner at a local Korean restaurant, we spent the rest of the evening in our hotel room: planning the next sections of the Te Araroa. Around ten o’clock, we left our hotel room and walked to the waterfront, where we enjoyed live music. Together with thousands of locals, we watched the fireworks at twelve o’clock. As the music stopped after the fireworks, we went back to our hotel.

New year’s day

Almost everything is closed on new year’s day. Together with a crazy amount of people, we visited one of the few attractions that was open: the Te Papa Museum. We now know how canned sardines must feel, as the museum was extremely busy. We tried to see all exhibitions about the culture, nature and history of New Zealand. Really a recommendation to go to the Te Papa Museum, but don’t go on January 1st.

Continue walking

Because new year’s eve is celebrated so extensively (not), January 2nd is also a public holiday. We therefore decided to walk to the southern terminus of the Te Araroa on the North Island. We climbed Mount Victoria and headed south. After 13 kilometer, we ended at a stone near the beach, commemorating the opening of the Te Araroa back in 2011. We took the bus back to the center of Wellington, so much more easy than walking ;)