Te Araroa Trail – Day 27-28

Saturday & Sunday, November 25-26, 2023
Distance/ Total: 0 km / 0 mi

The HIT hostel is fairly small and has limited common areas. I woke up this morning and looked for a place to eat breakfast. Everything seems to open late, but I found a buffet breakfast at a nearby hotel. It was a little pricey, but I ate my fill of eggs, bacon, and hash browns.

I spent the day updating my social media post, doing laundry, and drying out my tent and gear that got put up wet yesterday.

I took a bus to pick up my Te Araroa hiker pack from a Pack & Send location then stopped by the post office to pick up my bounce box.

For dinner I went to a pizza shop down the street and was able to people watch for awhile as they made my pizza. New Zealand has an international flair and it was interesting to see the different cultures in one place.

Sunday as I headed out to breakfast I ran into Jonathan (hiking friend) on the street and we had breakfast together. After breakfast I took the long way back to the hostel just to see more of the city. There are lots of parks in Auckland and people seem to enjoy being outdoors.

Back at the hostel I got my next 30 day supply of medicine from my bounce box and re-addressed the box to my next stop – Hamilton. I should be there in about 7 days.

I spent the day putting together my “tourist plans” for my time off trail in Hamilton. I spent some more time just wandering around the city and stopped by my favorite (only) Mexican food restaurant before heading back to the hostel. I started packing up my backpack and got to bed around 10:00pm to get rested up for the next few days of hiking.