Te Araroa Trail – Day 30

Tuesday, November 28, 2023
Distance/ Total: 29.3 km / 18.2 mi

I was up early and at the coffee shop when they opened at 7:00. I’ve had hot coffee for 5 days in a row now and I think I’m getting spoiled to it.

I was on the trail by 7:30 heading towards the Auckland Airport. The trail turns before reaching the airport and runs along beside it on a busy highway. To make things worse the road was under construction and there was no sidewalk in places. Fortunately about 2 km into my hike there was a nice wide bike/ walking path that led into Manukau City.

The trail turned off the highway and headed back toward a park and the start of the Puhinui Stream Walk. At first it was through farm fields but soon joined a nice gravel path through the woods beside an industrial area. The trail bounced between roadwalks and paths through park’s several times including a section through Auckland Botanical Gatdens.

The trail eventually worked its way back to the roads and concluded with a 14 km road walk at the end of the day. I passed an Irish Pub and had to stop in for a beer and something to eat. Both were good and I visited with some locals while I was there.

Moving on, I arrived at the BnB about 4:00 and was showed to my room, took a shower and spent the afternoon updating blogs and checking emails.