• Te Araroa Day 33
• Takapuna to Onehunga – 32.8 km in 8 hours
• TA ice cream count: 7
• Modes of transport: car, ferry, train, bus and on foot!
• Step count for the day: 44,290

The forecast was really bad for today – rain all day and thunderstorms in the afternoon. It had certainly rained overnight, but rain radar looked ok for a couple of hours. Ailie was also heading out to Devonport anyway, so I thought it was definitely worth a go – even if I only got to the city centre.

I hadn’t packed my sunglasses, so naturally the sun came out. I had positively skipped out the door though, happily carrying my little daypack rather than the 15kg giant pack. It wasn’t as windy as yesterday, and the walk from Takapuna to Devonport was pleasant with good views of Rangitoto. We came to Auckland as a family a few times when I was little, and Devonport was a regular stop. Mum reminded me that Grandma lived here briefly too.

I tested out my new Auckland Transport card, and hopped on the ferry for the short ride over to the city. I was so focused on heading for a Japanese restaurant for lunch that I didn’t realise the trail didn’t actually go up Queen Street. Not to worry, I sure was! It was an odd feeling wandering up it in my shorts and t-shirt, with a day pack. Quite the contrast to the work trips I did from 2012 until last year when I’d been dressed in business attire and heels, cramming in agent meetings up and down Queen Street. Kushi delivered an excellent lunch with agedashi tofu, pumpkin croquettes, yuzu dressed salad, mini sushi, miso soup, rice, all for $14.95. I was just missing the conversation and laughs with workmates…

I picked up a replacement lens cap for my camera (left on fence post back in Whananaki) and then popped into Bivouac Outdoors. After much review reading, I’ve decided to rebel against the typical TA back up footwear choice of sandals/crocs/jandals, and go camp slippers!

I had also recently got little holes in the icebreaker tramping socks I’d had since 2016, so asked about their new lifetime guarantee thingy. It was awesome! No questions asked I got to choose any new replacement pair, and hand over my old ones. The lovely staff even gave me a discount on my other purchases after I told them I was in the middle of Te Araroa.

With my shopping finished I could diligently return to the actual trail. There was a lot of phone map checking, but slowly I started to see a few signs for the ‘coast to coast walkway’ which doubles as Te Araroa for this part so it was a bit easier to follow. I went past some of the famous schools, the Auckland War Memorial Museum, then towards Mt Eden. My friend Taka who lives nearby came to walk with me for a bit, and bought me a home made onigiri! It was nice to have company and debrief about the journey so far.

One Tree Hill / Maungakiekie was next on the tour, and I was now about 25 kilometers into my day as the rain just hadn’t eventuated. There was a fantastic view from the top, but I was a little confused as to why there isn’t any signage about the tree which was the most prominent memory I had of the place. However, I did learn from a sign at the bottom that Tāmaki Makaurau translates to ‘the spouse desired by a hundred lovers’. I didn’t know people had always wanted to live in Auckland!

Onehunga was just a little bit further but my legs were feeling the kilometres. A goldrush ice cream helped but I chuckled at the American diner type place’s price of $4.90 for a Tip Top single scoop.

I hit the waterfront and decided that was enough for a mallowpuff, time to get the train. It was a pleasant trip back to Britomart, and reasonably easy to find the right bus for the last leg back to St Heliers. I’m not sure why I was worried about it, but Auckland Transport seems excellent.

In summary, it was an unexpectedly great day! I had envisaged trudging around in rain, and only getting about 12km so to tick off 32 kilometers and take the pressure off for tomorrow was a big relief. More rain is supposed to be coming but rather than riding my luck further I’m planning to rest and eat! And catch up on my blog writing 😅