• Te Araroa Day 35
• Botanic Gardens to Onehunga – 35.16 km in 8 hours
• Time spent in a public toilet: about an hour
• TA ice cream count: 9

There was in fact a heavy rain watch for Auckland that seemed to finish first at 11 am this morning but then got extended until 2 pm. Over breakfast, things seemed to be improving and on the rain radar it looked like most of it was missing Auckland. It was forecast to clear in the afternoon, so we headed off to the Auckland Botanic Gardens. Cyril kindly drove me there, and accompanied me as we searched for the trail. It started to drizzle but didn’t look like it would come to much.

These were famous last words… I spent the next two hours walking through progressively heavier rain, in one of the most depressing parts of the trail. The industrial part of Auckland near the airport – Wiri. A low point was where the footpath ended and I had to walk on the grass verge as big trucks roared by splashing up water. My jacket is really waterproof, but my phone was becoming increasingly damp and my shorts were dripping. At least it wasn’t really cold. There are no photos of this!

The odd trail connected to a short farm section with cattle on the far side luckily. I was very focussed on the public toilet which had come into view over the fence line. Firstly because I needed to go, but secondly because the rain was so heavy and persistent that sheltering in the toilet seemed a really good idea. I watched the White Ferns v Australia replay for an hour on my phone, as my shoes seemed to squelch more and more water all over the floor. Eventually the rain did stop though, and rain radar indicated that was it. I set off again, on what I was expecting to be roads to the airport.

I was stoked to find that in fact there’s a new shared pathway running the whole way! This excitement lasted about a minute, before I realised there were annoying little flies everywhere. As in, pretty much 3 kilometres of this:

I looked longingly at the airport and wished I could be on a flight anywhere, in dry clothes, rather than covered in little flies… I had a quick break but realised there was still an awful lot of walking to do and it was now 3pm. Then roadworks meant a very long detour around trying to cross the road from the airport shopping centre to get to Ihumatao Rd. This wasn’t really a quiet road, and the grass beside the road was long so my shoes got soggy again.

Eventually I turned into Orurangi Rd which is where the recent big protest was. There were still big signs saying the road was closed, but it all seemed eerily deserted. I had planned to politely explain what I was doing and ask if it was ok to walk through. Sadly I couldn’t find anyone to ask, so I decided to head through. Their signs and placards were all really polite and peaceful. After seeing it I am glad an agreement has been reached that hopefully is fair.

Right next was an area called Ōtuataua Stonefields which has been a reserve since 2001, because of the archaeological significance of both Maori and European settlement remnants. It is also waahi tāpu (a sacred place) and it is requested no food is consumed on site. So I was a bit surprised to walk through cow pats.. Why are cattle being grazed by the council on a reserve of archaeological significance?? The sign about ‘farms in parks’ says they are good lawn mowers… sure, but how about when they knock the stones around? Sorry, today’s anti-cattle rant is over.

Next was the part past the water treatment plant, and by now I was getting really over it and planning to take a more direct route to Onehunga than the official trail. It was 5pm, and my legs were really starting to hurt being about 25 kilometers into the day. Just then, up popped Greg & Jo coming the other way! They are staying in Auckland city, and were aiming for the airport before bussing back to the hotel. It was lovely to catch up on all the happenings since we last met, and talk about plans going forward. They’re going to be ahead of me as they try to squeeze in Mt Pirongia before their month of leave is up.

I gritted my teeth, did another detour that’s not on any Te Araroa maps around the waste water construction work, and made a beeline for Onehunga. The only positive was the evening light was beautiful:

I finally passed the train station where I left off the other day, and Ailie rescued me from a late return home via public transport, whisking me home in her car. My legs were really stiff but the yummy lasagne leftovers and ice cream with freshly baked cake really hit the spot.

Given how tired I was, I should have gone to sleep early. Instead, I spent far too long googling the section two days ahead, and fretting about the two road bridges on a short section of State Highway 2 that require running across when there’s a gap in the traffic. It was going to be Good Friday, and that seems the main route to the Coromandel. Would there be any gaps in the traffic? The other parts of that day’s track included grovelling in grass alongside State Highway 1, possible cattle, and really long grass with poorly maintained trails. I wished I could stay in my comfortable Auckland cocoon forever…