Wednesday 01.02.2023

• Te Araroa kilometres done: 1702.3km
• Official kms: 31km
• Garmin kms: 32.14km
• Total time: 9:47
• Calories burned: 3929
• Body battery: 8/10
• Accommodation: Mikes house in Wellington.
• Tent nights tally: 14
• Zero days had so far: 12

https://givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/walking-te-araroa-3000km-for-the-key-to-life

Track me live here:

https://aus-share.explore.garmin.com/curtiss

It was an early ish start again today, my plan was to leave at around 7/7:30 but it was closer to 8am.

The day started with stairs & lots of them! I had a 400+ metre climb to do to start the day. It was hard work but also very rewarding!

Today involves 2 big climbs of 400 metres each & then a couple of smaller climbs before descending into Wellington. Once I had managed to get up all the stairs & gain the bush line the views here were spectacular!

Today was a big day but I think probably one of the best on the trail so far, the tracks were amazing the views were spectacular & it had just enough elevation to keep the heart pumping nicely.

There was a good mix of trail today, from well maintained track to sealed road, the whole spectrum! After descending Colonial knob the track zig zagged through a pine forest before coming out onto a road. There was 6km of road before the second big climb which was mainly 4wd track.

The second summit was a real treat with views on one side concentrated on the South Island & on the other central Wellington. Absolutely amazing! I must of sat there having lunch for close to an hour just admiring the views.

From here it was only about 12km to go so I set off down the skyline track until I reached the road at the bottom which lead me to Ngaio. There was a small amount of road walking before heading into the Trelissick park track following a stream down.

After following this & crossing the final bridge it was basically a 200 metre climb up & probably on the steepest bit of road I have been on yet! Weld street seems like they welded it from the top & just rolled it down the hill! Anyway, at the top of this the track diverted onto a nice trail just as it started to rain, so I put my pack cover on & raincoat on & continued on this well formed track.

It wasn’t long before this track led me back down to civilisation & then up & through the Botanical gardens, second time I’ve been here but still an amazing place & I am so glad the trail went through it.

The last part of the Botanical gardens takes you through the Bolton street cemetery before crossing over a bridge above SH1 & then right passed the Beehive.

I finished off wet & hungry so stopped at the McDonald’s on Lambton Quay & that was my end point for the day.

I’m spending the next 3 nights at Mikes, so awesome of him to put me up. Also tomorrow I’m finishing the North island off doing the last 13km or so then catching up with an old mate for lunch. Looking forward to have the North island complete & also thankful for such an amazing track & day today, it’s got to be one of my highlights so far.