Te Araroa Pt. 10

Day 31

Day 31, 18 Dec 17

Walked around and went to Albert Park, then Auckland [unintelligible], then Auckland Domain. Inside the Domain was the Winter Garden, which was a few greenhouses with lots of exotic flowers. Also there was the War Museum. Spent a lot of time there.

Inside this museum was plenty of things, a New Zealand Geographic Photography exhibition which I enjoyed a lot because the pictures had meaning and took skill and effort to create unlike much of the "modern art" of today. There was also a Maori art exhibition, an exhibit on the flora and fauna unique to New Zealand, and of course, a whole floor dedicated to war. There were walls filled with the names of the fallen. That really hit me hard. As you walked down the hall you could see name after name carved onto the cold stone. Just when you thought that must be the last name, you turn and see another long hallway full of names. The human propensity to cause suffering unto others is infinite. At the very end were some walls with no names apart from the simple line "may these panels never be filled".

After this I went to Mt Eden. Great views of the city from there. To be honest it looked more like a large town, because all the buildings were pretty short. Guess the population density is not a problem yet for high rise buildings to exist. Anyway that ended my day. Legs are still hurting.

Day 32

Day 32, 19 Dec 17

Today I visited the Sea Life underwater world. Saw some cute little penguins. Also bought one to send back home (a soft toy, not a real one).

This really tingled me. It made me feel so small in such a huge world. The South Pole!
The deep sea!
Corals, underwater caves, shipwrecks!
So many unexplored corners of the world. One can visit every corner on earth and be the ultimate tourist, yet there will still be a million more things to see, above the earth, under the earth, on the sea, below the sea! Can one experience it all? Currently I'm in my own adventure here. But one day I would love to be able to go and see the Arctic, or dive under the sea and experience what I saw today in person and not from behind a sheet of glass.

Day 33

Day 33, 20 Dec 17

I feel like I'm spending too much time (and money) here at Auckland. But my knees and feet still hurt. I think all those gym sessions were pretty useful as my calves and thighs have not ached so far. It has always been my knees and my hips.

Spent some money to go to the much recommended Waiheke island. Honestly it was quite a disappointment. It was either visit vineyards which I was completely not interested in, or partake in some other expensive tourist robbing activity which I was not interested in either. I wanted to visit the WWII tunnels they had there but it was too far. They had some tramping tracks, but I was not properly equipped and I will have my fair share of them in the future anyway. So I took the bus around, visited a small museum, sat on the beach and had a small picnic.

I'm upsizing my meals now so I can recover and move on. Tomorrow shall be my last night here.

Day 34

Day 34, 21 Dec 17

Visited the zoo today. It was quite boring at first but it got more interesting. It was not big and spectacular but quite personal and close-up. I learned a bit more about the flora and fauna here. However I also noticed how quickly I got tired. My knees still hurt while climbing stairs. I wonder how I will fair when I hit the trail again tomorrow. Anyway tomorrow will be a short day and I have extra food. I can rest at the campsite an extra day if I need to. I'll be fine.

Day 35

Day 35, 22 Dec 17

Walked through the city to Amsbury Park. And there's still more to go. Today I felt really weak. Towards the end I was ready to collapse. What I want to do now is to lie down and sleep till noon. The pain and the aching! I'm not sure how I will push forward in the next few days. I'm definitely not at peak performance despite resting for such a long period. I wonder how much longer I must rest for? Right now I want to do this as much as how much I don't want to do this. I've decided to simply rest for another day and see how it goes.

Day 36

Day 36, 23 Dec 17

Basically did nothing the whole day. Lay down and listened to some podcast about the history of Rome.

Still not fully healed. I have about 28km tomorrow. I'm going to try and camp in the Botanic Gardens, I hope nobody will come poke around. Please just let a weary traveller be, I'll be of no trouble to anybody. Please heal my up by tomorrow, whatever deity be watching over this land.

Day 37

Day 37, 24 Dec 17

Originally I thought I would stay another day to rest. Once I started I would have to commit all the way till I reach Hamilton. I did not feel fit to make such a commitment. However after breakfast I questioned myself if this was what I wanted, to lie in a tent and waste another day away? Is not pain and aching part of this entire experience? Have I not felt it and endured it before? I have walked more than 600km to get here, what is another 100? 200? Taking one step more is not that hard. Do it ten times, still manageable. Then why not do it ten times more? And ten times of that. And more, till you reach the end? So I hurriedly packed and left.

A fairly uneventful, but cheerful day. I felt much happier than other days, even though I was in pain all the way. The terrain was pretty easy, and now I have music with me!

Walked past the airport. Funny how I'm back where I started. I almost felt as though it was my last stop for some reason.

Now I'm at the Botanic Gardens. I think I'm just going to sleep on the grass tonight. Get up early tomorrow and vanish. All I'm afraid of is the horde of flying insects I'm hearing.

Please, just let a weary traveller have a peaceful night's rest.