Bittersweet Auckland

The next section brought us into the northern suburbs and polished beach towns north of Auckland. I had mixed feelings about getting back to big city life. It is great to have so much food available but the traffic and busyness of the largest city in New Zealand was a damper on the thru hiking vibe for sure. I desperately needed a haircut and beard trim and I felt really out of place in the upscale neighborhoods caked in mud and smelling like a wet pig. The first few miles out of camp were flat and fast and Thorsten hiked along with me at a brisk pace so that we could make our crossing at low tide near Stillwater. It’s essential to get there as close to low tide as possible because the trail crosses an ocean inlet. One of the trail markers is actually high on a post in about three feet of water.

It seemed alright as we started to cross but the wind picked up and we sunk to about chest deep waters mid-way and had to finish the section with our packs on our heads. Oh, and don’t forget to shuffle your feet and make plenty of noise so you don’t surprise the stingrays resting on the bottom. I was already pretty exhausted after run/hiking for over five hours to get there before the tide came in. We made it across just fine but then ran out of gas and stumbled on the hill on the other side for a proper rest and lunch in a windswept pasture.

After lunch, we hiked through a beautiful pasture overlooking the bay with the city skyline in the distance. We hopped on a bus to the next suburb and then took an Uber into downtown where we treated ourselves to a nice private room in a hostel. As soon as we got into town, I found a barber and she did wonders with a pair of clippers. She cut my hair and trimmed my beard. It felt so nice to be pampered for a few minutes. On the way into town, I reached out to an old friend from Atlanta named Francois. I met him in Frontrunnners and he moved to Auckland seven years ago with his partner. They were amazing hosts. They treated us to a big dinner on the beautiful Auckland harbor and then gave us a great mini walking tour of downtown at sunset.

The next morning, Thorsten and I did some clothes and shoe shopping. He replaced his worn out hiking shoes and I found a merino wool hoodie to replace my stinky synthetic one that I started with. I then stopped by the pharmacy to talk to someone about sunscreen. I’ve been keeping myself covered and using sun block everyday but really struggling to keep from getting burned. The hole in the ozone layer is directly over New Zealand and the sun is vicious. The pharmacist was really helpful and recommended the highest rated sunscreen available. It was expensive but he said the stuff I was using really wasn’t that helpful.

Right before we left for our hike through Auckland, I got a call from Bryan with some really sad news about our cat LD. He had an ultrasound today and we discovered that he has a really large tumor that has been making him pretty miserable. Many of you know LD and he is a handful but he is our handful and we love him. It doesn’t look like this is something that we are going to be able to fix for him. It is a very rare type of cancer and it has been making him really sick for a few months now. We thought he had IBS but it turns out it is much more serious. I wish I could be there for Bryan and I talked with him about coming home. There just aren’t any great choices here so we are going to see what we can do to make him more comfortable and then plan our next steps. We love our pets and they are our family. It’s so hard to be away from Bryan at times like this. I struggled so hard during the pandemic deciding whether to stay on the trail. I just wish life is something that you could put on hold but it doesn’t work like that.

We are taking a bus to Hamilton today to pick up the next section of trail towards Wellington from there. Thomas has finished up his work tasks and is going to meet us tomorrow so we can all start hiking together. We only have Thorsten for two more weeks until he meets up with his wife in Sydney and they return home to Munich to start their married life together. Thomas is going to continue onto the South Island with me before he establishes his medical practice in Christchurch in early February. I’m on my own journey but just twenty five later than these young men. I looked them dead in the eye the other day said “Guys, it keeps on going. I don’t have it all figured out either. Just keep moving forward.” We’ve been having great long talks about the transitions we are in. It seems like everyone out here is on their way somewhere else. At the same time, we are in constant motion on the trail. Every day brings a new place to hike, explore and rest. There is something about being in motion while you are making these big shifts that feels right to me. It helps me refocus on what is most important to me. My life with Bryan, taking care of myself and my family and being thankful for these sunny days on the trail with my new friends. Please keep LD and Bryan your thoughts. They are going to need some help for their difficult transition too.