Wandering boot tour of New Zealand: Final thoughts

I am quite surprised by the amount of walking I actually did get done on the last trip away to New Zealand. In the last 8 days of my trip I had done at least 116.56 Kms. If you take the 7kms off before the 8^th day to make it the 7 days and then you still have an amazing amount of kilometres under my belt. That would be nothing compared to what I could do if I end up on one of the many walking trails in New Zealand like say the Queen Charlotte track. My next trip I am wanting to do motorcycles kilometres instead if I can hire a Spyder when I am wanting to. I do like going on trips on my own and it is really interesting when the guys in my room don’t even notice that I am there when I leave early and arrive back late in the afternoon or early evening.

The surprising thing is that I bought my current walking boots just after 2012. The previous boots self destructed when I went camping with family and friends out at Gin Gin in Queensland. I am glad I ended up getting actual hiking boots instead of going again with steel capped work boots. I doubt I would have had been able to do the amount of walking I had been doing on the last several tours or my normal trips away. I just do random walking trails and wherever I end up wanting to go within reason that is.

I seem to gather more equipment and I was offered a Drone, although I have to wonder while I am tripping around what use I would get for a device. I think a gopro camera would do me well since I have started taking video of my wanderings in parts to see what happens and I try to do my history videos that I am unsure if people actually do watch. Still its just for fun and I think I would get more use from a camera on my bike. The Marine Rescue has a Gopro camera where they all tend to forget we have one and that means we do not wear it anywhere. I have not known anyone to use it. My current travel computer is going strong still even when I figure out the little problems like the downloading updates and the vanishing space that happens to be the cloud server that is Dropbox. My latest phone is doing wonders as a camera and a better one than the bigger camera I do have. I just need to get the data bundle so that I can have no problems overseas with the internet.

The only problem I seem to have is eating all the wrong types of food, but I am making sure I maintain my energy levels, but that could be the wrong way of going about it all. I make sure I have water and even muesli bars to keep me going in case I dont go near a shop as I have been hit hard like that before. I had been worried about running out of money due to eating out all the time and trying not to eat fried chicken or other bad foods. It all works out in the end. Pokeno Ice cream anyone? 12 scoops and I could have gone the 20, but I think I have done stranger things before.

There will be other trips away in the meantime as I am still wanting to visit Adelaide around June just for a week if not less. That gives me time to save some money and sort out my bike that is a nice green Spyder as I want to take it for some decent rides in the new year.

Wandering boots that wander tour: Day 29 The wander home from Auckland

By the numbers

10,001 steps

6.90 kms

Bag 23 kilos after removing two books

1 plane

1 Jack Reacher novel

The day has come where I would be returning home from the city of Auckland in New Zealand to return to Australia. It has been an amazing time and the funny part is the adventure did not end with me arriving at the airport. It was to be another nice day from the looks and I was ready to face the day. I got up just after 6am where the night before I had packed my bag and stuffed everything inside trying to make the books and things fit and hoping the bag would not be too heavy.

Home and coffee

Off I went to have breakfast as everyone in my room was still sleeping. I knew of a place around the corner from the hostel that opened at 7am and I wanted their food. It was a café sort of place and while I was there, I listened to the Fallout 3 sound track as I recognised the music. I thought this was funny and mentioned it. That was what they were in the mood to listen to. Who was I to judge though I wanted to have a little bit of a wander before I returned to the hostel and checkout before 10am. I wanted to wander the Catholic part of Symonds Street cemetery not thinking about going too far as I didn’t want to run out of time. I did have a really good view over the motorway from the cemetery of St. Benedicts Catholic Church, which I soon found the cemetery ran right up to the front. Its now motorway so the cemetery and church are divided and it has its own dedication memorial to those who were removed like the Anglican cemetery nearby. There are information panels talking about different aspects of the cemetery and what to look out for like a headstone with a weeping willow or a certain police officer who was well known.

I decided for a closer inspection of the Catholic Church as I had plenty of time after my short wander through the cemetery. I was only going to take pictures outside before I wandered off, but I noticed painters outside doing the doors. Other than them, there was no one around and I slipped into the church for a gander. It was just as interesting inside as a sign did say they had the biggest manger scene either in the area or country. The church had been around since 1888 so it was well over 100 years old. There was heaps of space on the inside and seemed they were doing a bit of work inside. It was getting time for when I left so I headed back to the hostel by which it was just after 830am and people were still sleeping. No wonder one of the guys thought I had been new to the hostel. No one noticed that I was around as I was always out.

Heading to the airport once I checked out was pretty mundane and I got there with plenty of time, although that could have been the end of the story. I had around 20 mins before checkin would open, so I weighed my bag and found it was close to 25 kilos. After removing two books it was the right weight. Turns out once I could checkin once everything was working and open, I had a slight problem. I had booked as Brad instead of using my full name of Bradley as per my passport. The lady did not like that and told me in the future to use my full name or else I could have to buy a whole new ticket or pay to have my name changed on the ticket. At the time I had not thought about it as it’s the same person. It would have been worse if I had included my original surname of Watson then that would put the cat amongst the pigeons. I thanked the lady for her advice and proceeded once I had filled out the passenger card. I was hoping not to have been pulled up for that again on my trip especially with customs or immigration. No one was worried the entire time when I got onto the plane. I bought the obligatory alcohol before boarding.

The plane was late getting in and we had to wait a little bit longer, which wasn’t a problem and I watched as they unloaded and then loaded the plane. My bag I actually watched head into the cargo hold, which was cool. My seat was actually at the back of the plane and I never found it to be that bad. I plugged in my headphones and had audio going for the trip along with reading my Jack Reacher novel. It took over two hours for the flight and it was windy when I returned, not that I was worried as I was happy to be back. I think it was actually time that I was back this time around. I was feeling sunburnt and walked out from my time away, which was all good. Another trip gone, but there will always be others on the horizon.

Wandering boots that wander tour: Day 28 Wandering the Auckland museum and surrounds

By the numbers

1 hot sun

31,666 steps

21.82 kms

The morning started off pretty well when I got up. Luckily I had gotten dressed as I would soon find there would be problems. I started by playing door tango as the main door between the room and the loos wouldn’t let me back in. I ended up going up and down the lift with a new key card until the guy at the desk said it had happened to five others on the same floor. He came up with me the last time and tried his master card and nothing. Someone on the other side of the door had to open it and then a wedge under the door to keep it open. I was then in business as I could brush my teeth and put shoes on as I wasn’t wearing any and not getting annoyed at all. The card did work on the dorm room door and I was actually the only one awake. The one thing I knew was that my calf muscle was sore even though I kept walking hoping it would become alright as the day went on.

Off into the sun I went hoping that I would miss most of the heat of the day and I had plans to have a quick breaky and walk to a shot tower that was used in WWI, which is near the Mt Eden prison. I stopped off at one of the most well known stores to have a look at their annual traditional Christmas display. Before I went towards the shot tower, since it was too early for most of the shops to be open, I headed back up the street to Upper Queen Street where I was looking for the bike path hoping I could walk it too. I wasn’t expecting to do the whole path and I ended up walking all the way to the edge of the motorway. Half way the path turns pink as its either called the Pink path or the light way. It goes by both names. I was lucky as I knew where I was without needing a map as I walked up Pitt Street heading for Karangahape Road. I wanted the Grafton Bridge as I had to be on the other side, although I ended up with a quick wander through the cemetery and had to drag myself away since I knew I might stay longer. Following my map I ended up getting distracted by a building that was Trinity College on and then along a wooden church along Khyber Pass Road as it looked nice. I went around the corner as I wanted the loo and found another church that was a Baptist on a corner street. At the same time I had seen a car that I had never seen before go past and had the plate as Dr. Sin. I wondered if he was going to church, but knew I couldn’t get distracted looking for cars that would be long gone.

I did find the shot tower as it was easy to see above the sky line and that meant that it was also near a train line. The shot tower had been used in colonial times when Britain had stopped sending shots to New Zealand by ship. It was also used in WW1 to make live and blank shots to training camps in NZ. Only really the top half of the tower exists as nothing on the ground level does. I nearly waled the wrong way and the right way was actually past Mt Eden Prison that held the objectors for WW1 and some Maori too who objected as well and they were given physical work. Pretty sure I was being watched taking pictures and I had my guide with me so it was alright. I was wondering where the entrance was, but I thought better as I was wanting to visit the museum as it was beginning to open at that time. I also wanted to get out of the sun as it was getting a little bit hot. On the way to the museum I saw a game of cricket being played, although I did keep walking.

Making it to the Auckland Museum, I sat down to have a drink after leaving my bag in storage. I soon learnt I was sunburnt and knew that once I got back to the hostel I would have to change to my other wide brimmed hat to cover my ears as I had gotten a little complacent about the sun. I did have a walk around the music exhibit of the New Zealand bands that included Lorde though I prefer the heavy metal band, Lordi. That is me anyway. I found some names that I could use for heavy metal New Zealand bands. There were quite a few bands in New Zealand, although I wasn’t paying that much attention even though they covered every genre from punk to rap. There were the older songs like Midge or Madge. I started up the top floor of the museum looking at the war memorials to have a look at the names as I was thinking I could help Claude with finding some. I soon found that there was a little bit of the museum closed as they were updating the displays. I was interested in the homefront as the Germans living in NZ were treated badly included beaten up and even the Gumdigging Dalmatians were treated with suspicion. I did have a look at some of the records too that was part of the museum and the Centoteph of the soldiers. The museum hadn’t changed that much and I ended up having lunch and going book shopping. I had worked out that I wanted to head over to Western Park where the house at the end of the movie Hunt For The Wilderpeople was located. First I had to drop the books off.

I wandered off to the hostel where I dropped my loot off and headed out again wearing my other hat. I ended up on the pink path again and soon fond I was heading to the wrong park. I was walking to Victoria Park and not Western Park located in Freemans Bay area. I found two houses that I had thought was the house used in the movie and one of them was covered in building work. Later on I had found that the house I was looking for was the run down one that I took one photo of before walking on. I had been looking at my phone as I wanted to see the map and my position was showing me exactly where I was. It was amazing that even though my data was off it still showed me on there. I found that I ended up on Ponsonby Road that pointed me onto Karangahape Road where I found my way towards the hostel. I wanted to stop off at the DVD shop as I wanted a new pair of headphones. I caught the bus there and back, which was lucky as it saved my feet. I did get some dinner on the way and had fish and chips for $5. I think I have done enough walking on this trip and I have one day off before heading back to work.

Wandering boots that wander tour: Day 27 Wandering Auckland

By the numbers

34,700 steps

24kms

Stats for the time I been away so far

Week 1 was 82.81 kms walking

Week 2: 71.14 kms

Week 3: 45.73 kms

Week 4 so far without Sunday this week. 95.61kms

The night before I was really tired and again after the blog writing, I ended up going to bed. I thought my alarm had been set, but I woke just after 7am and found myself realising I had not set the alarm at all. I had been thinking of getting to Manukau early before it became too hot, but that was not the case at all. A funny story I got told by one of my roomies when I had gotten back at the end of the day. He thought I had only just gotten here, but he did say that he had not seen me. I had been gone before everyone in the room had woken up and I had been returning just on dark. I am easy to miss when you don’t notice me at all.

I headed out to get some breakfast before going to the train station where I was going to head out of the city. The reason, I was heading back to Manukau was for the reason I actually found the location of the St. Johns Redoubt Historical Reserve. It was located on Redoubt Road and I was hoping they would have information panels about the area. There was actually nothing at all recorded there other than a sign from Redoubt road. I had read about how they were using the area for archaeological digs, but it was just a park with grass and views of the motorway and Rainbows End. I wasn’t sure what to think about it, but there could be a reason and I was off to get the train again.

At the station, luckily I could get free wifi so I could do some searches while waiting for the train. I wanted to visit Penrose as it was a stop before heading to Onehunga. Turns out I needed another stop before that and luckily the train map on my phone gave me the info I needed. I jumped off at Otahuhu to get the next train to Penrose station as the Manukau train never goes that way. I had gotten frustrated as I don’t like not knowing and a map is good use of directions or else I would get lost. I like to see the stations not just as words on a list. I did jump off at Penrose and wanted to quickly visit the stadium called Mt Smart Stadium and it seems they have an event on. I needed to get something to eat while wandering so ended up with my second lot of maccas for the day while listening to the franchise owner or a regional manager talking to the managers about when he had to do and how he was to let people know. I tried another entrance to the stadium and found the Rugby museum, although that was closed on a Saturday. I thought about walking to One Tree Hill and then to Onehunga as I wanted to see the Fencibles buildings in Jellicoe Park. I began walking to Onehunga and decided it would save time by catching the train from Onehunga.

I think I saved a huge amount of time by getting the train especially when the day seemed to be pretty warm. I walked through Onehunga while finding an old historic house by the name of Scotlands, which was once a surgery and a prominent family in the area. I found my way to Jellicoe park and it was pretty busy little park that had three old houses there one of them being the block house where it was once the old school too. Apparently the queen had visited the park at one stage as well. The Maori did once grow Kumarain the locality of the park so it was well used. I was feeling by this time a little exhausted from the walking and the bag on my back. I was soon off to head for One Tree Hill wondering if I was lost. I was heading for the entrance where the Observatory was located. Apparently there was voting today too as I passed a voting booth in a school. Heading up the hill was the fun part as I think back that the sun had gotten to me, but I kept on going. The summit of the old volcano was pretty popular and once I had reached it there was a traffic jam with the cars wanting to park. It was well worth the walk as there was plenty to see especially the view of Auckland and the surrounds. I spent some time chilling up there listening to some of the locals who were talking about a bunch of trees behind the barrier as they were trying to find a tree that would survive and then be planted while the others would be sent elsewhere.

I walked down to the Cornwall Park where I needed the loo and a drink as I had no more water. The park and the summit of One Tree Hill was part of the Coast to Coast walk that I seemed to have done bits of over the last few years. I don’t want to do the full walk as it would take some time. Heading out of the park that I wanted to spend time in, but knowing that I should get back into the city before it got too dark or I started losing light. A local train station called Greenlane I was wanting, although I walked to though I could have walked to Penrose, which would have been crazy. I thought my map would tell me where the entry to the station was, but I ended just several metres from the station and soon realised the street I had originally been on was where the station entrance was, but I didn’t know that. I was looking up some things while waiting for the train and wanted steak for dinner so looked up and found an actual steak house close to where I was staying. I did look up other things like bookshops, although there doesn’t seem to be many in inner Auckland where I am. I did find the restaurant and the name was Tony’s steak and seafood so I ended up with a nice dinner that was not fried chicken like the last two nights. I thought I better have an easy day on my last day as I need to stay out of the sun for a bit. I think I will haunt the museum and do several other things to keep me out of trouble on my last day.