Day 70 - countryside suburbia
Camp Elsdon —-> The Bolton hotel, Wellington 18km + 12km Uber
I wasn’t quite finishing the North Island today but walking to Wellington sure felt like it. The north island terminus is actually some 15km south of the city centre in coastal suburbia. I planned to slack pack that section with Josh in a few days time and finish the north island with him, mainly so he could take my photo at the end point.
I started the day early, eager to get out of my prison cell and get to Welly as early as I could. I’d booked a hotel for five nights, both Josh and I wanted to time to relax before jumping into the manicness of walking a brand new island, plus we had a heap of trail admin to do before we could get the ferry over.
I left Camp Elsdon and started the climb up to Colonial Knob.
An hour in and I‘d fully left the industrial estates and highways behind and was back in the countryside. On one side I was overlooking the ocean, and the other, rolling farmland; a world away from the hustle and bustle of the city. I couldn’t believe this was on the outskirts of Wellington.
The path down off the knob took me through an immaculate pine forest and then out onto a country road, shared only with the local sheep - not a car came past me for an hour.
Climbing back up into the hills, windy Wellington started to prove its name. It felt like a gale was coming in down the valley and it took all my strength to walk in a straight line!
My right foot was really starting to hurt as I reached the road at the bottom of the hill. I’d had an ache for a few days which I’d tried to ignore with ibuprofen but I was really feeling it now. With 11km to walk until I reached the Wellington botanic gardens I decided my foot pain wasn’t worth that and called an Uber instead. Oh it’s great being back in the city!
After a lovely lunch (with dessert) at the botanic gardens, I walked the very handy 10 minutes to my hotel. Slightly fancier than the accommodation options I’d had so far on trail (thanks to everything in the city being booked out maybe due to the England vs NZ test match?!) I felt very out of place with my backpack checking in.
Katherine & Marley who I’d met in Whanganui were arriving into Wellington that evening and they hadn’t got anywhere to stay, so they came to camp in my hotel room for the night. We shared a few glasses of red wine and had lots of chat about the trail - I’d not had any other hikers to compare notes with really since leaving Whanganui so I loved hearing their stories.
I settled into the comfy king sized bed knowing that I wouldn’t be doing any proper walking for five days and when I did, I’d have my bestest walking buddy back.
