Day 73 - end of the north

Wellington —-> Island Bay 15km

After a glorious cooked breakfast (anything other than porridge will forever be glorious), we grabbed a coffee to go and set off through Wellington CBD down to the harbour. The Wellington city section of the TA started pretty much on the doorstep of our hotel and travelled directly south to the shore of Island Bay.

The sun was shining as we strolled along the waterfront, coffees in hand; it almost felt like we were locals, out on an early morning stroll.

The city dazzled in the sunshine, after only a couple of days I was really starting to like Wellington, it felt a lot more welcoming and cultured than Auckland.

We left the waterfront and climbed up through a park to the Mt Alfred lookout for yet more great views over the city. Lots of hills in this place.

We continued down over the other side and through more parks, back towards the ocean.

At the bottom we followed the road alongside the beach and into Island Bay - the final stop on the north island.

The offical end point for the TA was in a small park with an allotment and a kids playground. It was rather unremarkable, the view nice, but not amazing - not a tourist hotspot by any means. A small rock cairn and plaque in the playground was the only indication it was a notable place at all.

I felt a wave of emotion wash over me as I looked out over the ocean, I couldn’t quite believe I was now one island down, 1715km behind me.

Just a cool 1311km to go…