Kia ora. Here I go again.
9 years after leaving New Zealand on my Round-the-World trip I'm back.
9 years ago, New Zealand was one of the last countries on my journey, this time albeit it is just the start of an epic adventure.
Within the next four months I will hike the Te Araroa Trail from Cape Reinga to Bluff. 3,000 km through New Zealand's beautiful landscapes. I'm thrilled and excited to get out there again and enjoy the great outdoors once again.
This time I quit my job and there's no going back after this trail. A new challenge awaits and New Zealand is just the first chapter.
Getting started
Auckland
I arrived by plane from Sydney at 1 pm and left the airport as soon as possible to visit the local DOC office (department of conservation) to get my backcountry hut pass and some information on flying my drone on the north island. Unfortunately my tent had to go through bio-security first, which took some 15-30 minutes at the airport.
Once on Queen Street luckily not much changed within the last 9 years in Auckland and so it didn't took long to visit the DOC office, do my laundry and ship some extra clothes back home to my family.
Kaitaia
The next day I got up early and took the 7:30 am bus to Kaitaia, the closest you can get to Cape Reinga by bus from Auckland. It was a pretty easy 6 hr bus ride and once in Kaitaia I did some grocery shopping at the local "Pak n Safe" supermarket and got some financials sorted. I stayed that night in Kaitaia and visited once again the local DOC because of my drone. Still didn't get any real information on any potential restrictions.
With everything packed, sorted and organized I was ready to hit the trail on the next day, Nov. 24th.
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