Te Araroa – Day 14

Takapuna to Manukau

32.6 miles

Mile 387.9

It was a short walk to Takapuna beach from my janky motel.

Back on the Te Araroa, I shared the beach with joggers, dog walkers and treasure hunters waving their metal detectors in front of them.

In about a mile the route left the beach for a brief jaunt through a quiet suburb before reaching Narrow Neck Beach.

Continuing on, I had another short road walk to Cheltenham Beach, which I followed to the Devonport Wharf.

At the wharf I purchased a ticket to Auckland for $7. The next ferry came in about 30 minutes, so I had some time to relax on the pier.

After the short cruise, I arrived in central Auckland.

I followed the route through the University of Auckland and a series of parks, before breaking away from the official trail to make my own way.

The route through Auckland meanders quite a bit, no doubt taking advantage of parks and places of interest, but I’d rather put the city behind me as quick as possible, so I took my own more direct route through town.

At noon I stopped at a McDonalds to use their WiFi to book a hotel for the night. It wasn’t until I sat down with my cappuccino that I found out their WiFi was down…dang it!

Luckily there was a Wendy’s on the next block, so I was able to book a hotel there. I’ve learned to keep an eye out for McDonalds, Wendy’s, KFC, Burger King and Starbucks, as I can always count on them to provide free WiFi.

Continuing on, I left Auckland proper behind, walking the same road for the remainder of the day through mostly industrial areas.

I passed through the town of Otahuhu, where I was surprised to find much of the shop signage in Chinese.

Four miles later I arrived at Manukau Motor Lodge. The room wasn’t the best, but it was the only accommodation I could find without straying too far off my route.

Stay tuned for more road walking tomorrow…

P.s. Shout out to Randy for hooking me up with some sweet mula! You more than covered my tab at the Puhoi Pub. Glad to hear you’re enjoying the blog!

Cheers!