Day 13 - Parkrun, souvenirs, and meeting the tour group

It was an early start this morning to catch the train for an 8am parkrun. I had chosen to do the Orakei Bay run as it is an out and back course, is an ‘O’, and apparently has nice views. I chose to ignore the warnings of the course being ‘undulating’…

There was a lovely vibe at the start - the sun was shining and I got chatting to various people. It wasn’t long into the run when I knew I was going to struggle a bit today - I have another LLL (low level lurg, for those new to my shorthand), and it was quite warm. Luckily, just before the half way point, I met a guy called David, who is a regular on the course, and we ran-walked the rest of the way together. Running back was also nicer than running out as there were lovely views of the Auckland skyline. It also felt like there was less uphill. Perhaps.

After finishing, I had to get back to my hotel pretty quickly as check-out was 10am. I was then able to leave my suitcases at the hotel whilst I went out for a yummy brunch (it involved a delicious banana and honey smoothie today!) and then a bit of shopping. Shopping highlights included visiting Chemist Warehouse - whilst I just wanted strepsils; I got distracted by looking at the huge sizes of things that could be brought there - buying shower gel by the litre is a new one on me!

I then found the most adorable shop that sold some of my favourite ever Christmas decorations. I may have spent some money. I have no regrets.

I then moved my suitcase to my new hotel about a kilometre across the city. Dragging my suitcase up a hill made me miss my rucksack. I felt like a bit of a plonker when I realised that I didn’t even need to go up that hill!

I spent an hour or two in the afternoon finding a few geocaches nearby, and then having a bit of a rest before the welcome meeting for my tour.

There are 13 of us on this first half of the tour, from the UK, US, Hungary, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Ireland, and we are being guided by Kreig, who seems great.

I think it is going to be a bit of a change for me travelling in a group rather than solo, but the itinerary looks amazing. I have signed up to go kayaking tomorrow, which promises to be a lot of fun.

We finished the day with a meal out at a nearby restaurant/bar. It was pretty busy, what with it being a Saturday night when there was a big football match on, but very yummy. Afterwards a few of us went to see a famous artisan ice-cream place. I decided to pass on the offer of spending about £20 on an ice-cream cone…. However pretty it looked!

Comments

  1. Neil Webb15 November 2025 at 23:48

    I can't believe you passed on the ice cream! Your dad would be disappointed in you, but perhaps approving of your financial restraint.

    ReplyDelete

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