Well, another one of my favorites in the Hauraki Gulf is Aotea Great Barrier Island. Whenever things get a little much, I dream myself away to Aotea, and now and then, I make the time to head out there. I am not sure whether it is the remoteness of the last barrier before the vastness of the Pacific Ocean (hence the name), the time travel aspect of feeling to go back in time to an Aotearoa from 20 years ago, the plentiful hiking opportunities or if it is the characters you get to meet and with who I, to some extend, share the fascination of a place so out of the way.
As being somewhat adventurous and in love with hiking, I would not just fly to Christchurch to visit the concert. So, the plan was to take a night bus from Auckland down to Wellington, hop on a ferry to the south island, and meet up with a good friend, Jakob, to hike the 71-km-long Queen Charlotte Track in the beautiful Marlborough Sounds. After the hike, which would take four days, we decided to make our way to Christchurch, visit the concert, and afterward, I would fly back to Auckland for work.
When I took a closer look at the map, a relatively big island caught my eye: it does not only work as a barrier between the Gulf and the open Pacific, but it is also, appropriately, called Great Barrier Island. And apparently, there is also a hiking trail. The Aotea Track is a 25 km long trail that loops around the island’s rugged interior and climbs up to the island’s highest peak, Mount Hobson/Hirakimata (627 m). After doing some further research on the island, I learned that it lies about 100 km northeast of Auckland, is about the same size as Auckland, but only has a bit more than 1000 inhabitants (Auckland, on the contrary, has over 1.6 Mio inhabitants). Life on the island is often described as being „life in New Zealand many decades back „.
I always liked Arizona quite a bit. I love the heat, the dry and the desert-like country. Ever since I was in Flagstaff to visit Gran Canyon NP after finishing my Pacific Crest Trail hike in 2017, I have wanted to return. On a road trip, I crossed the state by Amtrak on one of my cross country trips by train.
As fall is approaching in Germany, I wanted to make the best out of the probably last sunny and golden days this year and go out hiking the area a bit. First of…