Hillary Trail Day I + II

After our short stay in Auckland, we left the city to walk the Hillary Trail nearby in 4 days. Our bus driver to the trail was very friendly, he likes German football and enjoyed chatting with us from faraway Germany. When we arrived at the starting point of the trail, we got right into it. As we discovered, the trail was surrounded by diverse and breathtaking landscapes. We started with dense forest - almost like a jungle - that we walked through on the first day. The narrow paths led us through untouched nature. At first, we didn't encounter anyone else on the trail and thought we were the only ones hiking the Hillary Trail at that time. We passed by the Huia Dam and the small town of Hui, where we had our first hitchhiking experiences with friendly Kiwis, who sometimes had a hard-to-understand slang. We also met some nice people at our accommodation, including the 'Hiking-Men', and many others who prefer driving, which made us realize why not many people hike. On the first day, we covered 24km and 500m of elevation. On the second day, we woke up very early and started hiking at 7:00 am, while the whole campground was still asleep, to enjoy the fresh, cool morning air. This day felt like walking through an XXL Luisenpark Tropenhaus with a variety of plant species, taking a short break at a waterfall, and then walking uphill along the ridges, right by the cliffs, which offered us spectacular views of the sea. We also climbed countless peaks, much to Kevin's delight and Daniel's despair, from which we could only see green landscapes as far as the eye could see. We also came across our first black sand beach. The second day was therefore very varied with new impressions constantly. Today we noticed that all New Zealanders are friendly and approachable, asking about our activities and where exactly we're from. Our second campground was a hit, located in the middle of the jungle, by a picturesque little river, surrounded by tall mountains and trees that could also resemble an African landscape. The conclusion of the second day was that we encounter Germans everywhere, and Kevin realized the importance of not only applying sunscreen to his face but also his neck, which now stands out in a tomato-red color. On the second day, we covered 17km and 1000m of elevation.