One of the nice things of traveling is that you can wake up and for a moment don’t know where you are. That’s what I have again this morning when I wake up in a really nice bed in my friends house. They’re still asleep when I get out of bed, so I get to the living room, make myself a cup of coffee and sit down on the couch with a good book. After a while they also get up and we have breakfast together.

After sleeping in a camper for a couple of days, it’s so nice to be in a real house again. I enjoy the things I often take for granted like a large bed and a hot shower. It’s also very nice to be with friends again. I’m quite good in being alone and I also meet a lot of people everywhere I go, but to be with a friend is something different and also nice. We plan to go on a hike in the afternoon and get some food for lunch on our way to the mountain where we’re gonna walk.

It’s a beautiful summer-like day again and it’s really warm outside. It’s the first day I can use my shorts. We walk through a pretty redwoods forest and then hike up a small mountain. At the top it’s pretty windy and a lot colder, so I’m glad that I brought my hoodie. We have sandwiches with salad and chicken for lunch, really delicious. Then we meet another friend who went mountain biking in the same area and together we go down again by car.

Even though I would have liked to stay longer with my friends, I feel that I should continue my journey south and say goodbye. I drive another three hours to just after sunset. I arrive at Kaitoke Regional park which must be beautiful, but I can’t see to much of it yet, because it’s already dark. I park my car at the camping place and enjoy again a sky full of stars, that’s one of the nice things of staying for the night in nature.

After having traveled around almost every day since I’ve been here, I plan on maybe staying in this area for a day or two and relax in the middle of nature before I continue to the city Wellington.