Our campground acquired a fog overnight. Unperturbed, we set off into it just before 7am (yes, we’re still not letting these 3.30am sunrises get to us too much). We follow the coast for a while, then break away through farmland, discovering after 45km that we (well, Alex and I) don’t have much in the way of food, and we’re not hitting a town until the 80km mark. I start gnawing on my arm as we buckle down and cover these farmland kilometres. The hills are rolling, and the dairy cows keep looking at us.
We finally hit the promised land just after midday – there is a 7-11 in town, and it has icecream. Also other foods, but the icecream is initially of most importance. Although it’s only 18oC, my body thermostat is convinced that this is quite warm, and is protesting. Until I stop and let the cold wind blow on me, at which point it complains it’s too cold. Never happy.
After lunch we do a lot more cycling through dairy farms, and over rolling hills. The final 40km doesn’t take too long, and before you know it we’re arriving at our next closed campground. This one has hoards of cats, and a deer which comes to watch us cook.
Distance cycled: 118km
Trip total: 907km
Location: Near Rausu – Lake Shirarutoro)