35 miles, 1329 feet of climb, 630 ft max
We were ready to go at 7:45 but had to wait until the office opened at 8:00 to get our key deposit.
The east coast is much drier than the west coast.
The wind was almost as strong as yesterday. We stopped for lunch at Ward
about 1:30. It took 5-1/2 hours to go 28 miles! The tearoom had gifts and
free maps and flyers. We both had the crumble-baked chicken sandwiches which
were quite good.
There's a rail line that roughly parallels Highway 1 going down the coast.
We descended to the coast just a few miles before the turnoff to the hostel.
We had been told that the turnoff is marked by a "water tank with a bicycle
on top". We had no idea what to expect, but it was obvious when we got there.
There was a hay baling machine sitting in the grass by the road on the way to
the hostel.
The Cycle Packers hostel, aka "Pedallers Rest"
is specifically "geared" for touring cyclists.
However this weekend a big group of Girl Guides is camped in front of the
bunkhouse. So they put us up in a tiny cabin up near the house. The owners
are away in Christchurch so the neighbur checked us in. She also showed us
their collection of New Zealand marino wool cycling jerseys. I bought a
long-sleeved model for NZ$165. (About US$115, no sales tax)
This photo of our cabin was taken by Sue.
Another couple from Switzerland cycled in not long after we arrived. They
decided to camp instead of taking the twin room that had originally been saved
for us in the bunkhouse.