Cycle: 93.4km

I was prised out of bed by a cup of tea with milk from Tim. We all climbed the mount (252m) before breakfast. It was a bit of a murky day, but still worth it for it the views of the area. There were a lot of people jogging and power-walking up the mount. Kiwis are a fit bunch! After breakfast we said our goodbyes and Tim and Cindy headed back to Auckland. Scott replaced his two broken spokes and we started our long ride out.

We went straight through Te Puke (do not stop, do not collect 200 pounds) and instead stopped at Kiwi360 for their "gourmet cafe". We did indeed have good food, and plenty of it, plus a game of petanque while out dinner settled (Scott won 4-3 after a nail-biting decider) and a photo with a giant slice of kiwi! This is the area where the kiwi fruit is most successfully grown.

For the next stretch of riding we took it in turns to do 5km stints in front. We stopped in Matata (again, do not stop, do not collect 200 pounds!) by which point we both had a bit of a sore bottom.

Today's ride was mainly on big roads and through orchards with a small stretch of coastline with sandstone cliffs and Pohutukawa Trees, but no real hubs of civilisation. Approaching Whakatane we rode through some serious farming countryside. Today day was our longest day by over 10km, but was mainly flat.

On the ride Scott popped two more spokes so it'll be a visit to the bike shop tomorrow. Luckily there are two in Whatakane. The campsite was again lovely, and a 10 minute stroll along the Whatakane river in to town. The walkway and town itself were all beautifully landscaped. We tried to get fish and chips but the shop was shut, so we had to have a nice meal in the Wharf Shed Restaurant next door (with good local Mata beer). They were also closed, but luckily the waiter fancied Scott so he let us in! On the way home we saw a possum and played with "Snowy" the campsite cat.