Cycle: 79km

We awoke pleasantly surprised at the nice weather and at not having been murdered by crazy RnB axe wielding maniacs, so happily packed up and headed off early. Due to a lack of facilities of any kind at Coes Ford we decided to treat ourselves to some breakfast in Leeston. This was a nice little town with a great bakery and the worst market ever. No cookies, no tea, no books published after 1832 and no local art or craft! Boo! Still, we indulged ourselves with tea followed by tea followed by tea. Mmmh, tea. We felt we deserved a treat after our free camping the night before.

The morning's cycle was really enjoyable. There was no traffic, no wind, lots of sunshine and we cycled side be side chatting for a good hour or so. The main excitement of the day was crossing New Zealand's longest bridge (1.8km) over the Rakaia River. The shoulder simply disappeared so Claire set a cracking pace while I made sure the drivers realised they couldn't simply squeeze past us (technically called "sticking your bum out"). Luckily on Saturdays the truck drivers take the day off so there wasn't heavy traffic.

We stopped for a good lunch at Rakaia (best chocolate and cream cheese muffins ever) drinking, you guessed it, tea for two, admiring the giant salmon in the car park (t'is the salmon fishing capital of the universe, on a Saturday, in New Zealand, when its sunny, don't you know!) - sorry, sarcasm mode is on today.

We decided that we really did want to have a look at Rakaia Gorge and so planned our route accordingly. The rest of the day was spent working inland (and gently uphill) through the Cantebury Plains to Methven. The cycle was easy until the final 25km when a strong head wind developed. The weather here changes so fast! There are no camping grounds in town so we checked into a nice hostel with a friendly cat called Baileys. After a great shower we relaxed in the comfort of the lounge for the evening.