Cycle: 43km

After a not too great night's sleep (busy town campsites!) we started the day by wandering round Oamaru Public Gardens. These were nice and had lots of small well tended sections. I called Tim (G. Lover) and let him know our plans for Stewart Island which we're trying to visit together in April.

We left town and headed up the steep section of SH1 before turning off for a quiet coastal section of road. We were hoping to have an easy day so stopped for a break after about 15km! It was good to see the sea again and the wind was with us which makes such a difference. Unfortunately the last section of the day was back on SH1 and since it was Good Friday the traffic was really heavy (but with no trucks). It was a relief to turn off towards Moeraki after a short easy day.

Our campsite was packed! There was a big fishing competition happening on the Saturday so there were boats everywhere - it was just like being on the East Cape again! We weren't planning to go to the famous boulders until the following morning but had a good evening planned. We've been being really good with cooking our own food and careful not to spend too much money, but the good old Lonely Planet highly recommended Fleur's Place as having some of the best food in the South Island. We splashed out and weren't disappointed. We had a great 3 course taste sensation of a meal with a nice bottle of Gibbston Valley pinot gris. The whole thing came to only $160 including a 20% bank holiday supplement - what a bargain!