Cycle: 66km

After the unsealed carnage of the day before we began the day (after a lie-in) with some impromptu bike cleaning. Luckily the 13km yesterday had been on a very sandy road and the bikes under cover for the night, so the sand simply brushed off. The chains still needed a more serious clean so we did the best we could with a cloth and the rest of our lubricant.

At 11am we set off and tackled the day's cycling. Today was a bit more hilly and we were nervous about the weather. Sure enough we got hit by some showers and a head wind. Added to this, Humphrey's gears were completely misbehaving. Grrrrrrrr. I was pretty angry about all this. I applied a small amount of tuning to the rear derailler which seemed to do the trick, but I'd lost a lot of confidence in the gears (which makes you hesitant when applying power).

It was a bit too cold to stop much and yet again most of the Catlins' sites were off side roads so we just pushed on with the cycling for the first few hours. When the sun was shining the views were good, but nothing too spectacular. Mostly farmland bordering a nice coastline. There was some pretty forest land and the odd linestone outcrop too.

We made two side trips during the day which were, firstly, to Lake Wilkie which was very pretty, but we got passed by a busload of the fastest walking tourists in the world. I swear to you they didn't look up from the boardwalk and just marched round! Secondly, we took a side walk down to the lovely Tautuku Bay. Not much to report really but it was worth a look!

After our final ascent of the day we dropped into a valley where we cycled along the edge of Lake Catlin. This had a beautiful pink sky as a backdrop reflected in the calm waters. Claire's chain popped off her front chainring as we climbed the hill away from the lake and she did well not to fall off her bike. The bikes have been misbehaving generally and we'll have to clean them soon.

We arrived in Owaka at dusk and much to our relief our ensuite room was lovely. The Split Level Backpackers was really fun. It had terrible carpet and kitchen decor that you had to love but was immaculately clean and our room was very modern. Think London: 'Peta the Heata' was on permanently and we thawed out from the cold of the day.

The Catlins haven't been really that inspiring and we're both worried about the cold. We'll feel better when we turn North and start making progress to warmer weather and begin what will feel like the journey home.