Cycle: 66km

Time to move on after our sadly grey Wanaka weather (a shame beacuse the town setting is supposed to be beautiful but we could never see much apart from low level cloud) but the poor weather did mean that we could do lots of jobs and go to the cinema twice. Plus there was a great supermarket so we ate lots of fresh fruit and veggies.

We managed to delay the ride by doing a few more jobs and having a final visit to the decent supermarket to stock up for the next few days and eventually set off at about midday. The first 15km to Lake Hawea were uneventful and we stopped at Sailz cafe in the Lake Hawea township for a sandwich and coffee before finally setting of in earnest! The township was nested right at the bottom of its namesake and was very picturesque. We then cycled along the west side of the lake with grand views all the way up. The clouds proceeded to disappear as we cycled (our theory about heading north holding true!) and we crossed the "Neck" of land between Lakes Hawea and Wanaka to then cycle along the eastern side of Lake Wanaka, again with fabulous views of water and snow capped mountains. We were looking over towards Mount Aspiring National Park and the mount itself, so the view was very dramatic. The riding was brilliant, nicely undulating with fantastic scenery so we were at Makarora Wilderness Resort before we knew it.

Our bed for the night was in an A-frame cabin and we had use of the campsite facilities so it was just like camping but without Peggy! We were going to have a drink in the bar but found out it was karaoke so we gave it a miss. Boring us! Also, today was our six-month wedding anniversary!