Cycle: 85km

Takaka Hill, rewind! Today we had to relive the 85km back to Motueku (no alternative routes were possible with our end goal) including the 800m hill. First of all though, we would prepare ourselves with lunch at the fabulous Takaka Wholemeal Cafe. The 30km to the cafe were fairly uneventful and Scott didn't feel 100%. We had food and coffee and I bought the book (not least because cafes had made up such a large part of our trip!). Again we were worried about the hill but gave it respect and then thoroughly enjoyed it! We were up in 1 hour and down in 10 minutes! At the top we saw some young lads who had been driven up by their parents and then whizzed down on their mountain bikes with their folks following closely in the car - what a good idea!

We rolled into Motueka with plenty of time before dusk and checked into the Hat Trick Lodge. We'd been 'upgraded' to an ensuite, a nice surprise, and spent the evening relaxing there.