Cycle: 84km

Today it rained. Then it stopped (not for long). Then it rained again. (Repeat).

Today, as it rained, we tried not to get run over on SH1 as we trudged our way North. There wasn't any inspiring scenery and we really did get soaked to the skin more times than I care to remember.

We had a nice cup of tea in a cafe in Otaki and stopped for as short a time as possible in Levin (avoid if possible) before taking a slightly longer, but less busy, route into Himatangi.

Our campsite had nice facilities but the room was small and you could see the stain on the floor round where a toilet used to be. Nice. Still, it was very cheap and the bottom sheet looked clean (no other bedding though, so sleeping bags it was).

It being bank holiday weekend the place was packed. The campsite reminded me of Gisborne which was full of cool surfer kids skateboarding around, but this place was full of not so cool farmer kids riding their motorbikes and quadbikes around. The beach is a road here so it's a complete free-for-all and they were all racing around all over the place.

Over dinner we got chatting to a family who were very serious orienteerers. The parents were busy reviewing their course maps and discussing where they went wrong. The kids were quite young and entertained us and they even orienteered too! Poor things.