Cycle: 53km

Ros woke us up with a cup of tea and a fruit platter (golden kiwi fruit, feijoa, persimon and pears) whilst she went off to cook us sausages - what a service! We enjoyed a cooked breakfast together and then loaded up the bikes for the final time. Ros took some photos of us in her driveway ready to set off, which we were really glad of as there aren't many of the two of us plus Humphrey and Lottie! We waved goodbye and set off for the final leg into Auckland, determined to keep our wits about us and not come-a-cropper in the big smoke.

We did our usual 20km before stopping at Margarets Garden for caffeine and sugar as we wanted to be tip-top when we hit the traffic. We cycled over SH1 and into suburbia via the Great South Road. Scott took the lead here and armed with a map we wiggled along back roads as much as possible. I was really tired cycling today and not flowing at all. It must be a sign that I'm ready to stop. The weather was also quite grey and we were thankful to end with bad weather otherwise we might want to keep going! We stopped on a park bench for a last ever snack break and then the surroundings became very familiar! Our only close calls were with a couple of trucks and a car who came too close but otherwise all was tickety-boo. We had a few sneaky hills as we got close but we were too excited to notice and we turned into Tim and Cindy's driveway to Keesha, our welcoming party! (Tim and Cin were in China, not being unfriendly!) We had a wee celebration on our own in the driveway then broke in to store our bikes, pannier bags and pack for Sydney. We were in and out in about an hour!

We walked down to the Onehunga Mall and grabbed a cab to take us to the Airport Gateway Hotel which we'd booked sometime ago, knowing we had an early flight to Sydney the next morning. The hotel was pretty good for $77. After a shower and coffee we walked along a State Highway (the pavement just disappeared!) in search of the Warehouse, where everyone gets a bargain! After 6 months of wearing only lycra shorts and a pair of hiking trousers we were desperate for a new look so descended upon the Warehouse in search of some bargains. All up I got a nice and very cheap outfit but the mens selection was particularly poor so Scott only got jeans. We got a cab back to the hotel (we weren't going to run the gauntlet of the busy road in the dark) and had a little dinner and a bottle of wine to celebrate the end of our cycling odyssey! It doesn't seem real yet, maybe it will hit us on the plane tomorrow?