We set off rather late, cold to the bone. I can feel the snow down south from here. I am really glad we are biking not hiking. Heaps of snowy photos coming in from Te Araroa trampers. We get moving before 10am, it will take us a few weeks to get the packing how we want it. Right now we are putting things where we can. We grab some breakfast in Nelson and do a couple of op shops. Then head to Tahunanui where we get two more shops in.

We push on to Richmond and make the decision to get to Wakefield. We do the op shops which gives us a good stretch. 14km to Wakefield, the pies there are my favourite. The last bit of the journey into Wakefield is hilly. I end up walking my bike up the hill. By this time it is 4pm and we really should have gotten some lunch earlier. Why do we keep making this mistake? Little and often is key. We hang out in Wakefield for an hour and give ourselves a good break. My body needs it.

There is 6km to go. We head off and we find a nice area by the river. Stuff it let’s not go to the freedom camping area full of people let’s go here. We get our gear off and have a wash in the river. Set up tent and eat some dinner. We will need to stop earlier soon with the days getting shorter. We just finish dinner as the sun disappears. Good timing

We have a tent failure. Our outer has some stress in the fabric. We will need to see if it is covered under warranty.