Tuesday we had a rest day. The weather was pants and our bodies were needing it. It was also my Dad’s birthday. Happy birthday dad!

Wednesday is lovely, we have never travelled down to Jacksons Bay. The weather has always been bad. We decided to take the opportunity to spend the night down that way. There is a lovely bush track called Kokako Cycle/Walk track. 5.5km of scenic riding, the stones were large and made a bumpy ride. We made it to the ocean. We ended up there for an hour. The stones are incredible here.

We set off again, the journey is rather flat which makes for easy riding. I still got a good workout trying to keep up with Rowan. It was a really enjoyable ride the forests are beautiful.

We got to the Arawhata River by 3.30pm and planned to sleep there. We haven’t seen anywhere we are allowed to camp so stuff it we will stay here. We will leave no trace per usual and if someone asks us to move on we will ask them to take us somewhere to camp.

Today (Thursday), I woke to what sounded like rain. No that is not rain that in sandflies, hundreds of them. They swarmed us. Rowan opened the zip to get his clothes and let 20 in. It was a bit of a dance getting ready inside the safe tent. We packed up quickly and headed further down the road towards Lake Ellery.

We didn’t leave until 11am and started making our way back to Haast. The day was holding up but you can see the clouds coming from the south. The ride back was quite pleasant. About halfway, my legs started complaining. We got back to the beach and took a break before going on the forest track back to Haast.

We went straight to the pub for a pint and some food. Feeling better with a good meal in my tummy but now also tired. Back to the same campground and set up the tent. Feeling sleepy now, thinking I may have an early night.