It rained and it rained and it was still raining. The weather settled around 11am, so we packed up to go. Leaving the solid shelter behind to slowly get through the bog out to the main track. I didn’t attempt to keep my feet dry and just walked through all the mud and water.

It took us nearly an hour to do 800m. That may give you a better idea of how hard it was to get our bikes in and out of Bog Hut. On the main road we quickly fuel up with a sandwich. Once we started cycling the rain began. I wasn’t too worried as it was a lot of downhill fun. We went over several bridges and a couple of neat suspension bridges.

We were quite tired and wet by the time we hit Harrisons Creek. We almost stayed but decided to carry on to Piropiro. There was the allure of a potential hot shower that kept us moving. Despite being very wet and a little cold, I was enjoying the ride. The ups were slippery and hard, but it did make me warm

We got to the lodge around 3pm and discovered it was $560 a night for a bathroom and for a shared bathroom room $390. Now I really want a hot shower but not that badly. Nope, this is for the ebikees with $10k bikes. Our next hope was Camp Epic which is 2km or so over the hill. We arrive there to a locked gate. Department of Conservation camping it is. We arrive and find the highest bit of ground to camp on. This is a free campsite accessible by car and is a favourite of hunters. We ride past our friends on the dirt bikes but I can’t see them. As I finish off the inner workings of our tent Rowan looks for a stream to swim in.

He gets chatting to our bike friends and they invite us into a farmers shelter to warm up at the fire. We thank them and chat for a little bit and decide we better get out of our wet clothes. After a thorough wash with a bottle I can get in the tent and complete the set up. I join the fireside and Nick has boiled the jug so we can have a hot drink. Bruce and Nick are old farmers who come out here quite a lot. They are probably here more than at home. We cook our dinner with them and have a good yarn until 10pm when we all head off to bed. Sharn offers to take us out to Taumarunui or drop us wherever we like tomorrow. Rowan and I are exhausted and gladly take the offer. Rowan even more so than me with his cough still from the flu.