I was looking forward to this day, but unfortunately the weather didn’t agree with me. It rained a fair bit, so I decided to keep myself (and my bike) dry and enjoy some indoor activities. First off was a beginners’ yoga class, which was very refreshing but challenging at some points. To begin with, my legs felt like bricks, probably due to not properly stretching each day. Thankfully our instructor, Melissa, was very helpful and kept me on track.

After seeing this on the way home, I felt inspired to do some writing. But instead I napped for 2-3 hours, it’s okay though, I’ve set some time aside to write this weekend, where I’ve booked a room all to myself.

Unfortunately the strawberry farm isn’t open during winter, so I settled for a bakery that’s been in town for over 50 years. I would have taken photos of what I ordered, but I was too busy eating.

The rest of the day was spent researching, firstly looking at where go I’d like to go once I reach Auckland. I was put off by the news footage of traffic jams, so I’d like to go further north, depending on weather conditions. The Bay of Islands and Cape Reinga (top most point of the island) caught my eye, but it adds another 605km to my journey. I’ll see how I feel about it in a week or so.

Next I checked road closure statuses to make sure my ride up to Ohakune tomorrow wouldn’t be snowed in. It’s a green light in that department so I’m relieved, I’d much prefer the 8-9 hour bike ride over the 1hr 40min bus. 8-9 hours seems like a lot, but I’ve just been using Google Maps to estimate the duration and adding an extra 20%. I suspect tomorrow will be rough, but I gave my bike a good clean today and managed to drop some extra weight, so I hope that will be enough.