Never o.d. on great, after that, good will just not do.
What a strange day, I cycled for 45 miles and really saw nothing terribly memorable. The photo count was incredibly low but the advantage is that I have spent very little time editing and I’ll get extra time for reading and resting.
One other thing that today brought in sharp focus is that I’m firmly back on the north island terrain. The map might not tell the full story but the day was a relentless succession of short steep hills and the legs have now stopped talking to me again.
I suppose this was, sooner or later inevitable. After having had a continuous pounding of great scenery, incredible experiences and wonderful roads to cycle on, it was time for me to have a couple of days where there was not much in the way of extraordinary to report on.
It is a bit like when I was i Queenstown and I did the paragliding the day after having done the skydiving, it just did not do a lot for me.
Half way through the journey, I’ll let you guess when, the camera stopped working. It was probably the battery and I am charging it now, but the experience has made me decide of making the camera together with the GoPro the next two items going to be chopped by my list of things to carry with me. Taking pictures with the new mobile phone yields results that are more than adequate to my needs and, with a few spare batteries, I will dramatically reduce the p.i.t.a index as well as the luggage weight.
The weather is amazing, it is the equivalent of end of October in Europe and the days are in the 20s and the nights in the teens. Last night I even had to uncover myself to start with and this afternoon, when I got to camp, I went for a swim in the ocean.
Two days at sub 50 miles will be followed tomorrow by a 60 miles day to get closer to the Bay of Islands. The weather is meant to keep to Sunday so there is every chance I will make it to Cape Reinga without getting wet. If not, I’ll just have to embrace the rain and keep on going.
Che sogno il mare!