After a quiet night I start out around eight from the forest camp. Soon the first uphill, Rai Saddle, comes up and its 150 m ascent in the morning feels harder than the higher hills yesterday.
At Pelorus Bridge I only stop shortly as the sandflies are too aggressive here.
The mostly flat road to Havelock with medium strong headwinds is annoyingly slow and traffic is quite heavy. The town calls itself the ‘Green Mussel Capital of the World’, though I’m sure there are mussel capitals for all colours of the rainbow…
I take the smaller and much quieter Queen Charlotte road and as I stop on a small hill after Havelock the spanish cyclist from the day before rides up to me again. After the short downhill to Linkwater he continues on to Piction, while I turn north.
The Marlborough Sound maritime park starts here and I ride a small road up a very steep hill. I painfully feel that I haven’t eaten much all day and turn towards the first DoC campsite in Moetapu bay. This turns out to be a beautiful spot direcly by the sea. The sun burns hot, the water is cool and the wind blows the flies away. A great spot for my last camp in New Zealand.
