Mistletoe Bay was fabulous. Staying in a cabin would be well worth it. You can swim in the bay – even a jetty to jump off.

I had a cottage which I ended up sharing with some TA trampers. That was fantastic for me as I had great company at the end of day one and the accommodation was divided by 7. Cheap as chips.

The trampers have been walking for 4 months with 2 months to go. They are heading into the Richmond ranges for 14 days carrying all their food and gear – which makes my worrying about 2 days self- sufficiency seem a bit silly. We all cooked our seperate meals (dehydrated food – just add water) and had a great conversation sitting around in the lounge.

We went out for a walk to check the glow worms and the bioluminescence (blue sparks near the waters edge when agitated).

The trampers headed off at 7.00 and I loaded up the bike and was off by 7.30-ish. The last bit of the Queen Charlotte track to Anakiwa was magic. It’s been seriously groomed and is not technical so was was zipping along. The early bit had some mud and a tree branch down and a few rocky creek crossings but all good.

The coffee caravan was closed so took a photo of the wharf – ate a bar and headed off to Picton. 26km but quite hilly. I considered the link pathway but that had a big climb after momorangi bay so stayed on the road.

Coffee and bacon and eggs in Picton then rode the last bit to Spring Creek, Blenheim. I stayed at the Spring Creek holiday park – there was a four square 600m away so found some tuna to add to my dehy smoked fish pie and some tomatoes from across the road at the produce stall. Lots of motor homes, motorbikes and tourists which is awesome to see. Fully booked out. I had a great rest – ready for day 3 which didn’t have the best weather forecast.