Today we drove down to Bannockburn to restart the Sounds to Sounds. Unfinished business from 11 months ago now. Andy and I are staying at the Nevis Inlet Airbnb that I tested positive for Covid at – so nice to able to stay there again this time well and not sick.

Shona, Lynne and Kevin are 3.5 km away and we are eating dinner together. Tomorrow Lynne and I bike up to Duffers Saddle and through the Nevis Valley and out to Garston. Hopefully the coffee bomb is open and I get to celebrate a long ride with carrot cake and a coffee, before pedalling 10km to our accommodation at Athol.

We enjoyed lunch at Mint folk and co in Tekapo – must be a new cafe as I don’t remember it from the S2S trip.

I have little gear – just my frame bag, front roll with warm and wet weather gear and my food bag which has the first aid kit and emergency bars. It feels very luxurious to be only doing four days, not carrying my sleeping gear, riding to the accommodation and having a bed and hot shower guaranteed each night.

Weather for tomorrow is forecasted to be cool early on and a high of 24 degrees. As we are at elevation I am expecting it to be a bit cooler on the top. No rain forecast and we might get some wind.