I often wake up early (around 7am) but don't leave my sleeping bag for an hour or so while I wait for the sun to warm the world a little. Today I was forced out of my bag as it was over 70 degrees when I woke up. By 10 it had passed 80! There wasn't even a breeze and I was dripping sweat on the early hills. A pitch black storm cloud was rolling in and I started pedaling as hard as I could, hoping to find shelter in the upcoming town. I didn't make it to town in time, but I did find a covering at a domain to hide under before it started to rain hard. I ate lunch and read for a bit while I waited out the heavy rain and thunder. By the time this finishes the temperature is down to 60 and stayed there.

A bit of a short day, though, only put in 60km. I guess that's more “normal” if you ignore this crazy week of 100km days. Passed through Kaka Point, a small beach town that I expected to make it to and camp at last night. Kept going and finished at Balclutha which is roughly the end of the Catlins and is actually only about 90km from Dunedin, a city I was at about two weeks ago. This concludes my weird coastal trip and in the coming days I will cut diagonally across the country to head up the west coast.