During the night I looked outside and the sky was clear and the stars were just fantastic, a free light show! Something that you just do not get to see living in a city with all the artifical light.

This was going to be a reasonably big day with total number of ks, so was on the road at 7.15am and while it was cool, it was not as bad as what I thought it would be and while there were some clouds, there was also sunshine and already just a bit of wind..

There were some long straights where the wind was not helpful, but then on some of the straights closer to Twizel it was better and the speed was up although the declining gradient was also a factor. It was interesting to note the extensive pivot irrigations working on uneven ground and while water has made the land fertile, you have to wonder at what cost and the economic benefits with cost of power and obtaining water etc..

I nodded to Max Smith the Engineer when I went past the rowing lake (cannot spell it!) and then it was in to the cafe at Twizel for breakfast, again ordered the works!!

While at the cafe I had a text response from Dave Enright to my enquiry as to how he had gone in the round Taupo yesterday and he had done well and had bettered his projected time and was walking today, so all good!

Heading out of Twizel the road surface was frankly bloody rough with a lot of big chip seal and not enjoyable to ride on. I stayed on the main road rather than the road along the canels, although this seemed to be closed anyway. I was counting the ks down to Tekapo as on occasions the wind was somewhat helpful and at other times definately not..

Lake Pukaki was low and the spillway was not working and Lake Tekapo was low as well.

Tekapo was a welcome stop for a bit of food and when after climbing out of the town onto the plateau the wind was definately helpful and it was a bit of a blast to and through Burkes Pass and most of the way to Fairlie. It is certainly easier heading north on this section of road (as it is a continual climb heading south) and my mind went back to an earlier tour with Al when we were doing this section in reverse and out of Fairlie I was sick and had a sleep on the side of the road in the long grass for a couple of hours.. I think that we got to Tekapo on that day at around 3pm and our destination was Omarama which we finally reached after 9pm..

At a cafe at Fairlie I met a German touring cyclist, Matt, who was off to Pleasant Point and was not impressed with our nor westerly winds..

After the climb out of Fairlie, it was then a real hoot in the decent section and there was a surprising amount of traffic, although had noted that there was a motorcross event south of Fairlie and a number of vehicles had trailers with motorcross bikes.. The road went on for a while and was a bit more lumpy than I remembered and somewhere along the line the number of ks increased from what the Maps application stated and the road signs, unfortunately the road signs won by about 8ks!

You would think that you would not have trouble finding your motel in Geraldine, but I did and had to resort to getting the tablet out. The Spark (Telecom) free wifi zones within range of their phone boxes are an asset at times like this.. The motel was further out that I intended being north of the town round the bend past the park on the right.. When I finally found it, they did not have the AA booking done last night, but got me in anyway..

I am in a 2 bedroom unit so Mr Scott has their own room tonight! The motel is older but tidy and fully equipped with a kitchen. I could write a book on my motels experiences and get peeved with those where you have to fill the jug in the vanity and then even more peeved when the jug won’t fit under the taps and invariably in these motels there is no dish washing liquid so how clean was your cup from the previous occupant..??

Anyway, total ks for the day was 182, with a climbing elevation of 1,316m. Average speed was 26ks which despite the road generally decending, I was very happy with given the wind.

As I am writing this at the Monteiths bar, a shower has just gone through and forecast for tomorrow is for sou westerly which could be just what I need to get a push home..

It seems a bit strange that tonight (all going well) is my last night on the road and that tomorrow I will have to cook my own dinner and while a little disappointed that this Odyssey is just about over, I am also looking forward to getting home and reliving the experiences from the comfort of home..