It seems every time I sleep in the tent it rains, and so it did last night. When I woke up it was still raining so I laid inside waiting for the rain to pass. One hour later I started to pack my wet gear, then I waited a little more until the rain stopped, before heading towards to Bluff. I used quiet secondary roads to avoid being splashed by passing trucks.
I was pressing on at full steam to make up for lost time. Knowing there were thunderstorm forecasted for Bluff later in the afternoon I wanted to get there as soon as possible. I barely stopped until I crossed the imaginary finish line of Stirling Point on the Southern tip of New Zealand, my cycling tour’s final destination!
I reached the end just over a month after I cycled out of Cape Reinga, 3000 kilometers away. I was tired but happy. My Brompton, Greengo, and I both overcame challenges and arrived here safe and sound. It was a great trip even though it was a tough one.
While sitting at Stirling Point I had a mixed feelings, as characteristic of us Pisces: one voice was yelling “Yay, we did it!” and the other one, slightly sad, was whispering “Oh, no, is it already over?”.
Today in numbers:
127 km – distance cycled
1403 km – distance between Cape Reinga and Stirling Point, in a straight line
2033 km – length of State Highway 1 that runs from Cape Reinga to Stirling Point