We knew it was going to be a wet day, but the forecast break never came. We had booked a tour for the morning, so had a pleasant and dry drive around the Maniototo area with Sam, a semi-retired farmer from Naseby who now does a range of things including tours. He grew up here, knew the history of the place and could answer the various questions about things we had seen as we’d been biking. On a better day we would have gone up Danseys Pass but as it was we got to see a bit of the area beyond the Trail. And had a fine lunch at the Danseys Pass Hotel.

So we were on the bikes around 2pm at Ranfurly Station but it wasn’t long before there was an issue: the chain on John’s bike snapped after about 1.5 km of the 18 km ride. As my bike was making some worrying clunking noises I went back to Ranfurly with him. Neil and Colleen pressed on in the rain.

Jacquie from Big Sky arranged for John and me to be transferred to Kokonga Lodge and for the bike providers to fix the bikes. In the end we all arrived at Kokonga at around the same time. Where it was warm, dry, Frank had a fire lit, and after a hose off washing and hot showers were the order of the day.

We ate here last night and hoped that the forecast easing of the rain would come – spoiler alert – it hasn’t. So it’s currently around 5C and with light rain. Supposed to ease off by 10. Today’s ride is 41 km through to Middlemarch with a transfer to the train for Dunedin at Pukerangi. We are planning on a 4 hour ride but may be a bit quicker depending on the track condition. We don’t want to have to sit around muddy and wet in Middlemarch but we don’t want to miss our transfer either! I see soggy sneakers in my future!

So, here are some photos of Naseby, where we stayed on Wednesday night, and an idea of how wet it was yesterday.