Bike trip today then! Up, packed and out early this morning on the the way to Taumarunui.

Rather than detour for better roads from Levin, we pushed on up the SH1 to Bulls (memora-bull place) stopping at Foxton on the way for coffee at the Cafe on Route66/SH1 – just for you Fitz!

We carried on up to Bulls and took the SH3 to Wanganui where we stopped for a refill – petrol and coffee!

We then took the SH4 up to Taumarunui and were looking forward to it as we hadn’t done this stretch before.

We stopped at the Raukawa Falls and chatted to a couple of fashion designers/deliverers from the UK who had taken a year off during the recession to travel around the world. They’d done 2 months in Australia and were well into their trip around New Zealand – however, going stir crazy in the small camper van!

Off and riding again, we headed for the Station cafe in National Park – not the National Park, but National Park the town…….

We headed off for the last bit of the trip felling suitably refreshed, with Mt Ruapeho on our right.

We arrived at Taumarunui in time to book in, walk around to the local RSA (Returned Servicemans Association) for a lovely dinner and then, after a little walk for dinner to go down, into a spa pool before bed – bliss!

Distance travelled 313km (approx 196 miles)