Day 12: Hunterville > Palmerston North
5 March 2020
6:00am left Hunterville with a fairly stocked belly and a packed lunch. We had some long riding today with very few towns in between, so not a lot of food options available. North Islsnd farm country is generally hilly and we were in farming central. Lots of hills, lots of gravel roads, lots of climbing.
Apiti was our first real stop at about 11:00. Packed lunch came in handy, as we had been told there wasn’t anything available. That being said, the community hall was open from tea and more importantly water. A bloke was also cooking up all day breakfast on the bbq, so everywhere we go, people are going the extra mile to support the tour riders and it is really appreciated.
From Apiti we were onwards to Ashurst we we copped our first serious headwinds. 30 degree heat into headwinds sucks the energy from everyone, so the last 20kms into Palmy Nth were an effort (there’s a reason Palmy has turbines in the hill)
Tonight I’ve been hosted by good friends Claire and Rick. Watered, showered, laundered and well fed, gives me a great springboard to ride through time Martinborough tomorrow and a step closer to a night at home. Thanks guys really appreciate the effort.