Day 17 started in the Octagon, meeting with the Otago Daily Times. (A great article to follow the next day). A stunning day in sunny Dunedin and we were warm pretty quick as we ventured on up and out over the hilly streets towards Brighton on the Southern Scenic Route. Once again, we had awesome coastal views to keep us going as we went up and down along the rolling hills. The steep and seemingly never ending hill from Taieri Mouth over to Waihola really put us to the test. It was a killer. We had never been so pleased to make it to Milton before. Day 18 saw us to Kaka Point. It was great to meet back up with Bruce Campbell and this time with Bethy too. We enjoyed a meal at The Point Caf? and Bar along with good friends Aimee Keenan and Chris Tong. On day 19 we were up for a 5.30am start to ride out to watch the sun rise at the Nugget Point lighthouse. We got to see the lighthouse in action but only when we were pretty close as the mist was fairly thick. It got light at some point, but we never really saw the sun until later in the day. We thought we had got away with riding our bikes on the gravel with no punctures but discovered a slow leak when leaving Kaka Point. Only the second for Megan and 3 in total for the trip. Not too bad. More rolling hills saw us to Owaka where we caught up with Grant and Sally Newby who were on their way back North, and then Brad's parents and nephews which was a nice early surprise. We were feeling at home already and it made the rest of the trip seem to go fast. We hung out at Papotowai where Megan's parents caught up with us later in the day for dinner. It was awesome to see everyone and we were very excited about the following day. Day 20 was epic. We met the Golden's and Kathryn Marshall at Tautuku. Leigh and Kathryn joined us for the rest of the way to Tokanui. Along the way we were joined by Brad's parents, sister's, niece and nephews. Our team had grown! Bruce, Nic, Bradyon and Angus all joined us on their bikes for parts of the ride. We had heaps of fun and were well ready for dinner at the Tokanui Bistro by the time we arrived. It was an outstanding day for support and donations. With $1180 in donations made yesterday and the $235 we collected along the way on the ride added to the Givealittle page, our total is now $3665. An awesome result! Thank you so much to Suzie and the team at the Tokanui Bistro, raising $180 and helping us out with the raffle, the Tokanui Rugby Club for their $250 donation, to Bruce and Gaye Lamb for their $250 donation, to The Whistling Frog Caf? for their $100 donation and to everyone else who contributed throughout the day and night at the Tokanui Rugby Club and Tokanui Tavern. Also, continued thanks to everyone who has donated and supported us in so many ways so far. We, the kids we are doing this for and their families hugely appreciated all of your interest and support!
