Sun Jan 29 (Maraehako to Ohiwa, 96km):

Breakfast was a double-portion of oatmeal (though fortified with raisins, milk, yoghurt and honey).

After inventory, Jenni informed us of our individual lunch rations:  5 crackers, 1 English muffin or 1-1/2 slices of bread, an orange or a banana.   We could have a good-sized hunk of cheese if we wanted.

Eric warned us that two years ago, when he'd scouted the trip, there was nowhere to get food between Maraehako and Opotiki (big enough to have a grocery store), about 80km away.  After all, there were only a few thousand people living in this part of the east cape. And we had passed quite a few   Realizing the seriousness of our situation, we tightened our belts and set off with grim resolve:  Opotiki by 2 pm or we'd have to eat Clif bars.

The terrain generally tended downhill and there was more tar on the road too (less used?), so we weren't subjected to as much shaking as on previous days.  The one exception was a bridge which was being reconstructed.  The pavement just ended suddenly on a downhill so we had to creep along the blasted road surface for almost a kilometre, before normal paving started again.  Then it was a steep, winding downhill so long, that my hands almost cramped up on the brakes even though I was on the granny gear of my Bike Friday.

Happily for us, in the last two years, cafes and pubs had sprung up.  There were three or four ice-cream stops along the way to Opotiki.   But as we moved inland, closer to Opotiki, it got hotter and the roads busier.  By afternoon, for the first time on the trip, I could ride without a light vest.  Previousl, I'd needed the vest due to the wind and the downhills.

To get to Ohiwa Family Holiday Park, we actually had to ride our bikes along the beach for a few hundred metres which was kinda neat.  It was exhausting, though, was pushing our bikes through the loose sand to get onto and off the beach.  Although it was a blazingly hot day, there were very few people on the beach.

Ohiwa Family Holiday Park had tenting sites, trailer sites with water and electricity and basic cabins, and fully-contained units with a kitchen and bathroom.  Our group had 2 basic cabins and 2 fully-contained units.  We cooked (pasta with meatballs, with Greek salad) in the communal kitchen.