Day 15 Maraehako Bay to Te Araroa 79km
Hottest day yet. Hot and sunny all day made it a harder day than it should have been. The road turned inland and rolled over hill after hill covered in manuka bushes just coming into flower. Lots of beehives and bees. We learned later they were all owned by the East Cape Manuka Factory who pay the landowners to site the hives.
A tail wind blew us the last few km to the campsite, yet again on a beach, laid back and beautiful and claiming to have the most eastern cinema in the world(it was a shed-we didn't investigate further). Decided to cycle a further 12km round trip to the store at the other end of the beach in search of salad and fruit. A success, although the 6k back into a headwind was a bit of a killer. Enjoyed a glass(plastic cup actually) of wine with a Dutch cycling couple. Serious bike envy on our part so we're designing the new tandem. It will have very comfortable saddles.....