Day 87, 58km: by Amy

I found a little puppy outside our bungalow this morning which meant I started the day happy.

The morning was lovely and flat. We stopped under a tree for a break and Chris was complaining about the lack of hills 'which make it interesting'. Shortly after just as the temperature was soaring we hit a massive sustained 12% incline for 4km. I was unimpressed and blamed Chris entirely for wishing hills upon us. We descended down the other side into a pretty river valley and had lunch on a tree stump next to a pretty stream. 

 

Lunchtime

 

 I was reluctant to leave the shady stream bank as it was roasting and we had another climb ahead. However, we had ground to cover so i dowsed myself in the stream and headed out. Unfortunately the next climb was even bigger and just as steep as the last. This was definitely higher than the vague contour lines on the map suggested we should be going. Having realised we were not going to accomplish the 80km days I'd planned (when I thought it was all flat) my motivation to finish the climb waned. Instead chris found an awesome camp spot by a mountain stream hidden on an old forest track. 

 

Washing in the stream