“On your bikes”, exclaims Mikayla from her car window as Sherree and I pedal through the last 13km of the day, following our fish n chips. We arrive at the holiday park, settle and shower before heading into the hot pool. I have a cold shower. This is because I did not listen to Mikayla’s instruction to press the big green button labelled “push for hot water” upon entering. Oh well, the hot pools will warm me up. We have a chilled out evening of soothing our muscles and then set off to bed.

The next day, following a breakfast of peanut butter on toast, courtesy of the box labelled “free” in the kitchen, we begin our journey at about 9am, bidding farewell to Mikayla. The route today starts with a few kilometers of sealed road, before moving onto the roughly 100km long Hauraki Rail Trail. According to the official course guide, this may not have been open, but to our satisfaction, it is. This means we have no more road to do today – it’s all cycle trail. We start by passing a warning sign saying that the next 5.5km will be rough and slippery. It certainly is. The rocks are loose and we pedal along at around 10km/h. Nevertheless, we make it to our first “train station” – Piako.

The course then levels out and we are able to make great pace. We do wonder how bad this hardened mud trail would have been had it rained recently. We count our fortunes as we whizz along at 25km/h. Not bad for gravel. We have a little suncream and snack break at around the 25km mark and then decide to keep pushing until we reach Paeroa. Here, we stop for lunch at a cafe and I try the iconic Kiwi drink L&P for the first time. It’s not quite Lemonade. More like if someone liquidised a sherbet lemon.

As we are tucking into our lunch, loaded nachos in my case, we see two cyclists in the distance. It’s Aaron and Janet! We hope that they pull in for a bite to eat too and they do! With them taking a detour day to explore the gorge tomorrow, I know that this really will be goodbye now as I continue ahead. We wish each other the best for our travels and part ways.

Sherree and I somehow manage to bash out another 20km, despite being full of food, before reaching Te Aroha. We are both on a similar wavelength at this point. We are 80km into a 120km journey in the burning sun and really want an ice lolly. Struggling to find an ice cream shop or cafe, we settle for the supermarket and buy an eight pack. Having ventured off course, we ride around aimlessly into the abyss, before finally making our way back onto the track again. We then sit down and enjoy three lollies each in quick succession. If you think the maths doesn’t add up there, it’s because we each forced a lolly into our drinks bottles in the hope of finally taking on some fluid that hasn’t reached 40°C in the sun.

With 30km to go, we get moving again. We manage to push through with no breaks as we glide along the long, flat trail. This hasn’t been a riveting journey, nor has it been terrible. The views of the countryside have been lovely and we have had some delightful breaks along the way, but we agree that pedalling in a straight line with no hills for 30km does your back in.

After about 120km, we arrive at a cross road. This is it. The sad moment we have been dreading. We are parting ways. I will continue to my Airbnb, before attempting another 100km ride tomorrow, whilst Sherree will camp at the holiday park and wait a day for her other sister to arrive before continuing. We wave each other off and go our separate ways. It has been a period of goodbyes, starting with Markus, then Ash and Andy, Aaron and Janet and now Sherree. I cycle along to my accommodation for the night and sleep like a baby, with a belly full of pumpkin soup that I had also stolen from the “free box” in the holiday park. I will miss my riding buddies.