11th January 2022 (cloudy and mild) 20km

Beautiful campground, great pitch, but last night after 11pm, we had a Russian woman who thought it  was okay to talk loudly on her phone, when everyone else was asleep, except me. Of course, when she laughed, it was even louder than her conversation. I'm picking at that time of night she was talking to a northern hemisphere caller.                    

We have been on the road for over three weeks now and I'm amazed at how much hair I find in the tent.  With very little left to worry about myself, and the length of hair, it can only be one other person. I am totally expecting to wake up one morning to find myself staring at Bruce Willis.                                          

Most people that know us, have wondered why it's taken so long for me to start pulling my hair out!  Of course the answer is that I started with Pete's hair.

Looking out the tent when we woke at 7am, forced us to pack  up toute-de-suite as there was a misty cloud looking as though it could turn into something heavier.                             

Over to the kitchen for a cuppa and then into town to "103 The Store" for breakfast. As we ate the mist began to lift. Took off on probably the best surface so far for the 20km ride to Miller's Flat, a very short days ride alongside the mighty Clutha which has the highest volume of water of any New Zealand river. It can be beautiful, eerie, dangerous and very fast flowing. 

I was hoping we'd find fruit trees dripping with cherries and apricots down here but all we got was these tiny and not very tasty plums.

We did stop and shoot, but on this stretch of the river, the willows blocked a lot of views. The ride was cruisy, the weather mild and before we knew it, we were in Millers Flat, a small conglomeration of houses, a school, cafe, pub and holiday park. 

Checked into the latter and set up in a sheltered spot in the corner. All pitched in no time and down for a coffee at Faigans Cafe & Store. The pub apparently is the only place available tonight for food.                                          

Went for a little walk after lunch to scope out where the pub was and it turned out to be just over the blue bridge crossing the Clutha.

Back at camp, Brody disappeared, Julia went for a shower and I looked around camp. Seem to be plenty of semi permanent occupants here in larger house buses.                       

Brody had made friends with Jaffa (a guy from Wellington) .. believe it or not, and his partner Jenny. Both of them used to be dancers. He is right into his photography, so he and Brody had a lot to talk about. 

We wiled away the afternoon showering, washing clothes and blogging until 6pm, when we wandered along the road and over the bridge to the local pub.                              

Brody had the burger, Julia the salmon and I had the ribs and they were all delicious. The barman and the lady chef were hard cases and we shared some good banter. We also struck up conversation with Ross, an 87 year old, retired watch maker, who, until three years ago, was still riding his Ducati. Lorraine his wife was lovely and we just chatted freely until their meal arrived and we all settled into eating mode. 

Struck up conversation again after the meal, until we wandered back to camp, with Jaffa and Jenny, who had also eaten there. Jenny told me about living in Crete and dancing there. Nowadays, she's in HR,  but still misses her old life. Jaffa, apparently, was a really good hip hop dancer. At the tents, (they were pitched next to us) we discussed the use of drones to capture footage and all the legal requirements and paperwork needed to comply. Into bed at 9.30am ready for an early-ish start tomorrow.