24 February

Today we started from Richmond and got as far as Wakefield where we stopped at the Rhubarbe Cafe for coffee. The man there told us that the next part of the trail had been damaged by Cyclone Gita. We revised and went to Belgrove instead. We had lunch at the tavern there. What a lovely place
It would make a great wedding venue. The garden was beautiful and had little corners where it was private. The gates were made from bikes.
And then there was Bella. Bella was not giving her tennis ball to anyone but every now and then she would drop it nearby and then watch closely until one of us was silly enough to try to pick it up.  Then she was lightning fast and would snatch it away. This time she positioned herself a bit further away. She realised we were too slow. She wasn't expecting me to kick it though.
We again deviated from the route and decided to go to St Arnaud. I ran out of battery and luckily Ron came back to find me. St Arnaud was totally booked out. The receptionist at the hotelsaid I could charge my battery there and so we stayed at the DOC camp.  It was called Teetotal. Luckily we were there English because it filled rapidly. We had dinner at the hotel and realised that it was the first time we had gone somewhere for dinner since we left Kaikohe. Not counting fish and chips as going out for dinner.
Unfortunately there was a wet patch on the seat of the car and my pants were soaked when we arrived but the lovely young waiter brought me a towel to sit on and by the time I left I was dry again. And the battery was fully charged.