We awoke on Friday morning to see Mt Cook in all her glory.  This is very special as not everyone gets to see her – mountains do tend to attract clouds.  This is the second time I have done this trip and on both occasions I have been very fortunate to see Mt Cook cementing my SUNGRL reputation : )   

 
          After breakfast and a quick look around the very impressive Aoraki Mt Cook Visitor Information Centre we drove back to where we finished our cycle the day before.  We cycled along the shores of Lake Pukaki.  It was a stunning day and the vistas were magical.  We then crossed the highway to cycle the Pukaki Flats which is an expansive area of dry grasslands that are characteristic of the Mackenzie landscape.

 Next stop was Twizel where we had lunch at Poppies Cafe which was very nice.  The sun was out in full force so we were in for a hot afternoon.  We headed out of Twizel towards the Ohau Canal which meets up with Lake Ohau.  We then went off road again on a trail that skirts the foreshore of the lake.  It was a lovely track and much nicer cycling than on the road like we did the first time we did the ride in 2012.

The lakeside track meets up with Lake Ohau Road 10km before the Lodge which was our accommodation for the night.  The wind seems to get up in the afternoon so we had a head wind to the Lodge which was a bit challenging for everyone.  The Lodge driveway was a welcome sight even though you still have about 500m of a gentle uphill to reach the Lodge itself.  We had a great meal at the Lodge and lots of laughs with the daily fine session.  Raewyn had fallen off her bike just before Twizel and Roberta had admitted to mistaking the Deep Heat for her toothpaste!  Roberta was awarded Duckhead our Dick of the Day award : )  Paul felt the need to give Murray a call to let him know about Roberta’s antics!