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Hoo er yer lake?

Storm gone from Haast, it was up early aiming for Wanaka.  At 150km it would be our longest stretch yet, but would take out of the West Coast at last, and into Otago.  

TLDR we nailed it.  

Haast Pass was no doddle, but we obviously had it in our legs and made it to the summit both feeling pretty good.  What another gorgeous environment!

We got up early this time and ate a breakfast we had bought the day before.  The ride started with 50 undulating kms to Pleasant Flat before the ascent to Haast Pass.   

Speeding down from Haast Pass and into tail winds, we finished that leg with lunch at the Makarora Country Cafe 4kms into Makarora.  The place was crowded from a bus that arrived at the same time, but we managed to get a pie, milkshake and bits and pieces to fuel us well for the remaining 90kms of the day.

Views of Wanaka for the next 30kms or so were amazing, but it was over The Neck, the point where you can see both Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea that your mind gets blown.  As I’ve felt in the past, Lake Hawea is a beautiful lake.  Riding round it to the township was windy, even a bit scary at times for that reason, but also gorgeous.  

From Lake Hawea, it’s the Hawea River Trail.  It’s a fun, easy trail, again through a lovely landscape. 

We were actually stopping at Albert Town, about 4-8km short of Wanaka as that was where we could get accommodation.  Our digs were modern and comfortable, and set in a little residential square containing a 4 square, takeaway, laundromat and pub. It made a cool base.

We forgot to take our control photo at the end though, so need to get that tomorrow.  

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