Overnight the remnants of Cyclone Pam arrived and I woke to the sound of rain on the roof. I left Nelson in steady rain and took the cycleway out of the city as far as went, before joining the highway and enduring the cloud of spray raised by each truck that passed.

Fortuitously the rain stopped just as I reached the first climb of the day, the Gentle Annie, and I was able to strip of my rain jacket as the temperture began to rise. The Gentle Annie lived up to its name, and was followed soon after by the climb of the Whangamoa Saddle. Somehow this hill had escaped my attention but it proved a long and slow ascent

Eventually I topped the saddle and headed for the climb I did know about - the Rai Saddle, which proved a mere pimple after the Whangamoa.

On the descent from the Rai Saddle I came to a cafe and stopped for a coffee and cake, but did not linger long with 30kms still to go. I was not tempted by the cafes at Rai Valley or Pelorus Bridge, arriving at Havelock late in the afternoon.

Havelock is the self-proclaimed world capital of the greenshell mussel, and I was on a mission to get a potful of 'em for dinner.

I quickly settled into a room and after a lovely warm shower headed off to the Mussell Pot for the best dinner I've had this tour.

Click here for a Doarama visualisation of the route.