Third time unlucky I guess - I've finally been caught out by the west coast's notoriously wet weather. It rained heavily during dinner last night then on and off all night, finally settling in to constant heavy rain early in the morning. So no riding today.

By midday the rain has eased to frequent heavy showers, and right now the sun has made an appearance. But checking the weather forecast was not good news, heavy rain is expected again in the morning and a severe weather alert has been issued, with warnings about local flooding.

The locals say it's the first rain which has fallen for two months, and they're very happy to see it. I wish it would have waited another week. The delay is making a mess of my itinerary.

Forecast for Sunday is showers, so I'm hoping they won't stop me from making some progress.

On display at Otira. Cyclists have been coming this way for a long time.