I had 100km to do to get to the 3pm ferry, so I was up by 4.45 and out the door by 5.30. 
It was a very pleasant ride at night, along the quiet road, and beautiful as the sun rose, over the mist. 

I met my first trail TA trail angels- a few kids handing out watermelons at the top of a climb. Delicious! Just what I needed. 

It was a much faster day, the first section was relatively flat. I got to Dargaville and had another meat pie before starting out toward Poutu. 69km to go! 

There was only one more shop before the ferry with 55km to go, so I filled up with another meat pie, ready to tackle the last section.  Despite stocking up, it got hotter and hotter and I’d run out of water. Luckily some of the other TA riders spared me some of theirs.  

There were a few tough climbs near the end, so I changed my crank length from my 100s to 125. It wasn’t a great idea- this immediately shaved 2-3km/hr off my cruising speed on the flat and downhills, and just made it more uncomfortable on the bum. My legs were struggling with heat and dehydration so I still ended up walking a lot of climbs. 

It was a race to get to the once-a-day charter boat at Poutu Point, but I made it just in time at 2.40, with 20min to spare. It took 3 1/2hrs to get across to Parakai, where I spent the night recovering from the first three days of pain. This was a ferry I did not want to miss!