Thames

I didn't want to get up today at all!! I had a terrible night's sleep despite being completely exhausted from my long cycle and hike in the mountains yesterday and despite having the whole dorm room to myself. My legs and especially my knees were in pain from the steep hiking trail. I contacted the Conservation centre to say I had found my phone but had lost my bike helmet!! Luckily they had it as I had left it there yesterday. Phew!! This meant a 22 mile round trip to retrieve it! So much for having a nice relaxing day off, lol 😂
Managed to escape the heavy downpour by stopping in Thames Town centre to have my hair cut at the barbers. When I questioned the fact that ladies haircuts were more expensive than mens when all I wanted was a man's haircut, the barber said that ladies had 'softer' cuts! What a load of bollocks! That's discrimination if you ask me. I just wanted a bog standard cut done with clippers and scissors. Anyway when I paid she knocked 5 dollars off so that was good :-)
Luckily there were no more heavy showers after this so I was able to enjoy a very pleasant repeat journey up to the visitor centre. My legs were so sore and I was so tired that I struggled with the small hills but the stunning countryside as I got into the mountains kept me happy. Retrieved my helmet and went for a lovely swim in the river nearby. It was lovely being in the river when it started to rain. I love watching the rain drops hitting the surface of the water. It was lush having the river to myself and being able to look up at the forested mountains and all the tree ferns around me. Back in town I returned to the cafe from yesterday and had a delicious gluten free meat pie and also bought 6 of their very reasonably priced gluten free cakes ( 2 of each). Wandered round some shops as another heavy shower came down. Then back to camp to meet my new dorm mates. I was excited to see a touring bike parked outside the dorm. Spent most of the evening chatting to 2 lovely German guys, one my age and 1 younger. The older guy had been cycling round New Zealand since the New Year as a had cycled up from Christchurch. I was able to follow his route on this app which I'd never heard of before. So here I am writing up my first entry on this app. It will plot my route and include my photos.
Really been enjoying the cooler weather today. Still been shorts and t-shirt weather though. Been very humid earlier from all the rain evaporating off the tarmac. More rain this evening has cleared the humidity. After being the only person in my dorm room last night I have 5 other room mates tonight 1 from France, 1 Belgium, 1 Dutch and 2 German.Les mer