The stretch between Napier and Masterton was actually nothing special, long drives through plains. Unfortunately, we had very strong southerly winds, so that we made only very slow progress in stretches. On the way we stayed overnight in Waipawa and Dannevirke.
From Dannevirke we fortunately had no headwind at the beginning, so that we already had 60km behind us at the lunch break. Therefore, we decided to combine two daily stages and ride to Masterton. The last climbs over Mt. Bruce were very scenic. Unfortunately, for the last 20km to Masterton, we were caught again by a really strong headwind, which slowed us down to less than 20km/h.
Finally we reached Masterton after 112km and 5h15. So our last stage on the North Island was also the longest. Rana's comment after 112km: "This is itze emu no gäbig gange".