January 31 - Wanganui to Sanson - 56 km

Today started off well.  Cloudy but with a good tailwind.  The weather forecast was for drizzle, rain and high winds later on.

Rolling country again with not much in the way of hills.  I saw this immaculate pasture (probably better than some of the greens you putt in, eh, Pat).  It had a pile of sheep so I stopped for a photo and a chat.  Unfortunately, I spooked them and they stampeded (sheep-peded?)

We made great progress and stopped in Bulls for a break. Bulls was named after John Bull, who first arrived in 1859 and had the new town named after him in 1872.  It's basically a wide spot in the road with services and a bus depot.  Check out the play on words on the sign. The library is Read-a-bull and the pharmacy is Indispens-a-bull.

7 km down the road from Bulls we had to turn right at Sanson village onto a different highway.  Bad move!  Now the wind was at right angles and blowing as hard as can be (weather report had gusts 100  - 120 km).  Less than a km further along, Laura was blown right off the road.  We tried for a while longer, but then gave up and went back to Sanson.

So, here we are, in a nice motel in beautiful downtown Sanson.  I told you Bulls was only a wide spot in the road - Sanson is so small the "Welcome" and "Goodbye" messages are printed on the same sign.  

Talking to some of the locals, they told us that it would have been worse further along at the Foxton flats and we were wise to curtail the day.  Not a total loss - I did some bike maintenance.  

We tried to get Internet access, but the only place in town is the Library and it was only open for 2 hours this morning.  So, you'll see this sometime in the future.

Our options for tomorrow:

1. If the wind decreases we'll ride,

2. Go back to Bulls and get a bus to Wellington.  The only problem is that bicycles are allowed on the bus as the discretion of the driver.  It will depend on what kind of mood he's in.  

Stay tuned and we'll tell you what happened.  Meanwhile, maybe I can find a Cricket match on the telly.  This last photo sort of summs up the day.