My penultimate day cycling the A2O Trail was the first without any lakes, but there were plenty of unusual rock formations and history on the 44km ride to Tokarahi. Starting with Kurow Museum, documenting an impressively eventful small town with range of exhibits including a display on its most famous resident, All Black legend Richie McCaw.

The first stretch of trail along by the Waitaki River was one of the least interesting of the whole A2O with a straight easy gravel road alongside fields, with the river rarely visible, other than crossing a dry stream bed which can flood in heavy rain making it impassable for bikes.

The first stop of interest was around 20km in, at the Takiora Māori rock art though the artwork is mostly relatively new (19th century) and faded which made it somewhat underwhelming.

To be honest I found the rock formations around it more interesting.

The trail finally got closer to the Waitaki River, which the A2O Trail broadly follows from the mountains to the sea.

The trail goes through the rather pleasant Duntroon Wetlands.

Before arriving in Duntroon at the heritage Duntroon Gaol, complete with spooky mannequins inside.

St. Martin’s Church is apparently one of the most photographed in the region, though personally I prefer the more uniquely New Zealand wooden churches.

There were a few other things of interest in Duntroon…

The trail then continued through farmland, with the odd sheep in the path.

The Elephant Rocks were the highlight of the day, a field full of unusually shaped rocks.

Many of which looked like things. See if you can spot the following below – elephant, hippo, shark, rabbit, whale, and pengiun!

A little further on Anatini is home to an impressive rock lined gorge which the trail runs straight through.

After a steep set of switchbacks the landscape opens out to expansive farmland.

My day ended at the fabulous Tokarahi Huts, eight huts and shared facilities built out of the remains of the former homestead on the site, developed specifically for people cycling the A2O Trail. I was fortunate to have the whole place to myself, including a delicious DIY dinner and breakfast.