Today, there was only a short distance, about 20 miles, remaining on the trail from Mapua to Nelson, so I did some extra touring along the way and increased it to 50 miles. I stopped at "Coffee on Queen" on Queen Street in Richmond, NZ for a full breakfast. That was a nice change from usual. Then, I passed the bike return shop and continued down the coast for a scenic ride. Then, back past the bike shop again to the other far side of town to stop at a pizza place the bike shop has recommended. I returned the bike at 4:05 pm to meet the 4:30 deadline. The same person was there so we discussed the POIs that he had mentioned to me before starting the trip. That was a nice completion to the ride as well as letting him know about the cottage I stayed at in the forest on day 1 that he didn't know about.
This completes my cycling trip on the NZ Great Taste Trail. It is a 120 mile loop and I rode approx 165 miles over the 4 days of riding and hiked 12 miles over 2 days of hiking in the middle. What a great journey! I met some great Kiwi's (New Zealanders) along the way. The last day of riding I also helped 2 different riders fix their bikes along the way! There are 23 so-called "great rides" in New Zealand. With this one and the Hauraki Rail Trail I did the previous week, that leaves 21 great trails for me to complete in the future! Yes, I will be back! I'm still here for another week. I'm in the airport on the way to Queenstown, which is near the South end of the South Island. Fiordland National Park is next!