Leaving Motueka this morning the weather was cloudy and cool. On the North Island, Cyclone Pam is battering the east coast.

The Great Taste Trail started about 7km out of Motueka, turning off the busy highway and heading for Mapua, where a short ferry ride took me across the inlet to Rabbit Island.

From the ferry, a series of forest roads and formed bike trails skirted the beachfront and crossed the tidal flats to Richmond. 

The swing bridge was really quite strange to ride across. Near the middle it got a good sway going and made steering a straight line quite difficult.

From Richmond it was an easy cruise along the coastal bikepath into Nelson, where I was soon settled into nice room not far from the city centre.

Tomorrow I'm heading for Havelock, a centre for the green-lipped mussel industry. There are a couple of climbs along the way but the thought of a great big bowl of steamed mussels for dinner should be plenty of motivation.

Click here for a Doarama visualisation of the route.