We drove to the cute city of Nelson after our stay in Marahau. It was just a short drive of around an hour, going by orchards and vineyards. Many of them were under netting to protect them from hungry birds. (Fun fact: New Zealand has very few bugs because of its high number of birds). Nelson is right on the north coast of the South Island and features a small harbor protected from the ocean by a long spit. We stayed just west of town in a campground near Tāhuna Beach.
Since it didn’t take long to drive, we had the whole afternoon to explore the city. First, we drove up Princes drive which follows the ridge of a steep hill for a view over the city, admiring all the lovely homes clinging to hillside with their amazing ocean views. Next we drove to the very close city center. The high point (literally and figuratively) is the cathedral which was on top of a beautifully landscaped hill with a grand staircase that started at the end of the main pedestrian shopping street and ended at the top with the Cathedral tower. We enjoyed the flowers and trees on the hill, and the modern cathedral inside. It took 40 years to complete starting in 1927.
Tucked away nearby was a short dead-end street called South Street. It featured historic cottages built in the 1860s to house workers who were coming to help build the settlement. Somehow, this little street and its cute little cottages survived decades of redevelopment and are today prized historic homes.
After a little stroll in the city center and a delicious stop at Penguino’s Ice-cream Café, we visited the Queen’s Gardens full of wonderful trees, walking paths and a stream flowing through it.
Finally, we headed to the Botanical Reserve which hosted the first game of rugby played in New Zealand on May 14, 1870. It featured a large hill with a monument called the Centre of New Zealand at the top. We climbed up the trail to reach the top and were rewarded with great views. This is the symbolic center of New Zealand and for many years this point was used for geolocation purposes (before the advent of GPS).
On the way down we followed a path leading to a Kauri tree. Kauri are among the world’s mightiest trees, growing to over 160 feet tall, with trunk girths up to 15 feet! They can live for over 2,000 years. They used to be plentiful in New Zealand but the magnificent forests got decimated when the settlers arrived as Kauri wood was used extensively for ships, dams and buildings.
When we got back to our campground, the tide was out and the beach was amazingly wide. Before we left there was hardly any beach to walk on. High tide was 14 feet on that day, while low tide was less than 2 feet. We are still trying to get used to this extreme tidal change. It was cloudy on the horizon when the sun was setting, but about ten minutes after it set, the sky lit up behind the Abel Tasman mountains to give us a little show for red and orange.
The next day we had the good fortune to have dinner with a native New Zealander who had also lived in Minnesota. Lesley is the step-mom of one of my former coworkers (Rob). When he found out we were traveling to New Zealand he suggested we get together with her. We had such a fun time learning more about New Zealand from her – as well as hearing about some of her world travels. She made us a lovely home-cooked meal including home-grown purple potatoes, herbs, plums and even a new fruit we hadn’t tried before: feijoa.
Lesley is a very active lady – biking to the ocean to swim regularly, checking traps at a nearby reserve, hiking, playing pickle ball, etc. When we met her, she had just gotten back from a multi-day horse-riding excursion in the Canterbury mountains. That seems typical of a lot of New Zealanders we see – they are very active and outdoorsy. We often see families with young kids on trails we would have never attempted when our kids were young. I think that if you live in New Zealand, you have to embrace the amazing outdoors.
Leave a Reply