Nelson

Judy. A few years ago we made a decision to focus on "second tier cities," cities that aren't major hubs, and aren't little villages. We like walkable places, with a good airport nearby, and with interesting things to do. Let me be clear--I'll NEVER turn down Paris, though even in that city we chose to live in a suburb.

Wāitai River, mountains, and Nelson City Council building from the Riverwalk

Nelson, New Zealand, or Whakatū, Aotearoa (the Māori name), fits the bill just fine. The earliest settlements in the country were here, by the Māori, over 700 years ago. The English arrived in 1841, and found it just as agreeable. The weather is pleasant, the Tasman sea is lovely, and it's got mountains on the non-coastal side. The Wāitai River runs through it, and our sunny apartment is a block from that, right on the edge of the downtown area.

We never run out of things to do here: There's the Queen's Garden for a lovely shaded park, lots of shops (including "Op Shops," the second-hand shops I tend to haunt), and I don't recognize any of the store names, which I think is great. In many cities, you could easily be anywhere in the world, with Gap, H&M, etc. lining the streets. There are good bars and restaurants; a movie theatre; and a lively music scene, as well as art galleries. And the coffee! Pick your poison, it's everywhere.

Moongate in the Chinese Garden section of the Queen's Garden

You're also close to wineries and national parks for exploring. Yep, I fell in love.

Ted in the Brook Waimarama Wildlife Sanctuary-a grandpa with a grandpa tree

I am impressed by the care for the earth, expressed in the food and artisan markets, the recycling, and the absolute dearth of trash on the streets.

One night we attended "Opera in the Park," an annual music festival held on the local rugby pitch. Local acts opened, then the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra played, later accompanying Madeleine Pierard and Oliver Sewell, two New Zealand opera stars, as they sang duets and arias. Then came Annie Crummer and Stan Walker, pop singers from the country. The seven thousand attendees, who sat on the ground or on chairs they brought, drank their wine and ate their snacks, danced and sang along with the performers, then left with their trash, leaving the ground spotless. Now, how many places can you think of where that happens?

Stage on the left and big screen on the right

Wandering around one afternoon, I found the atelier of New Zealand designer Robyn Reynolds. She and her sister operate the shop, and I loved her clothing. I broke my Op Shop rule, and splurged on a pair of linen overalls. Mostly, I just enjoyed talking to Robyn.

Robyn and sister in her workshop/shop

Trafalgar Square, at the end of Trafalgar Street, is where a lot of the restaurants and bars are located. Ted watched the Super Bowl at a bar there with some other Americans and a few Kiwis, and on another night we had a dinner at Harry's Hawker House, which makes Singaporean Street food. Pretty darned fabulous. Across from the Square, and up a hill stands the Nelson Cathedral--quite imposing, with beautiful grounds, but we chose to attend All Saints Anglican, a friendly small but growing church. 

Trafalgar Square on a quiet morning

There are murals all around town. Some are lovely, and some have a sense of humor.

On Saturday there will be a "Sing Fest"--choirs from around the city will perform at the Market and in Trafalgar Square. 

We've had coffee with some Servas hosts and a couple from church, and are delighted when we run into one of them as we wander town. One night we were invited to the homes of Lizzy and Steve, whom we met at Opera in the Park.

With Lizzy and Steve at their beautiful home in Māpua

I know everyone has heard of how wonderful New Zealand is. It's true, it's true! Our experience on the South Island is in many ways different from that we had six years ago, when we stayed far south in Te Anau and just hiked for a week. We've done some walks in National Parks here, too, but are also happy living in this lovely city. I sure hate to leave.

Wharariki Beach

Ted. Our Swedish friends, Malou and Björn told us about this place which lies in the northernmost portion of Kahurangi National Park. My old college buddy, Tom also recommended it so one morning we drove northwest from Nelson to see what it was all about. The first challenge was to correctly pronounce the name of the beach. For some reason, “wh” is pronounced as “f” in Maori. 

It took us over 2-1/2 hours to travel the 100 miles to Wharariki because roads in NZ are two lane, narrow and curvy. Fortunately, there are plenty of interesting things to see along the way. First we drove along Tahunanui Beach, then through fruit country where we saw lots of apples, apricots, melons and other gems, all being harvested and sold at roadside stands. Entering the town of Motueka we had to stop when we saw a mural of Ricky Baker, the main character in a NZ film we love called The Hunt for the Wilderpeople. 

Then it was up and over Takaka Hill. This is a hair raising, windy road that quickly climbs from sea level to the peak at 2,600 ft with only an occasional guard rail. Poor Judy was a wreck by the time we made it to the other side and glimpsed Golden Bay. There are glorious views in every direction and apparently several scenes from The Lord of the Rings were shot around here. After driving along the shores of Golden Bay, we ultimately reached our destination; a carpark and, as always in NZ, a cafe.

Once fortified, we headed out on the half mile trail to the beach, crossing sheep and cow pastures. 

While walking along the beach, we were informed by some young German women that the rocks we were looking at are know as the Archway Islands and are actually pretty famous. Apparently Microsoft used a photo of them some years ago as a screen saver. Google it and you'll find lots of images that are better than my snapshots.

The tide was coming in when we got to the beach so we couldn’t get too close to the islands, With our binoculars we were able to glimpse some of the fur seals sunbathing on the rocks. Björn and Malou had visited the beach at low tide and were able to get close enough to see the baby seals playing in the tidal pools. You can see lots of videos on Youtube if you search “baby seals at Wharariki Beach.” 

Even though this was a Saturday afternoon in the summer, there were only about 20 people on the beach - nice! Judy pointed out to me that New Zealand has something in common with another place we love - Costa Rica. Both countries have huge beaches with only a few footprints. 

Abel Tasman National Park

Ted. This is the one of three national parks near Nelson and we recently drove there for a day hike. The park, named for the Dutch explorer who was the first European to visit New Zealand sits on a peninsula separating Tasman Bay from Golden Bay.

The 37 mile Coast Track is one of New Zealand’s Great Walks. It is New Zealand’s most popular “tramping track” (Kiwi for hiking trail) and, while we were certainly not alone, we’ve been on much more crowded trails near Asheville, NC. Plus, folks were quiet and courteous and there was no trash anywhere. Like the other great walks, there are huts along the way and it’s not unusual for hikers (trampers) to take several days to hike the entire length. The trail pretty much follows the coastline and a network of water taxis do pickups and drop offs along the way. We also saw folks kayaking and sailing along the coast. We kept it simple and just did a roundtrip walk from the trailhead parking lot in the hamlet of Mārahau. 

It was a wonderful hike on a lovely day. We may return but only after we check out a few other “must sees.” Here are a few images of this beautiful park.

Salt marsh at the start of the walk - a birder's dream

A nice wide trail

Possum trap (predators are an issue for the birds)

Wekas are constantly begging for crumbs

Tinline Bay

Silver fern - a symbol of NZ

The iconic tree ferns 

Fisherman Island

Tramps in NZ always end with cake & coffee

Why Nelson?

Ted. When we visited New Zealand for the first time in 2017 we spent a week exploring the north end of the North Island. From there, we traveled to Te Anau at the south end of the South Island to do some hiking in Fjordland National Park, home of several iconic destinations including Milford Sound. As we were carless, we made use of a wonderful network of shuttles. Over a period of days, we became friendly with one of the shuttle drivers. Sadly I have forgotten her name but I do remember that she invited us to her home one evening for a glass of wine. 

As we chatted that evening, she asked us where we were planning to go when we returned to New Zealand. We didn’t have a clue so she recommended her home town of Nelson. She said it was a very livable town of about 55,000 with a mild, sunny climate. Because we thought so highly of her, we have always assumed that was where we would end up on our next visit. Situated at the north end of the South Island, this is now serving us well as a good base to explore a part of the country we skipped in 2017. 

Here are a few snapshots I took on our first hike this week which was up a hill overlooking the city of Nelson and bearing a surveyor's mark designating it the "Center of New Zealand."

Theoretically the "center" of the country

I call this a Dr Seuss Tree

The town is surrounded by hills

The city and port on Tasman Bay

Back to the Antipodes

Ted. In the autumn of 2021, Judy and I booked a cruise for the Spring of 2023 that sounded fantastic; Brisbane, Australia to Honolulu, Hawaii, USA with a stop in French Polynesia. We had wanted to return to New Zealand and Australia ever since our first visit in 2017 and this gave us an excuse to plan more adventures way down south. 

Both countries are vast and we wanted to focus on parts that we had not seen before. Our target in New Zealand would be the north part of the South Island and we would visit three Australia states for the first time; South Australia, Tasmania and Queensland. 

On January 30th we flew from Atlanta to Honolulu, Hawaii for an overnight stay and dinner at my favorite Japanese noodle shop.

Beef bowl at Marukame Udon

The next morning we boarded an Air New Zealand flight (our favorite airline) to Auckland, New Zealand. We had originally thought we would just hop from there to Nelson but we decided to change our plans after speaking with our Swedish Servas friend, Mikaela. When she learned of our travel plans she said, “You know, I think my parents will be there around the same time.” As we had all enjoyed a wonderful time when we visited Sweden in 2021, we knew a rendezvous was in our future. That is why we ended up spending the past five days in Auckland. 

Björn, Malou, Judy and I were the guests of a wonderful Servas couple named Greg and Shayne. 

Judy, Shayne & Malou

Our stay was jam packed with adventures as we all explored the region north of Auckland called, appropriately enough the Northland. 

Goat Island

Björn & Malou back in their 2nd favorite country

We visited great towns, saw museums, lovely bays and countryside, ate terrific food and drank marvelous New Zealand wine. We even reconnected with Bruce and Sue, with whom we had stayed on our first trip to Auckland.

Greg & Shayne at Goat Island Marine Centre

At Hundertwasser Museum

On our road trips we took turns accompanying Greg in his sweet ride while the rest of us attempted to keep up in Shayne’s SUV. 

Judy and Greg's McLaren GT

Our last day was spent at the apartment they own at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park to watch the New Zealand Grand Prix. 

It was a bittersweet moment when Shayne dropped us off at the airport on Monday for our flight to Nelson. Not surprisingly, as soon as we unpacked our bags, we were off for dinner in the home of Cate and Sally, two good friends of Greg and Shayne. After a good night’s sleep, we will now begin our three weeks exploring a new region. We can't wait to see what else New Zealand has in store for us!

Robin, Paul, Cate & Sally