3rd January: North to South

Our flight to Nelson, on the South Island, is at 1pm, so we can have a leisurely breakfast before setting off. We say goodbye to Pete, drive 100 yards down the road – and a young guy standing by his car waves us down, he has a flat battery and asks if we’ve got any jump leads? We explain that we are on our way to the airport, but Di takes pity on him and kindly drives back and gets Pete (who obviously thinks we’ve forgotten something). He gets his car and the jump leads, while we restart our journey. I ask Di if this sort of thing happens a lot, she says no, it’s never happened to her before!

Our drive Auckland airport is in thick fog, but it’s still very warm and humid, and takes around 2 hours. We arrive half an hour before our flight, I’m starting to worry because we have our cases to load. We say Goodbye and Thanks for Everything and join a massive queue for bag drop. 10 minutes later our flight is called and we and our fellow passengers have to push past everyone to get to the desk. Further panic when we discover that Gate 61 is not in the Terminal building, where is it then? Turns out it’s just outside in a cabin next door. We actually have plenty of time, there’s no security to go through, no bag X-ray, just show your tickets. The small plane flies low enough to see  the land and sea that we pass over, and the weather seems to be improving as we head south. The flight takes an hour and a half, and soon we are picking up our hire car and driving into downtown Nelson. Our first motel, Mid City Motorhome, is a bit basic but clean and comfortable and is literally in the middle of the main street of the town. However, Nelson can’t really be described as a city, being about the size of Sutton. Later, I overhear someone on their phone say, ‘Hello, I’m in the city’. So that’s what the locals think, anyway!

Around 6pm we go to check out what the city of Nelson has to offer. Just down the main street is the delightful River Cottage, where tonight is Jazz Night. Soon we’re sitting on the river bank on huge squashy cushions, drinking ice cold beer and eating large slices of bacon and egg pie (a real 2 inch thick piece, not a namby pamby quiche) listening to music for the soul, all in 26 degree sunshine. We could stay all evening….however, at 7.30 the band suddenly stops playing, everyone gets up to leave, and the café closes! Could it be that Nelson shuts down this early? Fortunately not, we walk up to the other end of town and discover more bars, restaurants and live music, we buy another couple of drinks and then wander round for an hour or so. We’ve arrived!

Three Best Things: 1. Weather just got better! 2. Lovely flight from North to South Island. 3. River Cottage: the music, ambience, food and drink!

Three Worst Things: 1. Panic at Auckland Airport! 2. Car park some distance from motel. 3. No air con in room, very hot at night.

 

 

 

 

4th January: Cathedral Christmas Trees

Middle day in Nelson, and it’s a cloudy but very warm day, so we decide to look at reviews for the best beaches in the Nelson area. Rabbit Island boasts golden sands, safe swimming and easy access to the beach and is about an hour’s drive from the town centre. It’s not really an island, you drive across a causeway over a narrow river and we drive for quite a while on a very straight road through pine forests. The Island is completely rural, there are no shops, cafes or bars, just toilets and showers. But it does tick all three boxes for the description in the review, so we spend a delightful morning swimming in the beautiful warm sea. Having worked up an appetite, we THEN realise that the Island has no other facilities, and notice that everyone else has a picnic with them…

Driving back towards Nelson is our only option and we keep expecting to see a café, or at least a shop, by the roadside, but there’s nothing until we get to an out of town industrial and retail park. The only eating places are a Chinese restaurant (closed) and, you’ve guessed it, a McDonalds. I’ve had more McD meals in the last week than in the last year, but it’s fast, cheap and filling! Reluctantly we leave the air con behind and decide that the only thing we can do to keep cool is to head back to Rabbit Island for another lazy afternoon swim.

Back in Nelson, the sky threatens rain, so we walk up to the ‘modern gothic’ cathedral which is on a hill literally at the end of the main street. Inside there is an enchanting Christmas Tree display, there are dozens of them and it’s actually a Christmas Tree competition. The trees are decorated (or in some cases constructed) by local groups: businesses, charities, churches, the City Council, and young people’s groups: Sea Scouts, Guides, Youth Clubs and Schools. They are all amazing, so creative and all different. There are voting slips to vote for your three favourite trees, which we do, sadly we’ll never know which was the winning tree!

Raining on and off now, so we head down the hill to the restaurant/bar area for dinner. Most of the restaurants are full because there’s limited seating inside where everyone wants to sit. Loads of seating outside in the rain of course! We manage to find a table for two under an awning JUST out of the rain, where we enjoy a more gourmet meal than of late (see Best Things below). We hurry back to our motel in a downpour and it rains heavily all night, finally stopping at around 8.30 am.

Three Best Things: 1. Swimming in the Tasman Sea. 2. Christmas Tree Competition. 3. Seared tuna, fresh vegetables and sweet potato fries, plus a glass of local cider.

Three Worst Things: No café on Rabbit Island. 2. Sunburn (deceptively hot sun through the cloud.)   3. Rained noisily all night!

 

Just so you know!

        Trees growing in the sea

 

 

Christmas Tree Competition