Travels in the deep south

The weather was amazing for our mini break in Nelson. Although colder than Auckland we had plenty of sunshine and blue skies.
Having not been there since 1991, couldn't remember much about the place and I was pleasantly surprised. Something about the light made everything seem brighter and more colourful, like in Scandinavia, or it could be we've had weeks of cloud and rain up north. The locals seeemd so much friendlier than Aucklanders too and the Saturday market was notable for all the creative goods on offer, not the same stuff we normally see.

Arriving Friday lunchtime we had lunch and then browsed in the town. Saturday we drove towards Marlborough Sounds and up as far as French Pass, through a lot of very winding hilly roads. On Sunday we went the other direction to Motueka and Takaka and beyond. A beachside pub served us a full roast pork sunday lunch with all the trimmings for $12 (about 4 quid) .

The best restaurant in Nelson itself was BarDelicious near the Cathedral - we had two great meals there. The place we stayed Warwick House is a grand old colonial manor house that has been restored since 2003. Our suite was the partially turreted "Tower Room".

Monday the flight wasn't until 5pm so after a leisurely breakfast we browsed in the town again and went to the WOW (World of Wearable Arts) museum.

A few of the pics....

Snow on the distant hills reminded us it's not yet summer
Warwick House. The turretted tower suite we stayed in is at the back
Mussel beds are part of the aquaculture of the area - the famous green lipped mussels come from around here

Being spied on by a local
View from the winding road
The waiting room for the ferry to D'Urville Island, complete with old style letter box
Strange what you see in the middle of nowhere ...
Man or beast? Across the road from the Penguin Cafe which serves a great $12 Sunday roast
Low afternoon sunlight hits the beach at Kaiteriteri
One of the classic cars on show at the WOW museum
and a river runs through it - man and dog leave their mark on the sands at Cable Bay

Since getting back to the big smoke, i had my hair brightened up.