Nelson, New Zealand Travel Blogs

Packing the fish...
Sep 12, 2005

... it was a nice surprise to find a Japanese girl up on Wednesday night. Rie speaks quite good English considering she's only been in New Zealand for 2 months, and I helped her with the CV that she was writing. She said I was a good teacher! She was preparing ...

Playing games with Rie!
Sep 19, 2005

... my journey to the bottom of the South Island will begin, stopping briefly in Christchurch to see Yumi one last time before she leaves on Friday. So, I've had an enjoyable 4 weeks in Nelson, but I'm now ready to explore some other areas of New Zealand...

Sealord
Aug 28, 2005

... be able to relax in the sun on what turned out to be a scorcher of a weekend - hopefully 'winter' has passed! I went to Nelson's market on Saturday morning with Elaine, and browsed the vast number of stalls on show. Then in the afternoon I spent a few ...

Not more seafood...!!
Oct 21, 2005

... some stage as we keep in touch via text messages, but this was yet another coincidence that is the norm whilst travelling in New Zealand. Unfortunately Shortbread Cottage, being a small hostel, was booked up for the following few days so Jacco had to go ...

TROGDOR has left the Island
Nov 4, 2005

... Lambert Quay & headed back to TROGDOR Ferry crossing certainly better than Bass Strait (warmer for a start) Walked around Picton, not much here Scenic Queen Charlotte(sp?) Drive to Nelson Chatted to resident Japanese long termers (cleaners)

Sun drenched Abel Tasman
Nov 12, 2005 (13 photos)

... 't even squeeze in a dessert! I had an early night ahead of our (small) journey to Picton the next day. We were going to do a 2 day walk on the Queen Charlotte Track, and I was looking forward to it because it remains my favourite walk in New Zealand...

In a routine...
Sep 5, 2005

... for over 9 weeks now. He will go to Australia in 2 weeks, then back to Chile, meaning that his entire experience of New Zealand's magnificent South Island will have been limited to one place...Nelson! It baffles me why he doesn't just finish work early and ...

New Zealand - The South Island
Dec 22, 2004 (23 photos)

... God's gift to mankind and very minimal shopping for a couple of non-bulky, practical gifts for giving Christmas morning. In typical New Zealand fashion, people we have never met (family of friends back home) have invited us over for a Christmas BBQ on ...

28 Days Later
Mar 6, 2005

and I'm back. While I was apple thinning in Mot, I was told about a certain job that sounded interesting to me. It no longer does. I've been at sea for the last month squid fishing. We came into port yesterday in Dunedin and we did about half the ...

The return of Jorge!
Apr 6, 2008 (7 photos)

... a while.  Anyways, he couldn't catch up to me in SE Asia so he and Donkey went ahead and had been waiting for me in New Zealand at this farmer's market!  It was a heartfelt reunion and the two of them decided that we had to celebrate so we went ...

The Sunshine Capital of New Zealand
Apr 26, 2007

... Nelson at lunchtime, but our heads were still sleeping back in Picton, so we booked into a campsite in Richmond, which was about 5km from Nelson and parked up for the day. We were in no mood for anything, so we had a DVD day in the van (with blinds closed ...

Ferries and Busses and Hills, Oh My.
Jan 5, 2005

... cutting across to go back up to Christchurch by way of Dunedin. Which brings me to my next point--- if you've been to New Zealand (especially Abel Tasman!)--- write us an email and give us some advice! We have about 3 weeks left, and there is just so so ...

Abel Tasman...again!
Sep 22, 2005 (10 photos)

... . I took a photo of the two of us and I promised to keep in touch, and we'll definitely meet again before I leave New Zealand. Cobain was understandably tired after another day at the seafood factory, so he went back to his flat shortly before 1am. Rie ...

Everything you know is wrong...
Feb 13, 2005

... roads, with the occassional passing lane - motorways are limited to the big cities! Buller Gorge has the longest swingbridge in New Zealand, and I was persuaded to take the "Superman" option to return. The walk across was nice enough - looking down on ...

Swinging Through
Dec 31, 2006 (4 photos)

... who happened to own a motel here. With all their rooms booked out we gratefully accepted space on their son's bedroom floor for the night while we saw in the New Year with an Israeli Family in Nelson New Zealand. Not one I'm gonna forget anytime soon.

Hello sunshine!!
Oct 20, 2005 (18 photos)

Thank god - sun again!! Me and Lee arrived in Nelson in the afternoon to be greeted by a lovely day. No wind either, which seemed a little unusual after windy Wellington. When we got off the bus we were confronted by about 6 different people from ...

Hiking NZ
Jan 24, 2008 (33 photos)

Two day hike, but a rather longish one. Nice alpine views and lots of new aquaintances.  ***   WORLD CHANGE STARTS WITH EDUCATED CHILDREN! Give a girl the life long gift of education! Support my appeal 100 GIRLS BACK TO SCHOOL! Donate at: ...

Reluctantly leave Renwick
May 19, 2006 (3 photos)

... amazing houses outside. Think it would be a great place to live - but is not as warm as Oz! After a wander around Nelson for a while and buying a ticket for the lottery (jackpot biggest ever at 17.5 million) we headed further n/w towards Abel Tasman ...

Nelson,sun,swimming and Bloody mozzies
Feb 22, 2005 (3 photos)

... the stuff he would need for 4 days in the middle of nowhere. He also very kindly helped me move hostel. When I had come to Nelson the bus had stopped at a hostel just outside of the town to pick two girls up. The Paradiso looked amazing and I wanted to ...

A Black Out
Jan 31, 2005 (1 photos)

... a decent movie. Other than that I did the Matai River Walk and met up with Kiwi Matt (not to be confused with English Matt). Nelson is actually a lot smaller than I thought it would be. We went to Richmond yesterday to see a show. There was a skate ...

One Hubcap Down, Three to Go
Aug 19, 2003 (10 photos)

... free (!) scrumptious vegetable soup. Now, we are off to do more hiking ("tramping" here in NZ) in Nelson Lakes and hopefully along one of New Zealand's hikes known as the "Great Walks," Heaphy Track. Hope everyone is doing well, we'll talk to you ...

Trafalgar Celebrations
Oct 25, 2005 (1 photos)

... nice! As my diary was free, I asked Stuart if he wanted to go for a few games of pool - he'd only returned to Nelson the previous day and was eager to avenge the previous week's defeat! Despite pledging to drink cokes, he couldn't resist the backpacker ...

Hanggliding
Oct 30, 2005 (7 photos)

The highlight of an otherwise week in Nelson was definitely my hanggliding experience. I'd never really considered doing it, but speaking to Kim and Donna had persuaded me to splash out. Stuart was also a bit of an adrenaline junkie, so we decided to go ...

Hitching
Jul 30, 2009

... thumbs. After a while, we dropped by a grocery store for some snacks and went back to it. We eventually got a lift to Nelson, a decently large town a couple of hours away. When we got there it was heading toward sundown, but we decided to attempt to grab ...

Back on familiar ground...
Oct 14, 2005

... went into the centre of Westport, where another little tiff arose! It was shortlived though, and we were soon on the road to Nelson. The scenery changed as we made our way inland, and we were surrounded by dense forests and rivers for the entire 3 hour ...

Our Expectations Are Exceeded in NZ's South Island
Mar 8, 2004 (25 photos)

... from varying distances. On the way back get some video footage of friendly pods of Dusky Dolphins! Leave Kaikoura at 12pm for Nelson, stopping for Hokey Pokey & Yummy Gummy ice creams on the way. Get the last cabin at Tahuna Beach Holiday Park and chill ...

WOW (World of Wearable Art)
Sep 28, 2004 (1 photos)

... it was about time for an update - yes I'm still alive. A few weeks ago I met Helen Clarke, the Prime Minister of New Zealand. I was supposed to be taking photographs of her at an event she was attending, unfortunately I had made other plans and she was ...

Friday 13th
Aug 18, 2004 (5 photos)

I decided on my arrival back in Nelson that I had to find work. One day, out of the blue, I got a phone call at work to ask if I could do some relief work at a local backpackers. I went round to Shortbread Cottage where I met Hilary the manager. I ...

The New Asylum Seekers
Oct 4, 2004 (7 photos)

... as us. After another ton was ticked off the odometre we arrived in a wet Renwick, a town surrounded by the Wairau Valley, New Zealand's largest wine region, and ordinarily we'd be propping up the bar at a local cellar door before you could say "Glass of ...

Merry Christmas
Dec 26, 2004 (5 photos)

... and drove out to Collingwood. Spent a few nights at a friend of Debbie's and the rain even stopped long enough for us to enjoy a trip to the farewell spit and the most northerly point on the South Island. Then it was back to Nelson for New Year.....