A Column Or Two About Nelson
Trip Start
Oct 15, 2007
1
63
97
Trip End
Aug 24, 2008
Nelson,
South Island,
New Zealand
Monday, February 25, 2008
Nelson hosts a market on Saturday mornings, so we drove into town and tried to find a place to park near the Mac's brewery, so we could market, score ourselves a few jars of the wondrous nectar which we had discovered Black Mac to be, then kip in the van. After a bit of driving around, we found a car park on a residential street pretty close by which would do, then went to check whether or not we'd need to pre-book a place on the afternoon tour at the brewery.
Cursing and swearing about the brewery being closed for refurbishment, we drove into town to the market. We parked up and wandered for a while, looking at the various arts and crafts that were on offer. Kirsty bought a silk scarf for her Mum's impending birthday and sneakily bought a pair of stripy socks for Jacob's birthday, whilst returning to the van to buy it a new parking ticket. We also bought some corn on the cob. All of this was done in the rain.
Whilst wandering around, we were somewhat surprised when we were greeted with a "Hello, guys" from just behind us. Turning round, we found Gaby, another of the Couch Surfers who had been staying with Mike in Waiheke at the same time as us. She was now living in a caravan in Nelson, working on a farm picking fruit.
Once the market finished, we spent a little while wandering around the shopping district of Nelson, ultimately achieving very little other than the purchase of a battery lantern. We decided in the end to head out of town for the evening, so having popped into a supermarket for ingredients, we went in search of the nearest layby that didn't have 'No Camping' signs. It was quite a long way out of town.
In the forest, just off a twisty mountain road in the middle of nowhere, we had one of our most adventurous cooking experiences since moving into Lucy. We made a dhal (lentil curry) and some naan bread. The bread took some time, as we hadn't really got anywhere particularly warm for it to sit and rise, so it was quite dark when we finally, smugly, sat down to a really tasty feed.
The following morning, we headed back into Nelson, intending to visit the Sunday 'flea market'. There was no Sunday flea market. The market square was deserted but for the odd car and a small group of teenagers hanging around the toilet block.
Instead, we drove to the 'WOW' museum on the outskirts of the town. 'WOW' stands for 'World Of WearableArt' - to which, of course, Jacob asked what the hell a bleart might be and how it might be worn. The museum is a peculiar hybrid - half is dedicated to the display of various winning designs from several years of WOW competitions, whilst the other half is a display of vintage cars and motorcycles.
The WOW competitions started in 1987 when, in an effort to promote a rural art gallery in Nelson, local sculptor Suzie Moncrieff decided that creating a fashion show with all of the clothing being a form of 'wearable artwork', using the human body as a canvas, would be quite a laugh. The first show was small but extremely successful and has gone on to become an annual event, now held in Wellington (since 2005) with around 150 entries designed by a national and international array of artists, designers and inventors and an audience of around 30,000.
The Classic Car collection displays an extensive collection of classic and rare cars and motorcycles from three centuries of motoring, from early Edwardian through to modern super cars which they feel are destined to become classics. There is a team of mechanics on site who work on the cars and restore them to mint condition.
We spent some time in both halves of the museum: although Jacob is the vehicle enthusiast and Kirsty is the girl, we both do a reasonable job of being interested in the other side. Try as she might though, Kirsty really can't muster any enthusiasm for Ducati's 'Desmodromic' valve system. Also, it was pouring with rain again, so we had no great desire to be outside.
Having looked around the museum for some time, we decided that we had exhausted the entertainment potential of Nelson, so set out for our next stop: the Abel Tasman National Park.
