Nelson is also the gateway to the Abel Tasman National Park. We skipped it but we heard it was very good so maybe we blew it. We went around the South Island clockwise which seem to be backwards from the crowd. We had less traffic and we heard of good things to see from the people we met going the other way. Something to consider. |
Nelson is a seaside town on the northwestern
side of the South Island. It has a good reputation within the cruising community as
a place to summer with your boat. It is inexpensive and had good marine services.
It is quite a ways south so it takes some dedication to sail down there. We
ate the best dinner we had in New Zealand at the Walnut Cafe in Richmond just outside
Nelson. Sandy and Don of Destiny arranged for Buddy and Ruth from Annapurna and
Hellen and I to meet at the restaurant even though we hadn't seen each other for a month.
It was
a great choice and it was good to some American English again.
The
next day we went to Founder's Park to have a look around. We had heard that there
was an antique car show in progress but we missed it by a day. The museum is like a
sprawling small town with a strange but interesting collection of stuff. Most of it
is available for close inspection but there is little explanation and no one to ask.
It is sort of a cross 
between a museum and garage sale but nothing is for sale. Good way to
kill a few hours but easily passed.