Nelson

 The drive to Nelson today is a relatively short one, only 115 km. Estimated driving time is 1 hr 40 mins, these are rarely correct. It is probably more like 2 hrs. We have been over parts of this road a few times but the only bit we hadn't covered between Blenheim and Havelock is a short stretch of only a few km where all of the cellar doors are located. We called in to take a photo of Cloudy Bay just to prove we had been there. It was a bit early for a tasting.

It was very cloudy at Cloudy Bay

Cellar Door

Vineyards line the road on the way in

 You need to look closely but there are bunches of white grapes on these vines

We continue on through Havelock with pine plantations lining the hillsides. We go through a bit of a valley where dairying seems to be the go, and then we are back into mountainous terrain, winding our way up and down steep inclines. The pine trees  plantations persist and how they log this terrain is beyond me.

By 11 am we are descending into Nelson greeted with a view of the port and a low tide along the shoreline. Not the best vista for the city.

Check in time for our motel is 2 pm, so we have a bit of time to fill in. Coffee seems our next priority, after a comfort stop. We park in a public carpark next to the river where there are public toilets (something the Kiwi's are very good at providing) and also next to the carpark is the River Kitchen, a nice cafe next to the river.

After our morning coffee fix, we walk out onto the streets of Nelson. It is hard to miss the Nelson City Council Building.

Civic House (not sure how to describe the architectural style)

Nelson is a good sized City with a population of around 55,000. At the end of the main street, Trafalgar Street, an imposing Cathedral dominates the skyline.

Looking down Trafalger Street from the Cathedral

It is surrounded by well kept gardens and it's location looking down on the City exudes the power of the Church in days past.

The shopping centre is busy, with plenty of shops, food outlets and some historical buildings and lots of trees.

During our wanderings we did notice another piece of Kiwi ingenuity (below), the two story bike rack. Cleverly designed so the upper levl rack could slide out and tilt down to allow the bike to be secured before being pushed back up to the second level.

We did find a nice cafe in Hardy Street, Zambretta's for lunch where we had a good Caesar Salad and listened to some great 60's and 70's background music.

It was close to time to check in to our motel, so we headed back to the car and drove only about 800m to our home for the next 2 nights. Once again it is in easy walking distance to the restaurant area, so we are in a good place.

The weather is looking a bit angry with possible rain later today. The temperature is down at least 10 C compared to yesterday.

Later in the day I went for a bit of a walk to stretch my legs and see what else was around. There are some lovely old timber buildings including the Theatre Royal on the same street as our motel. It had quite a full program on its notice board so still provides a bit of culture to Nelson.

Walking down to the river I came across the Collingwood Street Bridge crossing the Maitai River, an early example of a New Zealand welded Steel bridge completed in 1955.

It was time to head back to motel, as the weather is starting to look a bit threatening. I managed to get back without getting wet, and had a bit of a rest before heading back out for dinner. 

The weather cleared for a while when we wandered down the street to get something to eat. However by about 9 pm there was strong winds and light rain.