Nelson and Christchurch and bye bye NZ!
After a jaunt to Kaikoura — which incorporated none of the things it’s famous for (dolphin swimming: booked up; stunning mountain views: overcast; crayfish: soooo overpriced but a few things it isn’t known for – a petting zoo and horse trekking) — we headed back to Nelson.
En route we stopped in Blenheim again as it’s the one place we’ve visited that I didn’t manage to scour the bookshops in search of a reasonably priced copy of my prized book. I found it for $36 which was about the best price I’d found anywhere and certainly cheaper than some.
So I hedged my bets and am now the proud owner of The Penguin History of New Zealand by Michael King. It is completely fabulous and enlightening – as evidenced by the fact that I’ve read 250 pages in two days (which is most unlike me).
So back to Nelson and four evenings with Trish and Paul, which went something like this.
Tuesday: pizza and ale (real hand-pulled ale like home) at the Freehouse, a converted church in Nelson.
Wednesday: total admin catch-up day and finish off the Bone People by Keri Hulme (no relation of the infamous child murderer AFAIK). In the evening I went to lend a hand at Paul’s football match, part of the region’s Summer Soccer season whereby dozens of teams play on a huge sports field, each week for the summer months. Paul’s team hadn’t won a single game yet… until tonight :-)
More pub time, this time at their local, the Sprig and Fern, in Richmond which also has great beer.
On Thursday, a trip to Abel Tasman National Park for a bracing morning’s kayaking and an exhausting afternoon’s walk back to basecamp – 12 km in the sweltering 30 degree heat. The national park — a favourite amongst travellers — is picturesque certainly, but following my Fiordland visit, seeing Sarah’s Routeburn pics and my west coast drive, this place just didn’t have enough variety for me to rank it as part of my must-sees.
Abel Tasman was the Dutchman who discovered (and named) New Zealand 140 or so years before Cook and the rest of Europe found their way there. However, because his ship and crew were attacked by the natives they turned around and didn’t come back. The north western area of the south island was later named after him anyway — as was Tasmania if you’re wondering.
I returned to Trish’s to a lovely barbecue and to meet lots more of her friends.
Friday was another admin day – collecting my replacment glasses (hurrah I can see again!) and booking my Fiji trip (something of a challenge but hey). In the evening we went into Nelson and to the Boatshed and Boathouse for sumtuous seafood and a view to match. (photos to follow)
Saturday I took the bus to Greymouth to get the TransAlpine train to Christchurch, where I was due to fly out of the next day. I chose right to do that journey in that direction, by far the most breathtaking landscapes being on the east and therefore presented as something of a climax.
It was lovely to have a second, if equally brief, visit to Christchurch. It has so much charm and epitomises the ‘Better Britain’ aims of the pioneers and early governments.
I took Trish’s advice and headed for the Twisted Hop pub, which like Nelson’s Freehouse specialised in genuine cask-conditioned ale. Another taste of England, ahhh!
In the morning, before I caught my shuttle bus to the airport I had the overwhelming joy of seeing the cathedral choir rehearse. I was initially disappointed that my transfer times would mean I missed Eucharist. However, the choir were rehearsing in the choir stalls beforehand so I was able to listen to them for almost and hour. And theyre a really tip-top outfit. Not merely ‘good by New Zealand standards’, they would hold their own against many of the top-league UK cathedral and collegiate choirs. I heard them rehearse a movement of Rubbra’s mass (thitherto unknown to me) and Dove’s Bless the Lord O My Soul – which I did recognise but needed my iPod inorder to place! Neither of which are trivial to sing well. So ‘big up’ to ya, Christchurch cathedral choir.
I set off for the next leg of my adventure restored and uplifted.
Categories: New Zealand, Travel
