Wellington Competitive Bowlers Association Inc

Pulling into Nelson we had to check out the hostels available before settling in - fortunate that we did this since the first one we visited didn't seem to have been cleaned or renovated since the 1960's, stale smoke filling the air, we left certain that anywhere would be better. We dropped into the YHA and were instantly convinced of its benefits, price not coming into the equation.
We had decided to stay in Nelson until the weekend having opted to visit the local market here rather than the one in Wellington on the same day. This meant finding activities to fill a few days so we paced ourselves; we headed out for a quick wander around the town and after a small loop returned to the hostel. They happened to have two pianos available for use at the hostel so I was kept entertained, and the television filled the other gaps in time.
Next afternoon we went for another walk, expanding our slow loop of the City, this time taking in the library as well - we had to tackle the issue of accommodation and transport for Fiji which clearly was going to take a bit longer than we had expected, an understatement at best. We'd also gone on the 'Art Walk' of the area, taking in atleast half of the galleries and shops mentioned. This included a small knitting collective, 'Lava Glass' workshop where the owner explained his beginnings and work which was fascinating given the individual styles of his work, and just next door Jens Hansen the jeweller responsible for the Lord of the Rings 'One Ring' and other pieces. Not as fascinating as it might sound, more or less just a jewellers shop displaying his and other designers pieces along with the obligatory 'LOTR counter.' We'd taken in a fair bit of the town, even finding a music venue set in a yurt, and chasing 'clues' to a local competition I considered entering that were displayed in various shops and other venues before retiring for another night of piano and films.
The following day we weren't too sure how to occupy our time and didn't want to take too much of a walk out of town, so visiting the few charity / opp shops we hadn't managed to see the previous day we set off - bumping into our last host while walking. After a quick yarn we carried on and on our way to the library stopped at the cinema to see what options we had for that night and upon finding that the prices were hiked after a certain time we decided to take the chance and see a film there and then; cue 'Dark Shadows' a vampire 'comedy.' After a few hours we were back on track and at the library, slowly cutting down the list of potential accommodation for our future travel.
Finally the day we had been waiting for arrived and we headed to the market, just at the end of the road where we were staying.. After around an hour perusing the stalls of crafts and clothing we were done and hadn't purchased anything, finding the more appreciable pieces overpriced and others of questionable quality.. It was interesting to see the variety though in a way it might have been better to have visited Wellington but we couldn't regret this since we'd had a good time anyway; this left one night before we had to set off for Picton where we'd catch the InterIslander ferry to Wellington, a trip taking us to the North Island and by geographical terms a half way point in our travel!
We were up and ready to leave all in time, the cold air seeming to be inescapable even on board the coach to Picton; fortunately after only an hour we had arrived and were able to leave our bags at the terminal and collect our tickets ready to depart in a further hour. We met a nice lady from Brighton who'd left Nelson along with us and together we headed into Picton to take in what we could of the town in the time we had - which was more or less all of it! It was a pretty little place, resemblant of Queenstown in a way, in that it lay by the waterfront and the surrounding mountains dwarfed the town below.. We stopped for a coffee and were treated to a wonderful view out over the Marlborough Sound and shortly after wandered up and down the main street taking all of ten minutes.
We soon boarded the ferry and climbing to the top deck for as good a view as we could get, departed the South Island. It was a stunning view leaving, the waters ripples further adding to the beauty of the scene. The wind was still chilling and before long we were frozen enough to forgo the view for the lower decks and by the time we entered the Cook Straight we'd begun to rock a bit, leaving sleeping as the best option to deal with the remaining crossing.
We were soon pulling into the Wellington Harbour, the City slowly creeping into view with a setting sun blinding the view until the last few hundred metres. We hadn't realised that the drop off point was some way from where we had understood it to be until we were disembarking, so once we'd picked up our bags we had to catch one bus to the train station before another into the centre of town and closer to the hostel that we had pre-booked assuming it to be a few hundred metres from the terminal.
Our new friend joined us at the hostel and we shared dinner and a drink, played some music and enjoyed a warm first night in the capital..
We had in mind a few things that we wanted to do while in the city, primarily visiting the National Museum 'Te Papa' which was on the waterfront, not too far from where we were based. We set off into the town and came to the Civic Centre, a fairly recently re-developed area of the CBD, and it makes for an inspiring urban setting, art and space combining with function to good effect. The City Gallery was here and since there was no entry fee we were more than happy to spend some time inside; there were some interesting pieces, one 'immersive' inflatable.. thing.. and sculptures of varying form and design, other interactive pieces which resembled a ghostly technological jungle, and one room which although looking like a fairly typical artists studio was in fact all carved from wood - an impressive feat considering the deception. From there we moved to Te Papa, since it was late in the afternoon we only had an hour to look around, though since there are six floors we knew it was better to start early than to try and take it all in in one go; on this visit we only managed to take in the first floor, featuring 'the colossal squid' an exhibit including various skeletons of sealife and areas explaining the native flora and fauna; from there we entered the Awesome Forces section, including the 'earthquake room' where you are given a quick shake.. Not too sure on its authenticity, but the principle was there! This room covered the other forces that have forged the land as it is and will continue to, plus the overall effect on the earth over history.. By this time we were getting pretty hungry though, leaving to return the next morning.
We were invited to join some of the other guests at the hostel to have a drink that night, so we did, ensuring we'd feel wonderful the next morning when we planned to be at the museum for opening..!
Unsurprisingly we didn't make it back to Te Papa for opening, but it wasn't too far off; continuing up the building we got to see a whole array of exhibits, from a Marae (Maori meeting house) to a Waka (boat) and various other elements of the culture, moving forward in time to all kinds of settler stories and an explanation of the Treaty of Waitangi, modern culture and arts. It's true that you could spend a whole week in this place alone, we had to scan the information, relying on visual interpretations as otherwise we would have well overstayed our intended time there. It's a national treasure though, and rightly so - discussion surrounding an entry fee are rife at the moment, so hopefully this remains free to all for the benefit of everyone.
Our plan for the evening was an exciting prospect - firstly a trip on the Wellington Cable-Car, not exactly an adrenaline rush, but definitely fun and a bit different, but following this into the Carter Observatory for a planetarium show and the chance to view the sky through their telescope. The cable car has been operating for 110 years, more so as a means of public transport than for entertainment though it must have its fair share of tourist travellers en route to the Botanical Gardens or the Observatory. As we reached the top we were in for a grand view of Wellington at night, all well until you set off up the path toward the Observatory in relative darkness! We 'followed the stars' laid out on the footpath, fortunately finding our way and arriving just in time for the planetarium show - beginning with a half hour program about the weather on different planets in our solar system, not strictly fact based judging by the 'spaceship' guiding us throughout, but interesting nonetheless. We were then treated to a guide through the stars by the comedic guide before we were able to head up to the observatory and lay our eyes upon the Thomas Cooke telescope which they had focused upon Saturn! This was incredible, a real treat being able to see the planet and its infamous rings plus two moons were visible at the time.. Alongside this the lady operating the telescope was brilliantly informative, explaining the alternate methods of navigation used by the Maori and the West, both having their merits but succinctly different in their approaches - the Pacific Island approach of having '32 houses' dividing the sky and the position of the stars relative to these dictated the different tales which allowed you to navigate..
After spending a while longer stargazing and taking a quick tour round the associated museum we headed back to spend our last night in Wellington before we left for Napier the next morning.

1: Picton; 2: Wellington Harbour; 3: Civic Centre; 4: Wellington CBD; 5: Marae; 6: Maori Mask

I'm in Abel Tasman, an Englishman in Nelson

Urging our bags forward the bus pulled up after I'd managed to sweep round the hostels to check their bookcases incase there were any hidden gems.. Sadly not. Our journey commenced, with highlighted stops being Hokitika and Punakaiki, places we considered as alternate stops before choosing Wanaka. Firstly Hokitika, a town more or less known for its jade / greenstone carving. A short lunch here gave us the time to see a few factory style outlets and get some lunch, on the whole not feeling like we'd missed out on too much.. Next up was Punakaiki, home to the Pancake Rocks and blow hole - fortunately we were stopping long enough to be able to head down to the coast - though sadly the tide wasn't quite up to the blow holes tipping point, but the rocks and whole environment were something to see regardless. There really wasn't much else to here either, so it seems somehow that maybe Wanaka was the best choice after all!
Continuing up the coast we passed through Westport and Greymouth, again places we skipped to no great disadvantage, before slipping through the Mount Arthur range and heading down toward Nelson and more specifically Upper Moutiere. Meeting a new relative was pretty different but a true pleasure, we both apparently scanned the others features to discern how close that relation was and came to no joint conclusion. As it was night time we had little knowledge of where we were or what was around us, but a healthy dinner and comfortable bed was all that was required at that moment.
Come the morning we awoke to take in the most beautiful surroundings, hills, mountains and a hop farm seemed to be all that you could see, so to break into the spirit we headed out to Motueka where old shipping buildings had been converted to all kinds of modern shops and gallerys.
The following afternoon we were further wowed by the World of Wearable Art, a permanent museum featuring a large number of the costumes designed and shown at the past event. It would be wrong to call it a fashion show since it's positive, entertaining, humorous and cultured show is a far cry from the catwalk critique of custom. There was all kinds of creations, majestically crafted from recycled materials, croched garments, neon faces, horse-men, lobsters, the list is endless. Alongside this collection was also a vast car collection spanning the last century, you'd envy the workers who get to move the one parked out the front daily!! Afterward we carried on toward Nelson a bit further and heading up to a great viewpoint where you could see the whole bay area, past Rabbit Island over to Motueka, plus the sun and sea were playing off each other making it a spectacular sight..
After heading back the Lord of the Rings sneaked its way into the DVD player and so commenced a marathon of orks, elves, hobbits, dwarves, wizards and scenery spotting - assisted by a guidebook of the filming locations..
Come Tuesday we'd had enough of indoors so ventured out once more, this time heading towards the Abel Tasman National Park. We reached the coast and since you can only really continue by foot from this side of the mountains we took in the views and visited a wood carvers garden display before heading out to Koteriteri where another incredibly beautiful vista greeted us. These areas both held some of the magnificence that can't be found anywhere, the sea lapping on sandy beaches, backed by acres of forest, a true paradise for those willing to hike / tramp its length.. All in all another great day out, but as with all things our time here had to end and we were packed and ready to leave for Nelson the next day. I'm glad to have met and been privelige to the hospitality we received, no matter how great a distance or time can separate us from that and I look forward to meeting them again in the future.

Whatcha Wanaka do? Go to Franz Josef

So having had no sleep from a night of football I put my head down for
the coach trip to Wanaka, only really stopping at a fruit shop we'd
passed on our way into Queenstown.. We pulled into Wanaka on a cloudy
early afternoon and after making our way to the hostel made our way
into town to check out the surroundings and buy some more food. It
wasn't the most inspiring place, most shops were closed since it was a
Sunday, however our trip was brightened in meeting 'Crazy Carol' a
lady who for a decade has been adorning her hair with various plastic
and neon trinkets making up without doubt the coolest haircut we'd yet
seen.. She really wasn't that crazy, but a local celebrity without
doubt.This was the first YHA we'd stayed at and we were pretty
underwhelmed, most had been overpriced for their area and though this
one wasn't; for what we were presented with it still was.. We'd
stopped here to save visiting two glacier towns, and also with the aim
of visiting Stuart Loughbroughs Puzzling World.. It was a few
kilometres walk so we took the trip the next day and prepared for
whatever we'd find. You're greeted by the 'leaning clocktower of
Wanaka' with a backwards clock and other architectural quirks. We
entered and firstly went into the maze, a small labyrinth of wooden
panelling and staircases.. Your aim was to reach each of the four
corners - we gave up since the walk had worn our legs out somewhat,
and a family running around maniacally laughing was more fun than the
effort of succeeding ourselves. We moved inside to the Illusions Rooms
where we were treated to all sorts, from 3D photos to optical
illusions - an Ames room and an angled room, giving the illusion of
being much larger or smaller and being gravity defying respectively..
Overall it was a funny afternoon, maybe for the wrong reasons but it
was worth it just to know what was there. It suited Wanaka to a T, the
only other thing that could define here culturally was a mention of it
in Mission Impossible 3.. Well well.We'd arranged to travel up to
Franz Josef the next morning and we weren't that sad to be leaving,
there's probably a few nice walks around but we'd taken in enough of
this region for the time being.Our trip to Franz Josef was a bit
longer than the one to Wanaka, stopping off at a Salmon Farm on the
way which was maybe not as interesting as it'd sound, more or less
just a food and 'comfort' stop. We passed through the Haast Pass, even
crossing the plate-line responsible for the on going formation of the
mountain ranges before reaching Fox Glacier Township just down the
road from Franz Josef - it was clear we'd chosen the right place to
stay, the town was already 7km away from its glacier and there wasn't
much there for us to do besides.. We pulled up and were greeted with
an offer at our hostel for a third night for free which we gratefully
accepted!! Our first course of action was to send off some further
correspondence with the Immigration Service, this involved finding a
scanner somewhere - a far more difficult challenge than it might be
perceived. We had walked round half the town before we stumbled into
the Te Koha Art Gallery.. As it happened they had only recently opened
and just began to offer wood carving courses for a fair price, so
putting our other task to side we endeavoured to forge some emblems
for the two hours. Our guide was vastly experienced having learnt
himself when building a new Marae for his community. They came out
looking none too bad, the sandflies had taken a few bites out of us
but we could both have easily carried on for a while longer. We left
our work behind so that it could be oiled overnight and headed round
to the YHA to use their scanner before returning and sending off what
would hopefully be our final effort since our passports with accepted
Visitors Visa had finally been confirmed.The following day we set off
out toward the glacier. It was a fair walk to arrive at the car park
where the final walk toward the Terminal Face began. Following along
the rivers path the valley was already gargantuan, and when we left
the road and began to walk up the river bed this along with the size
of the glacier only became further pronounced. We finally arrived at
the end of the trail after around two hours walking from the town -
although the glacier was already an incredible site, it's blue ice
seeming almost unnatural, it was somewhat ruined by a large gravel
pile that had been built up infront of the face of it.. Well, you
could pay a local company to be guided up as far as this, or just
disregard the safety notices and continue up this temporary hill for a
better view.. No prizes for guessing that we headed up to the top of
the hill and were treated to a much more open view of the terminal
face. Any further was risking a potential accident miles from help but
that didn't put others off, however we were content so ambled back
down and retreated to the warmth of our hostel, ready for another
journey up the West Coast the next morning.