Nelson, New Zealand (2020-02-10)

This week we have explored some new areas as well as revisiting some old haunts, and we have certainly preferred the cooler 22-25 degree temperatures....much more conducive to being outside.
The hot dry weather has resulted in many of the local trails being totally closed to the public due to extreme fire risk, including our favourite ridge walk, so it has been good to explore areas that we had not visited before.  The photo below is taken from the ocean-side of the playing fields opposite our Nelson home.  The ridge walk is likely visible just below the trees in the right half of the photo.

Playing Fields and Dry Hillside

The Brook Waimarama Sanctuary is only a few kilometres outside of Nelson, and similar to the Zealandia sanctuary in Wellington, is fully enclosed by a high electric fence, to keep predators out.  New Zealand's native bird population has been decimated by introduced pests such as rats, opossums, stoats and weasels, which eat the eggs of the birds, so these sanctuaries allow the native birds to flourish in the absence of the predators, which are trapped and removed from the sanctuary.  To monitor what species of animals are in the sanctuary, so that they know what type of trap is required to remove them, they set up tunnels with an ink pad and white paper in them, baited with peanut butter - the animals walk through the tunnel and leave their footprints on the white paper.  Mice are the most frequent animal detected, but they do not bother the birds and are virtually impossible to eliminate.

Footprint Tunnels on Trail

Mice Footprints

We walked the wheelchair-accessible trail with Fredda, then left her reading a book at a picnic table, while Marlene and I did a longer more strenuous trail.

Waterfall at Brook Waimarama Sanctuary

The Tuis and Bellbirds stayed fairly well hidden in the foliage, but we did manage to see a wood pigeon more in the open.

Wood Pigeon (Kereru)

Thursday was the 104th anniversary of my mother's birth, but that was not the reason for the public holiday.  February 6th is Waitangi Day, commemorating the signing of a treaty between the British and the Maori peoples of Aotearoa in 1840, which was the beginning of New Zealand as a British colony.  We celebrated by going to the Kai (food) Festival at Founders Park, which is the local heritage park.  Groups from many different cultural backgrounds sell the food of their homeland, ranging from Pacific Islands fare to European, Asian, Indian, and everything in  between.  Fredda went all out and had an American hotdog, I opted for the bratwurst and Marlene for an Indonesian curry dish.  It was a great day out, and only a short walk from our front door.

On Friday we headed out of town to the Gardens of the World, in nearby Hope.  The garden area is not particularly large, but is broken down into different geographic areas, with each area containing plants from that part of the world.  It was great to wander the globe and we even had a picnic beside the pond.  I made a new friend, but no matter how loud I called, he would not follow me home.

Jim and his new friend

Picnic Area

A Bridge in the Shade

On Sunday we headed back to Rabbit Island for a walk, but with the goal of ending up in Mapua for lunch.  It is a 3.5 km walk from the closest parking lot on Rabbit Island, to the Mapua ferry, a pleasant walk along the edge of a pine plantation, and close to the beach.  The 7 km round trip is a bit much for Fredda, so we got her all set for the ferry, and Marlene and I walked (briskly) back to the car, and drove the 20 minutes to Mapua.  When Fredda saw the ferry she thought it looked like a floating shack, and the facilities were somewhat rustic, but it is in only a 5 minute ride across the river mouth, catering mainly to cyclists, so passenger comfort is not a priority.  If it were part of the BC Ferries fleet it would perhaps be named the Coastal Desperation.

Mapua Ferry and Rabbit Island

Onboard the Mapua Ferry

Lunch in Mapua was excellent, sitting on the patio of the cafe, watching the world go by.  It doesn't get much better than that, except perhaps for the ice cream that I picked up after lunch.

Today we explored a new section of the Maitai River walk, before having a coffee at the River Kitchen Cafe (Fredda's favourite coffee location) in downtown Nelson.

Maitai River

We are now off to grab a table and have one last drink at the Sprig and Fern pub, as tomorrow is our last day in Nelson, and there will be much to do in preparation for our departure to Wellington on Wednesday morning.