We had a late start this morning, almost a lie in! We spent some time doing our motorvan domestic chores and then walked up in to the centre of town. It was about a 20 minute walk and the weather was lovely, bright sunshine and very warm temperatures. It was nice to have the exercise.
Nelson is built on a grid system in the centre with two main streets.
We have to say it is nice to walk down a shopping street and see some different names above the stores; regrettably though MacDonalds, Burger King and Subway are still names you recognise! Why New Zealanders bother with them with the vast range of high quality food outlets they have available we don't really understand. (We wondered whether McDonalds do a gluten-free burger – don't worry we are not going to go and find out!)
Our first port of call was i-Site, this is the tourist information organisation that has offices almost everywhere you go. This particular office was quite large and well-staffed and also had a section for the Department of Conservation (the organisation responsible for the beach campsite we saw yesterday). We wanted to re-visit our itinerary, as we said yesterday and discussed our requirements with Jennifer who was very much on the ball, questioned what we actually wanted to see/do and within a few minutes had produced an outline to cover our wishes, ending up in Christchurch ready for our (sob, sob) departure.
We went into a small cafe close to the i-Site for a cup of tea/coffee to reward ourselves. It was, in fact, a creperie and, unbelievably, they did gluten free versions. Guess where we had our lunch!
After a chat with a man from Manchester who manages the local car hire company (his 'office' was an extension to the creperie and also sold books!) we walked back up the main street to Trafalgar Square, yes, really! There was some street theatre going on so we stopped and watched for a little while.
Sue then disappeared into a fibre/wool shop. Bert retreated across the road to wait. He eventually went in to find her to discover that an exhibition was being installed of some very interesting work.
We walked back to the van and then drove to somewhere in the back streets of the town, which Sue will tell you all about in the next entry.
In the evening we sat and planned in greater detail the next two to three days of the trip. Both of us feel really comfortable with our decision to adjust our travels to the time available rather than the reverse. We hope you will enjoy hearing about our new plans – when they come to fruition.
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