Nelson

Shelbourne Villa
View from Front Veranda
A Picnic Near the Centre of New Zealand

This part of the trip is somewhat frustrating for me because we are constantly moving, not really having time to stay long enough to explore. I knew it would be this way but I still feel frustrated. We must do this to get down to Te Anau where we will stay for 4 nights. This trip provides an overview and obviously we will have to come back to some areas to rectify the situation. We brought our hiking boots but have had little time to hike. It breaks my heart to pass up all the beautiful national parks and those tramping trails. Ah well, next time.
We stayed in a beautiful B & B in Nelson called Shelbourne Villa. The home reminded me of one you find in Rosedale, big, old and solid. It was built in the 1920s and owned by (wealthy, I assume) Americans who used it 4 months of the year. They set it up as a B & B but didn’t operate it fully. The New Zealand couple who have owned it for 6 years have made it their own with beautiful art work of all kinds throughout, paintings, glass, pottery, sculpture etc. The Rimu wood floors and tables simply glow, it’s a beautiful and valued type of wood here. They actually insist on carrying your bags in to avoid rolling them across the beautiful floors – I don’t blame them. Our room was originally a front parlour complete with fireplace. The bathroom was ½ as big as the room and had I been more ambitious, I could have completed my exercise routine in there.

We took a picnic down by the river for dinner and were immediately surrounded by Mallard ducks. They are like pigeons here – real beggars. In Waitangi on the North Island one watched me unflinchingly as I ate an ice cream. I wanted to reach out and pat his head. He didn’t quack, but his eyes said it all. Their Canadian cousins are much more reserved. We enjoyed our simple meal and finished our Pinot Noir, only to find later that we could have been fined $1000 for violating the liquour ban. Kiwis are very insistent on no booze in public places; I wondered about the history of this because there are signs posted in every town. Are the Kiwis more prone to public drunkenness? Our host assured us this wasn’t the case, he said it’s the way they keep their young people in check! We could use some of these signs in the ravine near our house in the Beach area!