In & Around Nelson

 

When we are not homeschooling, working, grocery shopping or with the relatives, we have been trying to scout out our favourite locations around Nelson.  The hills make it easy to get some height and a great view.  

1.  Monaco Peninsula: we walked around the whole thing (2 blocks) to give the boys the idea of a "peninsula" seeing as our hometown is in the Niagara Peninsula itself.  This was within our first week here, so the incoming tide fascinated them. 

 

2.  Centre of New Zealand  - a half hour trek up the hill gave the boys their first taste of "bush walking" here in NZ.  The complaining started within 5 minutes because "It's all uphill Mommy, my legs hurt!".  The peak has a large needle pointing to the spot of the "centre of NZ" and great explanatory signage.  The trip down involved both boys needing multiple bandaids as they skidded on the gravel pathways because "It's all downhill Mommy - we can run!"  Luckily for Jackson, he tumbled first and mommy had 3 bandaids for him (knee, hip, hand), Xavier had a kleenex wrapped to his knee with a long strip from a plant (sorry no photo!) that kept him limping and whimpering all the way back down.  We've learned hiking in long pants is actually a better plan than shorts.  

 how cool is this shot? 

 The Nelson Port

 The needle at the Centre of NZ  (and I think the boys are showing you the Lamb's Ear leaves they collected on the trip up)

 3.  Our own "backyard".  We can see these sheep from the kitchen window (while I'm washing dishes LOL) and the dining room table.  They belong to one of the neighbours.  There were 2 pukekos in the paddock as well this evening, very cool bluish birds with bright orange feet and beaks.  We have a multitude of birds in our area (actually all of NZ is comparable to a bird sanctuary as there are few natural predators and the introduced pest species like stoats and weasels are controlled reasonably well), and it's great to listen to bird calls all day long.  The boys are starting to be able to name different bird species when they spot them.  

 4.  The Boulder Bank - this a natural rock formation that divides the sea from the estuary.  We can see it from our house and it's a defining feature for the city.  We had a great time walking here one afternoon - it's several kilometers long.   The boys loved playing with the rocks and finding pieces of sea sponge!  I don't know what the clouds were doing that day, but they look super cool in these photos. 

5.  The Grampians  - The boys have managed 2 hikes up this hill just beyond the downtown core of the city (and actually directly behind Kim & Luke's new house).

 Spot the Boulder Bank! 

 6.  Rocks Road - one of Dave's favourite spots as a kid was checking out the rock pools, so he had to take the boys . . . and the had a great time, even finding an octopus (photo in a previous post - according to the boys)

7.  Climbing trees at Queen's Gardens near the central city, an old English style Garden . . .

 8.  Japanese Gardens - just a couple of blocks from our house we found a lovely treasure, quiet water gardens with bamboo, bridges, lots of rock to walk on and eels in the pond.

9.  The Maitai Valley boasts a small winding river that Dave remembers swimming in when he was younger.  Lot of run -off from local farms now makes it unsuitable for actual swimming, so the boys endeavored to build a dam to change the water flow and learn how to skip rocks with an unlimited supply of flat rocks. 

 

10.  Cable Bay - a 15 minute drive north brings us to this secluded bay (which we had to ourselves!) for a pleasant afternoon.  Too chilly for a swim, the boys contented themselves to play with (you guessed it!)  . . . ROCKS!  There seems to be a theme occurring here.  Oh, and they chased a few seagulls too!  LOL

 The tide beginning to fill the estuary, everything is so flat that the rise and fall of the tide is very dramatic and the water visibly moves towards you.

The moon rising!  

 11.  Black Swans - Laura, this one is for you - more unique bird life

12.  Finally, coolest sky shots . . . period.  (Gee, someone is getting good with the camera now that he's on a "sabbatical")

(Yes, this last one was from our living room window!)

So, while Nelson also has museums, art galleries, restaurants, shopping, architecture and lots of colonial homesteads etc, we are going for more of a hilly, beachy, rocky, hands-on experience of our time here (strictly for the boys of course). 

On a personal note, I wanted to let you know that we haven't forgotten anyone "at home" and while we are certainly enjoying our time, we miss you.  It's the weirdest thing to take an extended vacation.  Stepping away from the responsibilities and commitments and multitude of activities and wake up to "What would you LIKE to do today?" rather than "What do we HAVE to do today?" all of the time.  There is a sense of missing out on things back home, while forging ahead and making the most of the opportunity and gift of time that God has given us to reflect, restore, grow and love.   Jackson still misses his room, his friends, his family.  Xavier, don't be offended dear readers: really couldn't care less, swears he doesn't miss anything and even denies missing cheese whiz).  Dave is learning how to be an at-home dad and is sharing parts of his childhood memories with his kids.  That's a lot of what this trip is about for us as a family.  Letting Dave speak into the boys lives in an honest reflection of who he is.  We are after all - raising kiwis.