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.  

51 Paremata Street

This is our new "home away from home", about 5 minutes drive from the Nelson city centre, up a hill overlooking the estuary and the boulder bank.  We were very BLESSED to find a furnished rental house with two twin beds for the boys and a spare bed for my parents when they come in February. 

 
You'll notice my father-in-law's car with roof rack in the front.  We've just bought a 1995 Mitsubishi van so that he can stop driving the motorhome to the grocery store.

The boys love eating at the island and the open space in the lounge (aka living room) for playing and schoolwork.  

We love the view!

Found a photo of the van, taken today actually while we were out for a scenic drive up a river valley.

The boys and I all love the extra wide view we get from the van . . . well, maybe not as much as an Asterix comic book.  Jack & Xavier have taken to reading in the car - it's amazing, it's stunningly peaceful and quiet driving and so far they don't show any signs of motion sickness.

I've started working at Baby City(think "Babies R Us") as a part-time sales associate, selling carseats, strollers and the general baby paraphernalia.    Good thing I had worked in a Bridal Salon for a year to use on my resume as previous sales experience.  We got the job and the house within one week of landing in the country.  Try and tell me there wasn't a helping hand involved! 

We are settling in at a church here, called Annesbrook Community Church, which is a bit larger than Niagara Orchard back home.  It was the first church we tried here and the kids loved their Sunday School programs and begged to go back.  They also were mailed a card & lollipop after their first visit.  Each week we've met someone new and have felt quite welcomed.  Dave is participating in a two night newcomers class led by the pastors to get a better handle on the place, but they are very intentional in everything they do and it seems to be a good fit.

Dave is doing well in his new role as "house husband & home schooling Daddy" etc.  shopping for groceries, cooking dinner, taking the boys to the library, hanging out the wash (YES, we do not have dryer, we have a clothes line in the back garden!).  We've also had a busy week helping Dave's sister Kim, Luke and the cousins move (shift) to their new home.

The boys are doing well with their homeschooling material and we've joined up with a local home educators network for a few events / activities.  They had some cross country races (running and biking, if you can believe it!) on Rabbit Island, only a 15 mins drive from here.  Jackson was quite excited to run and came 3rd out of 11 kids his age.  Xavier didn't run in the races, but had a fantastic time on the beach.  

 Baby thresher sharks washed up on the beach - how's that for a science lesson?    And the seashells were amazing!  I loved the sand dollars, which we have drying on our deck in the sun at the moment. 

 The boys spent about half an hour moving this pile of "logs" back and forth, by working together and using the sticks in their hands to lift and throw them!  It was a small lean-to structure to begin with . . . until my boys got at it! 

 Great view of the city of Nelson showing how it's nestled in between the ocean and the mountains . . . I love how NZ people call these "hills" as in "Oh, there's still snow up on the hills today" and we called the Niagara Escarpment in Hamilton a "mountain".  Ha Ha, everything's relative!   

In case you are longing to write us an old-fashioned handwritten letter (or Christmas card - no pressure though!), we can be reached at:

The McFaddens
51 Paremata St.
Atawhai, Nelson
NEW ZEALAND
7010

We happily accept emails at anytime of day or night at djmcfadden@yahoo.com  We're also getting better at Facetime or SKYPE anytime from 3pm to midnight ONTARIO time which equals 9am - 6pm our time (the day ahead of you).  :-)    We'd love to catch up on your news!