The week before Christmas we had a mini break in Nelson. Firstly we stayed overnight at Maruya Springs. They have changed up the layout of the reception area. Apparently they did this during lockdown. We got chatty to a family in the guests social room, where Mioni started playing with blocks that their 2 year old child was playing with. The family were from the states, originally on holiday here but then Covid happened. They decided to stay to see it through.
Mioni LOVED the warm water here. We started at the outside pools where a worker was taking temperate checks. We followed her around to the indoor pool so we could know which was the least hottest pool for Mioni's sake. The indoor one was the most suitable, so we stayed there.
The dinner was a set menu which is different from what we are used too here. Sabine chose the red meat option and I chose the veg option. The only other one would have been seafood. I also choose an apple crumble flavoured cider which was something different for a change. That night we didn't get much sleep due to Mioni being noisy all night, tossing and turning etc.
The breakfast buffet was gone, and the only decent option for breakfast was really small. Ergh.
We checked out the room, then went in the outdoor and indoor pools for a bit, then left for Nelson. The drive was hours. We did stop briefly at Maruya Falls waterfall again, and then for a coffee break at Murchison. We stayed in Richmond, a suburb of the city.
Nelson is quite a big place, and is nearly as far north as Wellington even though its on the South Island. There are a few interesting places to visit, one being 'Queens Garden', which is a Chinese garden, and the other is 'Miyazu Japanese garden'.
One of the days here we walked a stretch of Abel Taman. We caught the Sea Shuttle From Kaiteriteri to Tonga Quarry and walked south to Medlands Beach. I wore a backpack that had Mioni sitting at the back. It was hard going and we had to stop for a rest quite often, but we had 3 hours with plenty of time, so we didn't rush it. A highlight during the walk was a Fantail family with two chicks right above our heads. There was also a Weka that followed us for a bit, and another that tried to steal Mioni's hat from the backpack when we took a rest at the Medlands Beach. The boat was a good one so we didn't get wet at any point.
The drive was long, and once there we realised that Mioni didn't have her hat. It was missing. We looked around for a boat ride to an interesting bird sanctuary island, but the main one that goes to the island I went to in 2009 left at 8am so we missed that by hours already. Sabine was more so thinking of the other island which was very close by. The price to get to this peninsula (its not an island) is extortionate as you have to get there via boat. We reluctantly accepted and paid the $40 each. The boat ride was next to no time to get there. Its still a part of Picton harbour after all. Its a peninsular that's sectioned off by an animal fence. We decided to give ourselves 4 hours, but you could easily do the walk in 1 hour. We didn't see any birds other than a lazy Fantail sitting in a tree. I was expecting more. The track was well maintained so we could have taken the baby stroller, but I wore the baby backpack.
On the way back we laughed at this decorated Christmas tree in the middle of the nowhere in the mountain roads.
We dined at a sushi restaurant once back which was nice. One of the other restaurants we went too one evening was 'The Styx' in Nelson where I ate one of the best seafood pastas I've ever had. Also, Richmond has a decent pizza parlour.
On another day we visited Natureland Wildlife Trust Zoo. Its small yet compact and on the seafront, and you don't have to trek a mile just to get to an enclosure. They don't have big animals, but its still not bad. After that we went to the Beach Cafe nearby then to the play park where I played mini golf in 2009 with my parents. This time I took Mioni to a free trampoline area for under 5's which she enjoyed.
Going home we drove clockwise to Christchurch. We stopped off in Havlock to this quaint tea room, then in Blenheim for a quick look around. The East coast was raining, and Chevoit was closed. We eventually arrived in Amberley and stopped for an Indian dinner next to their Countdown.
