Nelson (New Zealand Part 24)

When we left Havelock, we saw a hitchhiker standing by the road who wanted to go to Nelson. We picked him up and learned that he is from the Netherlands and is traveling alone through New Zealand and Asia after school.

In Nelson, we took a city tour that led us through the grid-patterned streets.

The Christ Church Cathedral was particularly impressive, which is the seat of the Anglican Bishop. It is built of marble and combines different architectural styles with a 35-meter-high openwork tower.

Inside, there was a Christmas tree exhibition, which was also a competition. The trees decorated with questionable color combinations didn't really meet our taste. In general, we wondered why the Christmas trees were still on display in mid-January.

We could also admire some old houses, such as the "Fairfield House" from 1872. It was damaged by a fire in 1976 and has now been restored after 30 years of renovation.

We returned through the "Queens Garden" (all very English here), which was opened for the 50th coronation anniversary of Queen Victoria.

In the evening, we drove towards Abel Tasman National Park until the Hawkes viewpoint, whose parking lot was also designated for overnight parking. However, due to the rain that started in the evening, we only went to the actual viewpoint the next morning.

There were some birds running around in the parking lot, which we determined with our ornithological expertise as Wekas.