Nelson ☀️

I was in Nelson twice. Once before I left for Abel Tasman and once after for 2 nights each. Because New Zealand is definitely not famous for its cities, this city is nothing particularly special. On my first stop there I was in a really cool, very hippy hostel. I met some cool people there and experienced pretty much everything you can experience in the city itself. We were at the Center of New Zealand in the rain and had a rainy view of the city. There is actually a reasonably nice church in Nelson. Since it was just before Christmas, you could vote for the most beautiful Christmas tree in the city. Unfortunately I have no idea who won! In the afternoon there was the big Santa parade in the city, which felt more like carnival than Christmas to me. For a moment I thought I had landed at the Gmündner carnival. 🤡 In the evening we went for a sunset walk to the beach. Pretty early I went on to Abel Tasman National Park (extra blog post), where I met the people from the hostel again for a hike.

On my second visit I had better luck with the weather, but not with the hostel. Was a fairly new hostel and just didn't tell as many stories as others. After a week of a lot of hiking in Abel Tasman, all we could do here was lie on the beach and enjoy the sea. Walk around the city a bit and explore the corners that I didn't see the first time. In the evening we went back to the Center of New Zealand for sunset with TimTams and beer. In the end, I liked the city and enjoyed my time (like everywhere else so far)! Now we're heading to Westport for Christmas! 🫶🏼