We cleaned up the Nelson house that Kathleen & John had swapped for and headed out to run a few last errands and a bit of shopping.   

Then they drove me over to the  apartment that I had rented for the next 5 days. It was right on the edge of the downtown area. The ad had referred to it as funky, I would label it as charming. It was small just a downstairs living/kitchen and an upstairs bedroom/bath. But it included a nice garden area, an upstairs patio overlooking the street, had a very well equipped kitchen and had lots of nice art and items with a Paris theme. I gave Kathleen and John the tour (it didn’t take long) and they loaded up and drove off down the street.   

I spent the next day’s enjoying the cute town of Nelson. It was just a few blocks square. It had shops, restaurants and pubs. I went to the Saturday  market, visited the church up on a hill at the head of town and just enjoyed the small town atmosphere.    

There were also several nice walks in the area. I walked along the beach, I walked out to the boat marina and I walked up to the geographic center of New Zealand. From there was great views of the ocean and the town. 

At the top was a monument marking the center.   

This is it pointing down through my head at the center.   

From there I took a walk through the hills that went back to the ocean and then to town.  

I very much enjoyed the little town of Nelson. It was a nice rest between the past adventures and the start of the campervan portion of my trip.