The Adventures of Mommy Pt. 1

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Nelson Region » Nelson
June 18th 2006

Published: July 5th 2006

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Cas

Me in front of my library

dont be fooled, its the only nice looking building on campus, the others look like modern art gone bad

I have to give my mom major props, she left the beautiful California summer to the dismal New Zealand winter just to see me! I love my mommy.
Like all great trips she was delayed, almost 6 hours due to engine failure in LA…thank Buddha they found that b4 they got in the air!! But with the beautiful technology my dad and I stayed in touch so I wasn’t at the airport for a million hours. It was really funny trying to get her to stay awake past 6:30pm, granted it was like almost 12am her time so I guess it is only fair.
It was so nice to have her here because I got the call that I could move into my new flat so she got to help me pack up all my stuff and move it across campus. But it was all worth it…a kitchen, wood burning fireplace, a shower I only have to share with 3 people, a phone I only have to share with 3 people! Life is grand.
Well not wanting to stay in Lincoln too long (can cause permanent mental damage) we headed up the east coast to Nelson (at the tip

Me and the Car

And of course Lonely Planet (never travel with out it)

of the south island). It was fun we got to rent a car, well we got to rent one once I remembered which one we booked the car with, I swear it wasn’t my fault I called like 30 different places. So we got one of those Echo’s…kinda cute, I felt like I was driving a box or a bug or something. We made it to Nelson with not too many wrong turns, but once we got into Nelson that was an entirely different story. Of course we got there right as the I-Site was closing so we were on our own to find a place for the night - and of course everything was booked! We got the last room in this kinda fancy hotel, people in suits and dresses and then me and my mom with my backpacking back pack and her bag and our fleece - gotta love us.
Had dinner at Lonestar - those places are everywhere! - and called it an early night.
The next day we wondered around the town looking for all the art studios we could find. Unfortunately my mom and I have the navigations skills of the naked mole rat (they

Mommy and Me

are blind and don’t move more then like 100 feet their whole lives) and the maps were pretty crappy too so we found everything we were looking for it just took us about half a day longer then it should have. I like looking at art galleries but it can get old when all you see is jewelry and wool garments, all ghastly over priced. The best one though had to be this studio with a glass blower, he was working on an exhibition piece - a giant vase with all these random pieces of glass stuck all over it….it was crazy to watch. The lady who ran the gallery was so sweet and told us all about the artist and the crazy things that go on and was just super sweet. It was fun to just be with my mommy and watching her get all these ideas, I’m sure she is at home already planning her next big project.
The next day we went to the Wearable arts museum, so cool!! There is a festival every year in Nelson were people make these costumes - I mean circus ‘o le on acid type of outfits. I was so impressed.