Blogs from Nelson Region, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 40

It was interesting to work with Anthony and Berry at flamedaisy in Nelson as it had been precisely a year since believing I would probably not be working with glass for some time. I felt happy and comfortable to be working in a familiar environment again, although would often sense the stress and strain, generated by the pressure of running a business, directly from Anthony. Seven weeks of working with him caused a degree of unease, yet we created some stunning artwork, and visitors to the studio commented on our compatibility to make glass together. For the next couple of weeks I kept the furnace fired up, made beautiful glass pendants and served customers in the gallery etc. etc. while the owners went overseas for a family holiday. When they returned I was informed that there ... read more

My travelblog has been quite neglected recently as I have been concentrating on enjoying the comforts of settling in to a new home and focusing my energy on building up a busy social life. I knew instantly that Nelson would be somewhere to call 'home' for a while and I have even surprised myself at my achievements. Within twenty-four hours of living here I had secured a job in a glassblowing studio called flamedaisy and found a fantastic flat in Harper Street sharing with Marcia and Brendyn and their german wire-hair pointer, Texas. I was over-the-moon that things quickly started to fall into place, although also enjoyed the communal atmosphere while staying at Paradiso Backpackers in Weka Street of sharing homemade soup in the evenings, playing cards and watching a few footie games of the World ... read more

Yesterday we went and saw the amazing pancake rocks where the sea was sooo incredibly powerful, the blow hole was a bit of a let down, as it wasnt blowing due to a low tide. We watched the water swirling around and crashing against the massive rocks whcih was really cool. We then were told that the road which we wanted to take North to Nelson was closed -ahhhh so we had to head back to Greymouth and go the longer way around - i think it was because of a land slide - not suprised actually as the roads here are unbleievable - windy as hell and hair pin bends galore! So after a long drive we arrived in Nelson and camped for the night. Today we headed off into the sunshine towards Takaka north ... read more

Today I left the North Island of New Zealand and crossed the Cook Strait by ferry to the South Island. The views of the South Island from the ferry were amazing and there were also some groups of dolphins swimming part of the way with the ferry. I arrived in Nelson in the afternoon and had just enough time to visit the Jewellery store which created the rings for the Lord of the Rings Movie and get to the geographical centre of New Zealand in time to see the sunset.... read more

At 6:30 it was still dark and raining heavily. Not ideal weather for a 2 day sea kayaking expedition, but despite this I was hopeful that we could still go. We couldn't. The trip was cancelled. Instead of sitting around drinking tea in the warm dry hostel I decided to go for a walk in the hills that pen Nelson in to the coast. First hill was the one known as the Centre Of New Zealand. Hopefully other people are suspicious to this too... that the 'centre' happens to be on the summit of a hill with great views. I doubt it would have such appeal if the centre of NZ was infact the location of a poorly maintained public toilet. But thats tourism for ya! Having been up to the Centre I walked/ran through the ... read more