Settling into Nelson

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We have been reunited now for 10 days in Nelson. We are living in the Franklyn Village Apartments, which is a dorm-style long-term accommodation about a 15 min walk south of downtown.

Liza is finishing up her final placement at Nelson College. It is the oldest college in all of New Zealand, and famed for their rugby teams. The all boys school has roughly 1,100 students, 4 boarding houses, and beautiful rugby pitches out front. So beautiful in fact that the Italian rugby team is training on them for their World Cup games. Not a bad view.

The teaching is going well, and by Friday September 30th, Liza will bid farewell to the boys College and all of the wonderful people she had the pleasure of teaching and working with there.

Matt has enjoyed having the time to decompress following the completion of his PhD. The overriding theme of his daily endeavours, while Liza has been at school, has been taking his time. Taking more time waking up, taking more time walking places and generally taking the time to enjoy everything. It has been magnificent. Daily activities have mostly involved trying to photograph Nelson, sitting in a coffee shop reading articles (mostly sports-related) on the internet and making trips to the grocery store to plan meals for the evening. Pretty sweet life.

Despite the freedom allowed during the day while Liza is teaching, the most enjoyable experiences so far have been our combined efforts to explore and enjoy the city. Nelson is a small city (~40,000 people) framed by a series of hills and situated in the Tasman bay. Across the bay lie a range of beautiful snow-capped mountains and the famous Abel Tasman National Park. Like anywhere in New Zealand, Nelson makes it easy to enjoy the outdoors and make the most of the surrounding environment. The added bonus provided by Nelson is that the sun is always shining. We have also been fortunate to be in New Zealand as they host the Rugby World Cup, and we have allowed ourselves to become fully immersed in the national hysteria.. and the pubs.

In the less than two weeks we have been here together we have become familiar with the downtown, found the best restaurants, tried to take in as many rugby matches in pubs with the locals as possible, and hiked the surrounding hills which provided a beautiful panoramic view of the Nelson area.

Through Liza's placement at the college and involvement with the ultimate frisbee community we have been fortunate to get to know some of the local crew. We have played ultimate both indoors and outdoors, and were guided around the Nelson Disc Golf course. We have also managed to get ourselves into the Nelson Beach Tournament which takes place in early December.

We have two days left in Nelson before we head to Wellington to reacquaint with Liza's classmates from Christchurch where we will drink and obnoxiously cheer our way through the Canada vs. All Blacks rugby match on Sunday afternoon. Watch for us on TV. 10 pm EDT start time on Saturday back home.

We will try and update the blog once a week when possible. As we embark on our adventures together, we aim to refrain from being forced to refer to ourselves in third person again.. Ever. Feel free to contact us here, especially with suggestions on how to make this blog great.

We'd love for you to come along with us on our journey, so keep reading.

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Photos

Nelson College
This is a picture taken on the walk from our apartment into downtown. This is where Liza spends her days while Matt enjoys his freedom.

The scenery
Taken from near the summit of the Grampian hills. We were taking a break because benches were made for sitting on.

Tahunanui Beach
A small beach on the west side of the city. We managed to steal a car and spend a few minutes enjoying the scenery there. It will also be the site of the Nelson Beach Tournament.

The north hills
The picture was taken during our tramp through the Grampian hills one day when Liza was able to skip out of school early. It depicts the hills that frame the city to north.

Comments

[martha]

aww you guys
you guys are great! so glad you two are finally back together and enjoying life! see ya in SEasia! ;)

[Auntie Ruth]

Hello Liza and Matt, Wonderful photos and intro to your travel blog. I\'m thrilled to be able to follow your adventures as you journey through New Zealand...armchair travelling at its best! Looking forward to the next post. \'til then, travel safe and have a ball! P.S. congrats to you both on the completion of your studies.

[Batch]

I like the third person. It makes it sound like each of you is writing about the other. Post on facebook when there\'s an update and I\'ll read it.

[HogelShelley]

Thanks for the input
We thought the third person sounded pretentious. Your feedback is much appreciated. There is a 'subscribe' button on the blog, which will send you emails when the blog is updated, but you may have seen that and opted not to give you email address to the website. I will try to update on FB as well.

[Kelsey]

Liza sounds like you found a placement with a setting like Lakefield. Glad you\'re writing - and posting photos - looks beautiful!

[Jess & R Shelley]

Watching for more news!
Hi... we check the blog often...and enjoyed the intro installment, hope you met up with Bri & Kit If you get to Rotorua plse include a photo...Happy (belated) Canadian thanksgiving!