NORTHERN PART OF SOUTH ISLAND OF NEW ZEALAND

PICTON

NELSON

THE ABEL TASMAN NATIONAL PARK

CHRISTCHURCH

NELSON

A small city in the province of Marlborough at the top of the South Island.

Nelson offers a number of options for tourists - including the opportunity to climb the hill to the 'Centre of New Zealand'. It is well signposted from the outskirts of the city. We do not know exactly how the 'Centre' is calculated, but the view after the 25 minute climb is spectacular. Our GPS unit recorded the position (WGS84 DATUM) as 41 16' 24.2" S 173 17' 53.9" E.

Another good view - and a slightly easier walk! - can be had from the steps of the cathedral.

The museum in the centre of town is modern and well laid out ... though we felt it was a little sterile.

We enjoyed our visit to the Settlers museum, a museum of transport and social history ( Founder's Historic Park, 87 Atawhai Drive, Nelson). An added attraction is the boutique brewery and cafe within the grounds. The HotelBookins team offered themselves up as triallists and sampled the brews, pronouncing the beer most acceptable. Note that if just going in to the cafe or brewery, no museum admission fee is payable. The museum also offers a narrow gauge train journey.

Nelson is a good stepping off point for the Marlborough vineyards and a number of activities including 4WD and farm-bike excursions, horse-trekking and the like. It is also a good departure point for the Abel Tasman National Park.

There's a wide range of accommodation options in Nelson and the outskirts.

THE ABEL TASMAN NATIONAL PARK

The Abel Tasman National Park offers a number of walks of 3 or 4 days duration. It is also possible to get a water taxi from various pick-up/drop-off points and thus day trips are available. Check here for some options, or here for the water taxi. We drove to Totaranui and took the watertaxi for the short journey from Totaranui to Awaroa Lodge. This lodge can be booked through Hotel Bookings but it fills up quickly in summer.

CHRISTCHURCH - "Garden City"

There are a number of things to do in Christchurch.

One of the latest tourist attractions is the opportunity to drive a tank, or another military vehicle such as an Armoured Personnel Carrier, scout car etc. Tanks for Everything in McLeans Island Road offers the only opportunity for this activity in New Zealand. We drove the 52-ton Centurion Tank (picture right) and will go back to try the other vehicles next time!  BOOKINGS ARE ESSENTIAL

Our favourites amongst the other activities include: The Antarctic Centre at the airport (dubbed "The World's Best Antarctic Attraction") which now includes a delightful penguin display, and a trip to the port city of Lyttelton, including a visit to the Timeball Station (if you get there by 12.45pm you may be allowed to wind up and release the timeball!). There's also a gondola giving a spectacular view of the port form the top.

The Antarctic Centre (snow storm at left!) is a short walk from the airport terminal and is an excellent way to fill in some time if you have a reasonable wait for your flight. The Centre is most informative and includes the opportunity to experience a snow storm. We found the audio guide system a little disappointing in English but it is probably more useful in its foreign-language variants.

The Canterbury Museum, near the city centre is an excellent, somewhat traditional museum and the art gallery, though recently criticised by the art-purists for being 'unadventurous', was right up our alley when we visited! The docent's guided tourwas particularly informative. Close to both of these facilities is the Arts Centre, the former university cluster with more than 40 galleries and shops, cafes and a theatre. The weekend craft fair is well-worth a visit. The famous tram which runs on a 2.5km circular route around the central part of the city, passes close to all of these attractions and includes the square at the city centre. Though a ticket is reasonably expensive, it does allow 'hop-on, hop-off' use for the whole day.

From Christchurch you can take the scenic 'TRANZALPINE' train to Greymouth. This is an excellent journey, though we recommend that if time allows you book an excursion in the west coast area and spend at least one night there.

If you have the time, a trip to AKAROA on Banks Peninsula is highly recommended. This 'French' settlement has a charm of its own. Excursion trips into Akaroa harbour operate periodically.

EDWIN FOX IN THE GRAVING DOCK AT PICTON PRIOR TO THE ROOF BEING BUILT courtesy www.nzmaritime.co.nz

CENTRE OF NEW ZEALAND

ABEL TASMAN NATIONAL PARK - AWAROA

Tanks for Everything - Christchurch

In the snow storm at the Antarctic Centre, Christchurch