Good Morning from Nelson

We are just about to head out of Nelson after our three night stay here. It's a pretty laid back kind of place and while it's descibed in the guide books as a city, it's more akin to a town the size of Perth or Dumfermline.  At times when we've been  wondering around we wondered where all the people were. And that's on weekend ! But I think it's because the population density here, even compared to Scotland, is really low. There just aren't that many people. And something else we've noticed here on the South Island is that there are lots of older people and quite a few young people but not alot in between. It maybe to do with jobs and opportunities and it will be interesting to see if the we notice the same thing on the North Island.


So much for the social observations.....On Saturday morning we went to the market in the town centre. It was very popular and offered a mix of fresh produce as well as local arts and crafts. Lots of stalls with honey and honey related things as well as friut and veg galore. As Andrew said in his blog, they grow everything here. From apples and all kinds of citrus fruit we couldn't even name to hazelnuts, almonds and olives. And that's not even starting on the veg. The Land of Milk and Honey has never been a more apt description. Even the local pond in the city park was teeming with edible fish life. You wouldn't go hungry.

This morning we're on the move again and head over to the East Coast for the first time on our travels. This is NZ wine country and I read yesterday that 80% of the country's wine is produced in Marlborough. To be honest it's been so hot we haven't been drinking much wine, however it would be ashame not to stop at one or two wineries on the way..... Until next time.

And for Lauren-a photo of Rabbit Island (Andrew is missing Humph)