We started this morning with a walk to the centre of New Zealand. It is slightly debateable whether it really is the centrepoint of New Zealand and recent earthquakes may have moved it slightly, but, from the perspective of a surveyor, this trig point is the centre because it is the origin point for Nelson and Nelson is the central land district of the 12 New Zealand districts. So – yes – perhaps it is maybe the possible centrepoint of New Zealand. However, whatever it is, it was a lovely walk giving a great view down over Nelson in one direction and the Maitai river valley in the other direction.
Nelson Harbour is protected by a 13.5km long boulder bank – quite like Chesiul Beach. The boulder bank is formed of granodiorite pebbles. This rock is around 140 to 145 million years old and is very hard. Uplift and erosion has exposed the granodiorite at Mackay Bluff, north of Glenduan, and the pieces of rock fall from the bluff and are swept by longshore currents to the boulder bank. The pebbles become progressively smaller as the distance from the bluff increases and they get more and more eroded. This bank is clear in the picture above.
From the Centre of New Zealand, we walked down into town, past the Botanical Reserve – a public space where the first ever rugby game was hosted in New Zealand on May 14th 1870. They have certainly got the hang of it since – not least beating the Canadians 63-0 in the World Cup today! We then headed back to Tom and Vicky’s for lunch.
After lunch we drove up the Maitai Valley, following the river, to the reservoir which provides all the water for Nelson. A lovely drive with a short walk at the end.
In the evening, we went out for a meal at a local waterfront restaurant. We had carefully timed it so that the boats would be coming in at the end of the first spring series evening race of the season. There were very few out, but we did feel sorry for the boat who struggled back in with his spinnaker wrapped around the forestay. He didn’t know he had an audience watching him from our harbourside seat!