So remember brave Lord Nelson boys, he had never known defeat

And for his reward, they stuck him up in the middle of O'Connell Street - Tommy Makem


I spent January 19th through 21st visiting Nelson. I liked the city a lot. Unfortunately the trip had the feel of that Thursday before going home from summer camp. You upper-middleclass types know what I'm talking about. You know that camp is a lot of fun but you're sort of sick of it. The backpackers I stayed at, Paradiso Backpackers, was swank and crowded. It had a pool, hot tub, and sauna. I didn't avail myself of the facilities though.

I found the exact center of New Zealand as you can see from the first photo. Even more importantly within a kilometer of the center was the site of the first rugby game. I wonder if the correlation in locations is causation? Nelson is close to Abel Tasman National Park, which is one of the smallest and most visited parks in New Zealand. It's known for beaches with hundreds of kayaks parked on them. I didn't visit it, but the surrounding area reminded me of the Oregon coast.

I drove to Takaka with the intent of hiking in Abel Tasman but was side tracked by the Golden Bay A and P Show. It was fun. I saw tug-of-war competitions, horse jumping, and quilts. My best find was Wade who's in the third photo. Who would attached a cross-cut saw to an old two-stroke diesel engine? Do we have the ability to make something dangerous and stupid? A chubber would. Also, if you want to win a prize at a country fair, enter either the jellyroll or silver beet competitions. There were only two competitors for three prizes.

A gem of a national park is Nelson Lakes. I wish that I spent more time than a couple hours hiking around. The last photo is of the park. The Department of Conservation wishes to restore the original ecosystem based on beech sap. Invasive hornets use too much of the sap and native species use other food sources now. I was sorely tempted to rent a kayak and head out.

I've been digging a band I recently heard on KEXP – Bloc Party. I was surprised to see their album at Real Groovy this morning. It looks like you can listen to their whole album on their MySpace page. I like the song "The Prayer" a real lot.

Today is Waitangi Day, the New Zealand Columbus Day. The Wikipedia article is unusually bland.

Tonight make me unstoppable
I will charm, I will slice,
I will dazzle them with my wit
Tonight make me unstoppable
And I will charm, I will slice
I will dazzle I will outshine all

- Chorus to "The Prayer" by Bloc Party