I can’t believe it’s more than a month since Shirley and Jim visited us in Nelson. Making the trip all the way from Perth was a great undertaking and they broke the journey with Heather and Anthony in Melbourne on the way out. They arrived in Christchurch in the and spent a couple of days there sight-seeing and getting over their jetlag before hopping on to the Transcoastal train. The journey took them up the east coast to Piction where Neil picked them up and finally they reached Nelson – quite an adventure!

We had as much pleasure showing them around Nelson as they did in seeing our home, Maya’s school and various historical landmarks in Maya’s life (old houses, schools, favourite shops etc.) One of the other highlights for Shirley and Jim was having a look around Distant Drummer, the scene of our last year’s adventures. They were so pleased to get on board and go down into the salon and galley and drink a coffee in the cockpit– a great moment for all of us!

One day we took a drive around the southern coast of Tasman Bay stopping at a couple of inlets for coffee and to explore mooring possibilities for DD. We drove up into the Abel Tasman National Park and had some lovely views across the bay then visited a winery or two on the way back. Another day we had a picnic in the Maitai valley. It was a lovely sunny day and we found a spot close to the river to spread out a rug and a couple of chairs. It was a bit chilly for a swim but Daphne and I did a couple of laps across the swimming hole – she won!

We visited the WOW Museum which houses the phantasmagorical costumes from the World of Wearable Art Festival. The webpage describes WOW as “a world where art and the human form combine, where dance, music and lighting tell a story of the body as a canvas; where the lines of fashion and art blur and merge as one”. The festival is the brainchild of a Nelson sculptor and used to be staged annually in Nelson, however it became so popular that it was moved to Wellington in 2005 and now attracts costumes from all over the world. The imagination and creativity in the costume designs is simply amazing but unfortunately photos are not allowed in the exhibition room. However the museum also houses a large collection of classic cars ancient and modern, all in superb condition. The collection spans from wicked gangster cars to super cool chevvys to Mustangs.

After ten days it was time for Shirley and Jim to head back home. We drove them across the mountains to Greymouth on the West Coast. It was a wonderful drive through the Buller Gorge which cuts through the Paparoa range east of Westport. Then we turned south down the barren, rugged west coast to Greymouth, one of the more remote parts of New Zealand. We wished Shirley and Jim farewell over dinner in a Greymouth pub and the next day they took the TransAlpine train back to Christchurch. We drove back to Nelson with happy memories and lots of photos.

Suzy and Neil