Driving Me Mad (Nelson, Sun City, New Zealand)

Hello, dear reader. Just a quick post for today.

The night progressed in a similar fashion to the previous one, which provided the title Driving Me Mad, by Neil Finn from One Nil, 2001.  Door slamming and people coming and going between the hours of 2 and 4am. I don't know what is going on and I really don't care. Just do it quietly. I am hoping that there will be a change of tenant now the weekend is over. Only time will tell. In terms of retribution, I invoke the great Maxwell Q Klinger from the brilliant TV series MASH 4077, "May the fleas of a thousand camels infest your armpits". No, not you dear reader, the person next door and her late night friends, one of whom was evicted around 3:30am. He walked away, slump-shouldered and despondent, casting the occasional sad-eyed look back over his shoulder. I guess he'll just have to take the matter in hand.

Strict entry requirements. Anti-vaxxers welcome.

With an east facing window, sleep beyond dawn is not easy, even with heavy curtains. Fortunately the sun rises late down here in the south. Dawn came with a little cloud that soon burned off. Given we appear to be surrounded by churches of varying Christian denominations, we fully expected to be awakened by the peal of bells summoning the faithful to worship. Not a chime was heard until just before 10am - all the way from the Cathedral on the hill. Once ready for the day, we headed to the Monty Markets. These were held in the same space as yesterday's markets but were billed as a "mecca for treasure hunters of pre-loved clothing, recycled tools, books, antiques ... ". The hyperbole goes on for quite a while. Unlike the market which was a glorified car-boot sale. It was very small and held precious little of any interest.

Yes, it's a flower, in the Cathedral garden. That's all I have.

After the excitement of the markets, we walked to the Cathedral as the 10am service was nearing completion. The Cathedral has a story to tell, but to piece it together you had to circumnavigate the block on which it stands and read the information supplied at specific points. And I don't really care that much. I just wanted to know what happened to the old building and why the new one is so, well, ugly. Ok, brutalist, if you like, but it pre-dates that architectural movement  by a couple of decades.

The view from on high. The Cathedral to debauchery, well the pub.

Apparently an earthquake rendered the original Cathedral unsafe. The new one, of 1925 dark stone construction, also contains an earthquake warning inside noting it's lack of safety. They could have saved a lot of money and stayed with the original timber version.

There's a lot at stake here. Ask a surveyor.

The interior is testimony to the old and new. Stylistically it's all columns and stained glass windows with modern tweaks here and there. It is an interesting juxtaposition.

Traditional columns and vaulted ceiling with a neon backlit cross.

So, I went to church today. Ok. I went into a church today. The experience was almost too much for me and I required coffee to regain my balanced perspective on the world. And a friand. There is not much open in Nelson on a Sunday, Cathedral excepted. Very few cafés, curiously clothing stores and not much else. Even the markets were a dud.

I just love a stained glass window.

In our meandering this morning, we discovered more street art. I know, it's a real Kiwi thing. Unlike Christchurch, the Nelson Art Walk has a specific focus. Unlike Dunedin, the walls are not adorned with original works but copies, often framed copies of original works that depict life in Nelson in some way. The other commonality is that they all seem to have been on display at a particular gallery in Nelson at some time. That is, if the work is a part of the 'Art Walk' there is plenty of more organic art works on the street, some of which featured in earlier posts. It's important to make the distinction between those unauthorised pieces of art, some of which are quite substantial, and the approved Art Walk inclusions.

With god seeing everything you do, is a surveillance camera necessary?
Is that a flying Barbie style witch?

While it was interesting to track the 28 works and read each artist's bio and the context statement for the work, it lacked the impact of the street art in Dunedin and even Christchurch. It was a pleasant walk on a beautiful day and we managed to find 24 of the works. Some of which we have deemed worthy of inclusion in the blog.

Don't let a street sign get in the way of the street art exhibition.

This was meant to encourage the English to move to Nelson. I don't know why.

A  more modern depiction of life in Nelson.

Genuinely an amazing painting although the photo doesn't capture it.

Our attempt at being cultured exhausted us. It was time to rest and have a beer. But first some street-scape excitement. A young girl (well, that's a relative term when you're my age), in her 20's runs across the street, in front of traffic (Ok, a car), chasing a similarly aged long haired, bearded boy shouting, "Give me my keys!" repeatedly. They were together and had been arguing. I saw them earlier on our culture walk. He tried to speak to her and she did the arms folded thing, turned her back, and said, "Don't speak to me." Other bystanders had not witnessed the prelude and all these young men ran to the nearest phone booth, tore off their clothes are re-appeared as Supermen, circling the miscreant key-thief and, we assume, called the police. Chivalry is not dead in New Zealand. Or is it sexism? Discuss.

Anyway, the two supermen, one of whom shed his flip-flops in the chase, had the matter in hand so we walked to The Vic for a beer. Too much excitement for this old heart.

We are now back at the hotel blogging and researching the potential stops for tomorrow's journey to Kaikoura. Oh, alright, we are also drinking wine. Well, my tastebuds are back.

As I have remarked on many occasions, dear reader, "comparisons are odious" (Michael Gow, Away) but difficult not to make in our current circumstance. We stayed at the Quest in Invercargill and could not recommend them highly enough. They weren't faultless but they did they everything they could and everything asked of them. This afternoon (Sunday) we arrived back at the hotel to find the room hadn't been serviced because ... it's Sunday. Then there have been the noise issues and the dudes on the desk are performing at perfunctory level at best. Quest Nelson? Never again.

As the sun sets over another beautiful day in Sun City, we walked to the 'centre of town'. Well it is on Sunday afternoon, the Trafalgar Street and Selwyn Place intersection. There are many places still not open, but The Vic does beer and pub food and Lombardis Italian Restaurant opens at 4:30pm - even on Sunday. The bonus here? The food, wine and service is excellent. Best 'authentic' pizza I've had since Christchurch.

Tomorrow is a transit day from Nelson to Kaikoura.

Until next time ...