And it was another good one. At breakfast had a good visit with the host who showed me a book a friend had made of all the street art and where to find it.
I started my walking tour first at a Japanese Garden. It is rustic compared to the ones in Japan but made the statement of partnership with their sister city.
Nearby was a reconstructed village of what Nelson was like in the 1870's or so. I heard the most beautiful flute music coming from the church and when I went in there was a woman playing. She looked Maori but said she was a French artist travelling the world studying native art and culture. The flute she was playing was from an aboriginal tribe in north america. I should have asked where. At any rate it had a lovely sound. There was also a replica of a windmill built by the first Dr. in Nelson. The windmill never worked and he misdiagnosed a child with whooping cough and 68 children died from it. They have an interesting way of writing about someone's negative characteristics in an understated way or just giving the facts and letting them speak for themselves.
My route basically followed the edge of the bay around town. I got lost in construction trying to find my way to the Motorcycle Museum but everyone was helpful. It had over 300 vintage bikes all in pristine condition. I was going to go in but it cost $20 and they were stacked up in tiers, like in a bicycle store, no way to photograph them. When an old guy started to explain to me why a 1967 BMW that was sitting in front of the Museum was such an amazing piece of work I realized that the place was really going to be wasted on me.
I moved on to the ANZAC Park and two art galleries, one with lovely ceramics and the other featuring Maori artists both shows were really good. By then it was mid afternoon and I was pretty much done in. I have been averaging almost 20,000 steps a day. I got an ice cream cone, sat by the river and decided the best thing I could do was have a rest and recharge my batteries, the camera one literally. On the way back I passed a theatre that was showing 9 different movies. It is Friday night and seemed like a good thing to do.
The bell tower looks more like a call to arms than a call to prayer
Recharged I made one last stop at the Cathedral but the light wasn't good and it didn't do anything to improve the look of the place. I wanted to get some stained glass images inside but a wedding rehearsal was going on. When I got to the theatre the show I planned to see was sold out and The Big Short had just one seat left in the front row. It turns out that each theatre only holds about 40 people. It was great I wasn't too close and the seats were so comfortable. All the trailers were for good movies, most Australian. I don't think Kiwis are much enamoured by American action films. When I came out the clouds had broken up and the sun was coming out. I took my computer out on the porch to enjoy the sunset. A good ending for my time here.
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