Winters Finally here

However as NIWA’s climate forecasts for the next few months predict, it could be milder, or in there terms “warmer than average, approx 50% of the time.”

Although this past week it wasn’t hard for everyone in NZ to be aware that for 2010 ….wintertime is now here.

ABOVE May 28th 2010

Must admit after looking at a few photos taken around this time…….

ABOVE May 21st 2009

……..the month of May that is over the last few years…..

ABOVE May 3rd 2008 Winter already here

……………………it is obvious that in 2010 Winter was indeed a bite late arriving.

Finally…..some competition

Recognised as one of Australasia's busiest fishing ports, it would seem…..that the only thing getting in the way, of making it a bigger Port, is, well………The Cut.

Great intentions were there when it was blasted into that dastardly Boulder Bank to allow larger ships a safe passage many many decades ago.

Click on this (& courtesy of Wikipedia and a great shot from a local Photag over at Wikipedia) above you’ll get the surprise of your life….…its one of the best photos of the Boulder Bank, with Nelson to the centre left, that you’ll see……..but believe me……… it may take some time to load! (the original Wikipedia author was identified by Wikipedia as http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Stug.stug, and I certainly have no probs with giving him/her credit for the shot….cause it definitely takes a bit of an effort to get that elevation, and that perspective)

And by safe passage I mean exactly that – many ships were lost trying to visit Nelson prior to the dynamite. Check out The Prow to see what I mean.

Which brings me to today. What’s this???

And my effort in the rain……..hmmm?

Looks like I’ve got some local competition. Great News for the viewer/browser because it means better choice of shots. And this person looks to be in the right spot? At about 1mb resolution….I’d love to know if it was a camera or an image taken with a mobile phone.

It would seem that someone else with a Nelsonians Eye, and sharing a similar nautical fascination, under the name of “One Eyed Kiwi” is this person……….from today also providing visual documentation of ships going and fro-ing from Port Nelson.

Ships, like planes, have always been a fascination of mine. In fact as a youngster it got me into a lot of trouble.

Travelling from Tauranga in 1972, obviously the jet trip (Air NZ DC8) itself was one of my first quite vivid travel memories, to Sydney as part of a Bay of Plentys Soccer Rep Team…..the coach commented to my parents…(I was a forward) that…he’s fantastic – does his job admirably………but only so long as no jet planes are flying overhead.

Big problem at St George Club in Sydney then ………….because the airport was only a couple kms from the playing ground….(from memory it seemed even shorter) but I would loose myself and look skyward….thank goodness my concentration has improved considerably since then. (in case you are wondering, yes those jets were TAA 727’s)

From memory, we won the 1st game, but that was the only one…….so we lost the series. Still it was an incredible experience for a 12 year old from rural NZ.

I suspect we are one of the few places in the world to have a ship in a real unusual place too.

We’re so spoilt for scenery here

Bit of a drive today, had to travel 90 minutes to one of my listings over in the Wairau Valley.

Its always a great drive, and in fact almost a relaxing one. Today was a case in point. From the Belgrove turnoff to my destination and back again, I would have been lucky to see 25-35 other vehicles in total.

Tons of time therefore to take in the scenery too.

And on account of not being held up by traffic and being able to sit on a safe steady speed ……

…….I arrived some minutes early so had a chance to make a short detour to the Lakes.

Always pleasant here……………

and today was no exception, no wind 

- very still on the lake surface

and even a few friendly locals to greet me.

High Tides can be a Challenge for Drivers

Nelson is one of the regions of New Zealand that have the highest delta between low and high tides.

Our maximum tidal range is 4.59m.

If a high tide coincides with an onshore breeze or like today a bit more than a zephyr………..

………..then it can make the seaside drive around Rocks Rd into Nelson quite “interesting.”

Brightwaters Claim to Fame

According to reliable sources, a chap by the name of Ernest Rutherford from Nelson was the first person to successfully split the atom in 1917.

This was perhaps his most famous achievement, and he became known as the father of nuclear physics.

As you are driving along State Highway 6 between Brightwater and Wakefield, about a km or so after the main road Brightwater turnoff, you’ll come to the above sign and spot the yellow AA HISTORIC PLACE pointer sign (as seen above below the green part).

It points to Lord Rutherford Rd North and just across from the signpost is the Rutherford Birthplace Memorial.….

The main feature of which is the bronze statue at its highest point, depicting a young Rutherford.

Perhaps you may not be familiar with the man, but if you’ve held a

……….NZ $100 note, then that’s him right there, looking back at you. 

So Lord Rutherford, a Nelson College Old Boy, is indeed a pretty famous chap.

Probably Nelsons best lookout

is the old Princes Drive one, with the Moss Davis plague.

I say old because there is another lookout further along to the south at a higher location.

However this is the very often taken photo of Nelson that,

for most Nelsonians, instantly conjures up memories of home.

Tahunanui Beach, Tahunanui, Nelson, NZ

Thought I’d share these two photos to illustrate the main

difference at our famous Tahunanui Beach from high tide……

to what it looks like at low tide.

Not hard to see why its such a family friendly beach when you see how gentle the gradient is.

And also a shot looking from the other end of the beach back towards Rocks Rd and the Port Hills of Nelson, with Port Nelson about centre of photo.

New Visitor to Port Nelson

Arahura turns up at Port Nelson

for her “in water” survey

and some other maintenance while she is

in Port for around about a month.

UPDATE: 27th May 2010 – she’s gone home early – in fact by 5 days, 5 incoming producing days – lets hope her bosses had a contingency plan to take advantage of that?

When its Windy – what to do

Well there you go …….

……turns out that even when the wind gets up and its not that comfy

to be sitting there trying to get a tan on the beach

there is something else you can do on your day off.

After all when you day off comes

 

you can’t always pick the weather for it can you?

Just good then that Nelson provides you the perfect opportunity to do all this and not more than 5 minutes, by car, from the town centre.

Queens Rd Reserve

Another great vantage point around Nelsons’ Port Hills is the Queens Rd Reserve.

As you might expect, its located on Queens Rd……….

just above the main arterial road around the seaside from Tahunanui to Nelson, Rocks Rd <-> Wakefield Quay.

And the view that you get from here encompasses aforesaid Tahunanui

and Tahunanui Beach…….

right around to the Quay itself.

Its often times a popular spot for ship watchers,

……. no more so when something different …….

…….unique or captivating……

or just plain normal, comes to town…..Port Nelson.

Paddys Knob and others

Yes it is a strange name for a reserve …….

but most certainly there is a story associated with it

Paddys offers three segmented viewing platforms and car parking facilities.

From here, just off Stansell Ave, you get at least a 180 degree panorama of The Cut, and out into Tasman Bay.

You’ll also view Haulashore Island,

and Nelsons famous family friendly Tahunanui Beach……….

and the North Western end of the beach, across Tasman Bay to Rabbit Island

and the Playing Fields at Tahunanui Beach……….

right around to the Nelson Golf Club……….

the Nelson Airport (the smoke stacks in the rear are the Nelson Pine MDF plant at Richmond West)…..

and on yonder to Richmond and beyond.