Nelson is the second oldest city in the country and the oldest on the South Island. He is in a region that is often called Nelson's Tasmania or "the top of the South". In fact, longitude is only slightly north of Wellington. At the same time, the city is officially considered the "geographical center of New Zealand". Moreover, the city usually turns out to be the sunniest on the Southern Island: Nelson receives more than 2500 hours of sunshine on average every year from the year.

Contents 1 How to get to Nelson 1.1 Search for air tickets to Queenstown (nearest Nelson airport) 2 A little history 3 Nelson's entertainment, excursions and attractions 4 Nelson's events 5 Nelson's neighborhood 5.1 New Zealand: South o ters

How to get to Nelson

daily bus connections to Nelson from a variety of cities in the South Island. City Airport is the fourth most lively in the country, it accepts flights from Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and other cities. By car you will reach Nelson from Christchurch in 6 hours, from Blenheim - for 1, 5, from Piktor - for 2.

A bit of history

First Maori settlements in these places appeared about 700 years ago, although evidence was found in the vicinity of earlier ones. The raids of the northern tribes quickly destroyed the local population, and in 1841 a colony founded by the New Zealand company settled here. Interestingly, immigrants from Germany made up a significant part of the first settlers.

Nelson's entertainment, excursions and attractions

The Founders Park is an open-air museum, which was founded in 1977. It was opened to the public in 1986 It contains several typical old buildings, structures and vehicles, and a short branch of the railway is original and is still maintained in working order. Most of the historical collection was donated to the museum by the inhabitants of the city. There are several shops on the territory of the museum where you can buy pastries and other natural products, as well as handmade

The museum of carving and classic cars has a very different character . It opened in 2001 . and quickly became one of the main tourist attractions . The museum consists of three galleries . In the gallery of nonfiction art you can see a variety of subjects from the show "World of Worthy Arts", an event for more than a week, which takes place annually in Wellington ber . Shaw was born in Nelson in 1987 ., and it is quite popular . In the gallery of classic cars exhibited private collection of old cars; the exhibits carefully restore the staff auto mechanics . Photographs are allowed only in this gallery .

In the museum of Nelson County you can get acquainted with the history of the region, starting from the geological origin and ending with the history of the first families settled here .In the collection of the museum there are about one and a half million exhibits collected over the past fifteen hundred years .These are antique furniture, utensils, porcelain and silver utensils; photos and negatives; books, drawings and maps and t .n . Also interesting is Suther's art gallery, which has a large collection of works by 19th-century artists, including Guli, Lindauer and Van der Velden . On Saturdays, the entrance is free .

Nelson's Cathedral was built on the Church Hill in 1851, but in In 1887 a new church was erected in the old place from the building materials used to create the first. The third cathedral was built from marble in 1925 and finished only in 1965. The cathedral is adorned with a tall and well-noticeable tower of an unusual kind. This is a 35-meter rectangular sectional design with through windows. To the cathedral you can climb a beautiful granite staircase leading up from Trafalgar Street, one of the main city streets

Unlike many other New Zealand cities, Nelson has preserved many historic Victorian buildings . One of the most significant - Amber House, the oldest two-storey villa in the country that stands on Veka Street . This is a traditional colonial-style building with a garden and a fireplace, where the school was located for a long time. . In the interior there was a small section of the original wallpaper of the end of 19 ve and (wallpaper not faded due to the specific New Zealand level ultraviolet radiation, which does not exist in any other populated region of the world) .Another interesting fact is connected with the chimney that survived several serious earthquakes (1929 ., 1968 . and 1994 .) without getting a single crack .

In the same street, next door is the Cabra House, a wooden mansion 1897 g . of the building . In its interior you can see the preserved furniture of the Late Victorian period . Also worth a visit Fairwood mansion on Van Diemen Street, which was awarded the first category of importance by the New Zealand Historical Site Foundation . The original building was erected in 1849 ., and rebuilt in 1872 ., and today it is a very nice house with a gallery on The first floor and the balcony on the second, as well as with a panoramic turret, in the year 1883 . for the occupation of the then owner of his favorite hobby - astronomy . The original turret was dismantled, but then a replica was replicated in its place .

And the central school of the city is the oldest New Zealand school that still functions on the site of the original building. Other buildings in Nelson that have historical and architectural value are Brodgreen House, Aizel House, Melrose House, the Redwood College building in the Founders Park and the windmill in the same place, as well as the Victorian pub "Rose."

There are many different public parks and nature protection zones in Nelson. The most important of them - the Grampian Reserve near the Bramar area and the botanical reserve to the east of the city. The city's zoo is not large and is located near the beach of Tahunanui; he very much likes children who can communicate here with wallaby, monkeys, meerkats, llamas and alpacas. And the Japanese garden of Miyatsu was inspired by the sister city of Nelson with the same name: it is a traditional garden for walks, very calm, with cherry trees blossoming in the spring.

Tahunanui Beach is one of the best and safest for family holidays in the whole country. You can get here by the city bus.

Nelson's Events

Nelson has a very developed culture and art . Last but not least it concerns a lot of craft workshops and galleries where you can admire the works of ceramics, glass, and most importantly - the mass of items from the carved wood . Buy them on the weekly Saturday market . The main activities of the city are the festival of jazz and blues, the festival of kites, the yacht regatta (all three are held in January ), the Adam Chambers Music Festival (January-February), the Marchfest and the Festival "Nelson's Taste" (March) and the Winter Music Festival (July) .

On the Saturday market, which takes place at Montgomery Square from 8:00 to 13:00, you can buy, of course, not only art but also fresh produce and flowers. In addition, it is a favorite place among city dwellers for a lazy late breakfast in one of the many cafes or coffee houses. By the way, Nelson is the country's largest fishing port, and seafood is always excellent in local catering establishments

Nelson Neighborhoods

On three sides Nelson is surrounded by mountains, and the fourth is Tasmanov Bay. The city is considered a gateway to the three national parks and lakes of Rotothi and Rotorua. Abel Tasman National Park is famous for its clean and protected coastline and Abel Tasman Coastal path, one of the country's most famous hiking trails. The Nelson Lakes National Park offers travelers alpine landscapes, mountains and lakes. And in Kuhuranga Park, you can touch the truly untouched nature of the country.

Thus, Nelson is the center of both ecotourism and adventure tourism .He enjoys well-deserved fame among the fans of speleology thanks to several cave systems near Takaka hill and Owen and Arthur mountains: here you can see the largest and deepest of the open caves in the southern hemisphere . And north of Nelson, behind Takaka and Golden Bay, Farevej-sleeping, the longest narrow sandy spit in New Zealand (25 km) . It is known to the whole world as a bird sanctuary where more than 90 species of birds live. . In spring, thousands of birds from the northern hemisphere fly here .