Had a great stay at the Governors Bay Hotel. Small hotel / restaurant built in 1870. There are only 6 rooms -- and the bathrooms are shared (there are 2 showers & 2 toilets). That minor inconvenience though was offset by a beautiful view -- and a great meal. I had dinner in the restaurant (parsnip soup, salmon & cockles, Crater Rim sauvignon blanc -- all delicious) -- later on they had live music -- so I went back down and hung out for awhile.
Governors Bay is s small settlement at the head of Lyttleton Harbor. The area was hit hard by the 2010/2011 earthquakes -- they are still rebuilding. Only 2 out of 9 inns/hotels in the area survived the earthquake (with the Governors Bay Hotel being 1 of the 2). In Lyttleton, 1 out of 2 building suffered significant earthquake damage.
So I decided to try a different route out of Governors Bay (too avoid that windy / twisty road I took in). Didn't work out quite as envisioned --- a good part of the road into Lyttleton is under repair -- and I had to detour via a very narrow windy, twisty road -- fortunately I only encountered 1 car coming the opposite direction -- but then went through the Lyttleton tunnel which made the overall drive much easier.
I got to the airport way too early -- who knew that NZ doesn't have any security checks for domestic flights. We boarded 10 minutes before the flight departure time (turbo-prop plane -- around 20 rows) -- kind of cool to be able to just run into an airport 15 minutes before a flight.
The Nelson airport is pretty small -- can't be more than a couple of gates (all domestic flights). I like their baggage claim area -- you just wait outside and they drive up with your bags and you just grab them and go (see pic 2).
Sparrow Cottage is very cute (pics 3-7). It's in the city centre (on the outer edge) -- so convenient to walk to places. Nelson is not a very large city -- around 50,000 people. It's supposed to be the sunniest city in NZ -- although that's going to be challenged by the incoming storm. As I mentioned before -- not planning on doing very much while I'm here. I'll definitely go visit some of the local vineyards and do a trip out Abel Tasman National Park -- but that's probably it.
Weather: sunny with puffy clouds, 55 - 66F
Miles Walked: 4.5
km Driven: 28.6
pics once again importing in some odd order. 2 - 8 are from Nelson, the rest are from Christchurch. 13 - the jetty in Governors Bay, and in the top centre of the picture - Governors Bay Hotel, pic 8 - great vegetarian restaurant -- had dinner there tonight (East St. Vegetarian Cafe / Bar)
Governors Bay is s small settlement at the head of Lyttleton Harbor. The area was hit hard by the 2010/2011 earthquakes -- they are still rebuilding. Only 2 out of 9 inns/hotels in the area survived the earthquake (with the Governors Bay Hotel being 1 of the 2). In Lyttleton, 1 out of 2 building suffered significant earthquake damage.
So I decided to try a different route out of Governors Bay (too avoid that windy / twisty road I took in). Didn't work out quite as envisioned --- a good part of the road into Lyttleton is under repair -- and I had to detour via a very narrow windy, twisty road -- fortunately I only encountered 1 car coming the opposite direction -- but then went through the Lyttleton tunnel which made the overall drive much easier.
I got to the airport way too early -- who knew that NZ doesn't have any security checks for domestic flights. We boarded 10 minutes before the flight departure time (turbo-prop plane -- around 20 rows) -- kind of cool to be able to just run into an airport 15 minutes before a flight.
The Nelson airport is pretty small -- can't be more than a couple of gates (all domestic flights). I like their baggage claim area -- you just wait outside and they drive up with your bags and you just grab them and go (see pic 2).
Sparrow Cottage is very cute (pics 3-7). It's in the city centre (on the outer edge) -- so convenient to walk to places. Nelson is not a very large city -- around 50,000 people. It's supposed to be the sunniest city in NZ -- although that's going to be challenged by the incoming storm. As I mentioned before -- not planning on doing very much while I'm here. I'll definitely go visit some of the local vineyards and do a trip out Abel Tasman National Park -- but that's probably it.
Weather: sunny with puffy clouds, 55 - 66F
Miles Walked: 4.5
km Driven: 28.6
pics once again importing in some odd order. 2 - 8 are from Nelson, the rest are from Christchurch. 13 - the jetty in Governors Bay, and in the top centre of the picture - Governors Bay Hotel, pic 8 - great vegetarian restaurant -- had dinner there tonight (East St. Vegetarian Cafe / Bar)
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