Time to Bust Out the Bikes

 Time to Bust out the Bikes

Rabbit Island Beach - Nelson

SUNDAY 16 FEBRUARY - FRIDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2025

I found that I enjoyed the trip to Nelson a lot more once we got back on State Highway 6. Although there were still mountains to drive over, the road was in excellent condition and the traffic going our way was pretty light. Dave is a very courteous motorhome driver so is always looking for places to pull over to allow any following vehicles the chance to pass us. We have come to love passing lanes as they make it even easier to ensure we are not causing frustration to anyone behind us.

We arrived in Nelson a good two hours before we could get onto our campsite so we found a spot to park The Beast and set about sorting out our shopping list. Okiwi Bay Campground was a lovely place to stay but oh my goodness was it dusty!! It seemed like everything we owned was now covered with a layer of fine dust which our wee handheld Shark vacuum cleaner was never going to cope with. We already have a Dyson at home - we just wanted something with a bit more grunt to sort the carpet out so headed to the big, red shed and got one of their home brand stick vacuum cleaners. We had a couple of other things on the list but we had arrived in Nelson on a Sunday so not all the stores we needed were open. Luckily though our meandering through the town brought us to the Nelson museum which had a piano outside that invited anyone who wanted to, to tickle the ivories. There was a young man seated at it that was belting out music from quite a few different genres. Even luckier was the fact that directly across the square from the museum was The Culture Burger Joint that had teamed up with the Culture Beer house and had Hop Federation beers on tap. What an introduction to Nelson - brilliant sunshine, a delicious lunch and amazing live music. 

As we got closer to the time we could get onto our campsite we called into Woolworths to restock the pantry - and saw a not so clever shoplifter being escorted, handcuffed, out of the store.

Part of the reason we had left Okiwi Bay was there was some very wet weather being forecasted for this area of NZ which we thought might cause more slips on the road out, trapping us at the bay. We wanted to find a campsite close to town where we could batten down the hatches and ride out the weather, while still having access to some decent facilities. Although price-y we booked into Nelson City Top 10 Holiday Park for three nights and actually, this campground is pretty much the platinum standard, so well thought out and flash, clean facilities. It is right beside a primary school, with its pupils playing outside on the field and the bells going at regular intervals. All sites and sounds that just make us look at each other and sort of smile a bit.

Knowing that Monday was going to be our window of opportunity to do the first part of the Great Taste Bike Trail before the weather hit we busted out the bikes and left early to do the Nelson to Mapua Ferry leg of the trail. This would take us out to Rabbit Island and would see us riding just under 50 kms return. The trail started out paved and moved to various degrees of rocks / gravel etc. There were brilliant boardwalks that took you over rejuvenated salt marshes. We were surrounded by captivating nature and, at this point, the sun was still shining. Sure, if you looked up you could see the smoke billowing from the log processing plant that belongs to Nelson Pine industries Ltd but with the ever changing various degrees of rocks / gravel you had to keep your eye on the track or risk coming off your bike. 

Arriving at the beautiful sandy beach (Pictured above) on Rabbit Island we went for a walk along the water's edge which was littered with huge Tuatuas. Yes, of course Dave gathered a couple to try later although - spoiler alert - they were way too sandy to eat. The water was unbelievably warm, much, much warmer than Milford and as we had come prepared for a swim we went in for a leisurely dip before lunch - oh and another leisurely dip after lunch. I found a wee toy helicopter in the sand and one of the nice things about being retired is you have the time to pfaff around with photos - even ones that don’t work - LOL!

To be fair I couldn’t see the settings on my phone because of the sun 

The cycle home was just as pretty and did serve to remind us how long it had been since the last time we had been on our bikes. We did stop at a structure called ‘The Radio Shack’ which was a radio beacon used by planes coming in to land at Nelson Airport. Sorry Justin Bragg, I totally forgot to record this bike trip on Strava so nothing to share - must do better next time. 

The Radio Shack

As we rode home we noticed that the Nelson Classic Car Museum was also on the bike trail so with the gloomy weather forecast for the next couple of days we thought we would check it out the next day.

The rain did come through the late afternoon and into the night and the wee stream that we were parked next to became quite a river, but not dangerously so. The next day we thought it might be a 'hunker down and read and knit' type of day but the weather surprised us so we set off for the car Museum. We were not prepared for what a fantastic collection of cars and memorabilia we were about to see. If you are in Nelson this place is so worth a visit even if you are not that into cars. It is full of some amazingly rare vehicles, lots of super interesting facts but best of all it is a walk down memory lane. You get to see that first car you owned, or the one that your Grandad used to drive or even the car you coveted in your teens - although you can’t for the life of you think why you thought that?? Cars from yester-year and sleek, fast, luxurious, pricey, impractical, famous cars - this place had the lot. A wee gem in Nelson’s crown.

After another night of wind and rain, and having spent two days on our bikes we thought a walk around Nelson might be in order and luckily, once again, the weather came right for us. Knowing that the Nelson Provincial Museum was in town we headed that way first. We had a bit of a mission. The area we were staying in is known as Victory. We were right beside the Victory Primary School and down the road from Victory Square….but what victory?? What kind of Victory happened in Nelson for there to be a suburb named after it?? If you have any guesses, leave them in the comments with your name and I will put the answer that the historian from the museum gave us at the end of this post - no cheating!

There is actually quite a lot of history in Nelson and while we were only able to see part of the museum as they were setting up a new display, I still managed to learn quite a bit about the area from some pretty interesting displays. I didn't know that Ernest Rutherford came from Nelson - he won a £40 scholarship to attend Nelson Collegiate to cover boarding - well that was £40 well spent!

The town centre covers a large area. It reminded me of what it was like to go to town to shop before shopping malls invaded our lives. We wandered around the shops, the parks, the waterfront for about four hours. Nelson is a pretty city and it is very user friendly for cyclists and pedestrians.

Trying to get a little more of the Great Taste Bike Trail done for our last day in Nelson we headed out to Richmond via the old rail route. That trip was pretty easy and rather fast so we continued on the trail heading to Brightwater. This part of the trail took us through working vineyards (with no cellar sales!!) and farms and over some suspension bridges crossing the Waimea River.

On our return trip we headed to Stoke as we had booked a factory tour at Pic’s Peanut Butter. Not only do they do tours, there is also a gift shop and a cafe which we went to for lunch. Unfortunately the two meals and two beverages we selected off the menu had all run out but our second choices were pretty darn good. The tour was very interesting and you have to take your hat off to Pic Picot who only started the company as he had to take early retirement because of a health issue and because he noticed that sugar was being added to most peanut butters available in New Zealand!! He started off making the Peanut Butter in a concrete mixer and using the hot plate in his caravan to roast the peanuts. At the tasting we got to sample some Salt and Pepper Peanut Butter that has only been in production for 3 weeks and is not available in the shops yet. Why has no one ever thought of adding pepper to Peanut Butter before?? - it is YUM! 

So we bought some Salt and Pepper Peanut Butter and I got the first lapel pin of the trip. I had something on my knitting bag I needed to cover up and I had decided that collecting lapel pins on this trip would do the job. I got the idea because Bec’s Mum, Carol, sent me an Australian Magpie Lapel Pin as part of my Christmas present and I thought these are small, light, they will cover what I need them to and each one will remind me of part of our trip. So the first one is a teeny jar of Pic’s Chunky Peanut Butter - it looks great with the Magpie.

Obviously NOT my lapel pin

With the promise of at least a week of settled weather we headed out of Nelson for our next stop. It is only a short drive but it positions us well to do the next stage of the the Great Taste Bike Trail because, although we do love the taste of Peanut Butter we had expected to taste something a bit more hop-y or grape-y on this bike ride.

NB - Apparently the city of Nelson was mapped out and named before the first settlers arrived which makes sense when you see street names like Trafalgar and Hardy. So how did our suburb, Victory, get it's name?? - The HMS Victory was Nelson’s flag ship in the Battle of Trafalgar and it was captained by Thomas Masterman Hardy -  and there is your answer!