Wow – it’s been six weeks since we stepped off the boat and began our land-lubbing life in Nelson! Time flies!! We’ve been having terrific weather here, we’ve probably only had four or five wet days – a brilliant summer so everyone says and we count ourselves very lucky.

The temperature is around 25C most of the time, the sky is bright blue and the air is incredibly clear. On the rainy days thick grey clouds hang over the hills, the wind blows from the NE and it drizzles on and off all day, a lot like rainy days in England. We’re not looking forward to the winter weather much and will have to go on a serious shopping spree to get rugged up.

The great weather was a real bonus while Maya was on school holidays for the first month after we arrived. We took Daphne the dog on lots of beach walks, she has an amazing ability to jump up and catch a frisbie in mid air – just like Nintendogs Mimi tells me! We also had a couple of fun picnics at the river with some of Maya’s friends. They breed ‘em tough around here with no sense of “oh-my-god-this-is-freezing!”, they messed around in the river for hours. On Saturday morning Nelson has a good art and craft market which is interesting to browse around (there are a lot of resident artists in the community) and there are also plenty of terrace cafes to relax in the sun. It’s a good life!!

We had a long weekend in early February (Waitangi Day) and decided to sail to Adele Island in the Abel Tasman National Park. Maya coped well with the trip across and seemed to enjoy living on the boat for three days! We met up with one of her best friends whose parents also have a boat. Several other yachties with girls about Mayas age were anchored there so we got together and had lots of fun. We are lucky to have two fantastic sailing destinations within a day’s sail; the Abel Tasman on the west side of Tasman Bay and the Marlborough Sounds lie to the east so we’re looking forward to exploring around the area.

So now Maya is back at school what are we up to? Neil’s getting into painting with oil pastels which he’s enjoying. He works pretty fast completing a picture in a day or two and has produced some pieces which are really worth hanging on the wall. However at the moment he has only got one frame so he keeps changing the picture every couple of days, it’s great – dynamic art!!

Neil has been picking up the guitar while we’ve been on the boat and he’s enjoying strumming away at home, picking out tunes and writing songs. Unfortunately all his keyboards are in storage in Fremantle so it looks like we may need to buy another one, (don’t ask how many, I’ve lost count!). He’s thinking of teaching piano and has been putting together some lessons which could turn out to make a buck or two.

I am finding ways to fill my time now we have pretty much settled into our new home. I have been running and swimming in an attempt to get fit after vegging on the boat for a year. I hadn’t realised that Nelson was so hilly, away from the centre of the town almost everything is on a slope which makes for great views but cycling around is a bit of a chore. I have registered to do some voluntary work at the Citizens Advice Bureau. The training will be interesting; legal and family court, community law, consumer advice – all to begin next week. I am also starting up a small dog walking business – wag tail walks it’s called. It will provide pet services to busy people; dog walking, pet sitting, vet visits etc. Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been busy with promotion and will start advertising in the local paper this week. It’s early days yet but hopefully soon the calls to come flooding in . . .

A couple of weeks ago Nelson was proud to host a performance by Dame Kiri Te Kanawa as part of its Opera in the Park event in an open air stadium close to the marina. The day had been rainy and the evening was predicted to be cold and overcast so we decided to listen to the performance from the back deck with a bottle of wine. In fact although it was a bit chilly it turned out to be a glorious evening, the music and voices carried well across to the marina and we enjoyed a great firework display at the end.

Tata for now and if it’s not too early . . . Happy Easter!!

Suzy and Neil