Eyes of a tourist

A quiet day, as we settled into our little cottage home and did a bit of exploration of Nelson itself. We started with coffee and muffins at Café Affair (thank you for the recommendation TML). Then made our way to the i-Site Visitor Centre for information about the area. It took us a long time to plan for a trip to the Abel Tasman National Park, as we had to take into account my fear of swing bridges, unfortunate high tide times and high temperatures, amongst other things. We did it in the end and will end up going tomorrow on a long cruise and a short walk, rather than the other way round!

As we walked the streets of Nelson, which is a most beautiful city, we came across some street art. This is a mural set in a lovely little garden area in the middle of the shops and offices. It depicts the first ploughing that took place on this site in 1842. This was the year that Nelson was established as a New Zealand Company organised settlement for English immigrants. Apparently the picture is of John Kerr and his sons with their plow and oxen. Sepia tones were used to create the effect of a snapshot from the past.

As I was taking the photo, a man passed through the garden and said: 'That's the first time I've noticed that and I've lived here 30 years!' I think this is so true of us all. We travel somewhere and search and notice things, but in our own home towns we walk past the same things without giving them a second glance. Perhaps that is why the One Street project has taken off; it makes us actually look at what is around us with the eyes of a tourist!