Babbling Brooke’s Travel Blog

We awoke in the comfort of our hotel bed- a REAL bed, surrounded by 4 walls. Clearly, our night in Abel Tasman had kind of traumatized me! 

We had an extra day to spend in Nelson now, and I was excited to explore this town more. From what I had seen so far, I had an inkling that Nelson might be one of the favorite towns of the trip. But we needed to find out!

Packing up all of our gear that was strewn about the apartment-style hotel room, we left to go get some breakfast at The River Kitchen. When we were coming up to the restaurant, I had my reservations about the place since it was located in the same building as a bus station. As with all traveling, sometimes you need to let go of home-grown ideas about places and just experience them without expectations. This was a perfect example of that because this cafe was super cute AND had delicious food. I mean, the display case of home-baked goodies had me nearly drooling all over it.

I got the eggs Benedict with spinach and mushrooms and was delighted to find out the vessel for the eggs Bennie was not an English muffin but actually a hashbrown Pattie. Even better! Matt had an incredible chicken and waffles dish and we both sipped on drinks: a flat white (me) and a hot chocolate (Matt).

After breakfast, we did some MUCH needed laundry at a laundromat- our clothing from backpacking was pretty gross. From there, we decided to explore Nelson as we had time to kill before we could check into our Airbnb. Having grabbed a brochure about a place nearby offering archery lessons, we decided to go drive and check it out, knowing full well there was a significant chance it was closed since it was a holiday. 

The journey took us out of town and through a small canyon that had a large park running on either side of the road and a small river on one side. The evidence from the previous day’s storm was everywhere, with branches littering both sides of the street. Folks who worked for the city had their hands full but had cleaned up quite a bit as there were already dozens of piles of cut branches and logs set to the side of the roads and sidewalks. 

We pulled up to realize the archery place was most definitely closed due to damage from the storm, and as we circled back to town, we stopped at a large downed tree we had spotted earlier. This thing was gigantic and yet it was another validating moment as to why we had such a hard time in a tent the night before!

Back in town, we decided to check out the Nelson Classic Car Museum. I didn’t really have any expectations and was glad to have an indoor activity to do since it was still rainy outside. The museum was actually a highlight of the day – they had SO many cars! I never thought of myself as a car person and yet I was having a blast walking around reading about each of the models. Some cars they even let you sit in! Others had memorabilia surrounding it to “set the scene”. For example, the 1950’s era of cars surrounded a soda shop display and the Delorean had Back to the Future movie posters behind it. It was really interesting to see the ingenuity across the decades and also how having so many different car companies really pushed innovation forward as well as design!

I ended up taking a lot of photos. Here are some of my favorites:

After the car museum, we had worked up an appetite again so we grabbed some lunch at The Styx, a waterfront seafood restaurant supposedly known for their chowder. The chowder was, in fact, extremely delicious. I also had the best hard cider I have ever had- a local brew called Peckham’s that had wild Feijoa in it. I have been looking for it ever since!

It was finally time to check into our Airbnb after lunch so we headed there to veg out the rest of the day. We rarely intentionally schedule relaxing time on our trips, which tend to be more go-go-go tempo. It was soooo lovely to just relax and do nothing- plus I had a lot of blogging to catch up on!

We made it out of the Airbnb at about 10pm after recharging our batteries for a good portion of the day. We were able to walk to the city center, which was very convenient! We had heard that there was going to be some sort of city-sponsored event for NYE but had also saved a couple bars to check out just in case the town event was a dud. 

It was the opposite! It seemed like everyone that lived in the small town was celebrating in the town square that was shut off for pedestrians only with a stage that had various bands playing as well as food trucks. We jumped at the opportunity to get cotton candy (or candy floss as kiwis say it) that had a glow-stick inside. 

We listened to some of the music before ducking into a bar for a couple ciders while we sat and people watched. I loved seeing everyone of all ages out and about in various outfits from super casual to hot pink sequin blazers! NYE is so fun that way- it’s like Halloween- anything goes!

Nearing midnight, we left the bar and ventured into the crowd that was jamming out to 80’s rock hits. Kiwis really were getting down with the 80s vibe and so were we!

The countdown began and it was officially 2026! All around us folks were cheering, hugging and kissing for New Years. A small firework show sprang up behind the stage, illuminating rain drops and the palm trees in their fiery glow! It had just started raining, but we were luckily positioned under a large tree. At this point, I wasn’t in the mood to be rained on again! 

We walked back to our Airbnb hearing folks wish a ‘happy new year!’ to one another. Everyone says hello to each other here, so we have been trying to let go of our Seattle-solitude vibes and adapt to our surroundings- we joined in the merry wishes.

Back at our Airbnb, we promptly passed out. Tomorrow meant continuing south to Westport, along the West Coast of the South Island!

Subscribe to stay updated on new posts or check out the rest of our journey here!