Nelson, New Zealand

February 5, 2024 - We started our day with an 8:30 AM Monday video call with Dennis, Ellen, Kevin, Sean, Ryan and Conor - who were enjoying Pizza together in Avon on Sunday afternoon at 2:30 PM. It was great to “see” everyone and to catch up as we do miss everyone but are enjoying our adventure as we are now in Day 48 of our trip. As we talked with them we were making another attempt to enter the port of Nelson, which has a very narrow entry, and proved challenging due to the winds. After several attempts, we did get docked just before 11 AM - but it was interesting to watch as we circled and got close to shore and then sailed out again during each attempt. The port was very busy with loading timber and containers, so we were limited to a shuttle bus to town or a shore excursion. We had opted not to do a shore excursion here as the number one attraction was a Classic Car Museum. So we waited for most of the tours to get out, and then just took the shuttle bus on our own. We walked around the downtown area and climbed up the steps to the cathedral and enjoyed some quiet time there. We heard from many other guests that were less than excited about going to the car museum that it was actually good, but we were still happy with our choice and enjoyed a beautiful day just walking and taking in the sunshine and cool breezes. Once back onboard we relaxed in the pool before heading to our dinner at Chef’s Table at 7 PM. It was another fabulous meal with specific wine pairings that was titled “Xiang” and was inspired by China’s Cantonese and Hualyang cuisine. After dinner we enjoyed trivia and music, as well as watched as we departed the port at sunset — getting a really great perspective of how narrow the port entry was as we sailed out.