After my meeting in Hokitika I drove up the West Coast to Nelson for a meeting there the following day. Fortunately the rental car company determined that a Rav4 was the order of the day given the foul weather and my four hour drive, so at least I was behind the wheel of a reasonably sturdy vehicle for the conditions.
The trip started along the rugged coastline eventually moving inland, but with views of snow capped peaks pretty much all the way. The road is good absent the odd slip or fallen tree.
I arrived in Nelson in time for a late flying visit to Fibre Spectrum, an artisan co-op on Trafalgar Street quite close to the Cathedral. It's a great place for inspiration given the large number of creative people in the community, in this case knitters, spinners, weavers, and felters. The wall of hand spun yarns in rainbow colors caught my eye, as well as some skeins of hand dyed felted yarn:
I left with these felted, beaded hearts by Denise McKenzie as well, heading to the hotel for an early evening:
After my meeting the next day I stayed overnight to visit a friend, also to have time to go to the Nelson Market. My carry-on bag came home with the first asparagus of the season, some beautiful kale, and locally produced hazelnut flour and oil (latter produced and purchased in the Upper Moutere at The Old Post Office).
In my travels I stopped to check out the latest at The Mapua Country Trading Company. This business, another source of creative products made by local craftspeople, sells primarily online, http://www.mapuacountrytrading.co.nz , but also has a retail shop near Mapua Wharf. I seriously love the rusty chooks above the entrance and am getting the details on the artist who makes those. But wares sold in the shop and on the website include locally crafted trugs, willow baskets, candles in vintage sugar bowls and creamers, and heirloom vegetable plants/seeds and fruit trees. Many items are made from recycled or "repurposed" materials.
And of course I couldn't leave Nelson without a visit to Eclectic, one of the best shops I've found in NZ for all things vintage/retro. My button and buckle stashes have been enhanced a wee bit. They had a beautiful display of white pottery in the window (possibly Crown Lynn, but I'm not an expert on this?):
I was also interested to see quite a bit of Cintique furniture for sale--guess what we're in the process of refinishing/re-upholstering for the Struan Farm Knitting Studio? Post on and pics of that with more information when it's ready to be unveiled...
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