It was so sad to leave Nelson yet again. We have really fallen in love with this little South Island city. Our second stop here meant a second trip through the Botanic Reserve to the Centre of New Zealand. For some reason, we neglected to capture one of these pictures on our first trip:

The view was just as bright and sunny, but this time much snowier! The mountains in the distance were blanketed in snow while I was peeling off layers in the sunshine.

Prior to our jaunt up the hill, we spent about 5 days using the free Internet at Zumo Cafe to launch Green Pond Creative and update Laurel of Leaves with new recipes. We may or may not have gotten the jitters from our flat white with rice milk, but it was quite possibly one of the best I’ve ever had (and neither of us are big coffee drinkers)!

After coming off the caffeine high, we would drive back ‘home’ (which is what we call wherever we lay our head that night) and start up the wood burning stove. Josh & Cilla, who we met at Freedom Church in Nelson on Easter, let us stay in their home while they were out of town. (Such a blessing! They were in Invercargill with her parents, who hosted us on our way through Southland.) We took little Kawai for walks and gave her plenty of tummy rubs.

I was also able to cook dinner for a friend we made in Anakiwa. Meatballs, brown rice, roasted pumpkin, and salad. Mmm . . .

Sabrina (from Germany) was a guest at the hostel who was traveling during the school holidays. She is a history & PE teacher at a boy’s high school in Omaru. Because all the hostels in Nelson were either closed for the winter or full because of the school holidays, she wasn’t able to find a place to stay. The couch at our place was a much better option than sleeping in her car–and we were glad for the company!

Check out more pictures from our second stay in Nelson on Facebook!