First days in Nelson ...

The kids were a bit tired, but we wanted them to stay awake for a few more hours, before their afternoon nap. So, we headed off to the local farmers market near the town center (at Montgomery Square, Bridge St @ Trafalgar St). It was a combination of arts and crafts, local fruits, veggies, cheese, bread and eggs and some yummy cooked food.

We stocked up for the rest of the week out there with:

• whole wheat bread, ciabatta roll and muesli
  
• some free-range eggs (free range out here, means really free range, unlike the US)
• apples, avocadoes and strawberries
  
• some hot smoked salmon and salmon pate
• wild game salami
• sheep's cheese
• olive oil from blenheim (echo olives by A and K Jeffries)
  

We also snacked on a tasty white fish sandwich, chicken wrap and a falafel sandwich. The kids had a kiddie vanilla cone (not as good as sketch in berkeley) , which they enjoyed. Later that evening we also visited the local supermarket (fresh choice) and stocked up on milk, juice and yogurt. The supermarket prices seemed significanly more expensive than the US, but the farmers market prices were approx the same.

Kinda wierd to see a fair number of shops closed on saturday and sunday, and the remaining few work only half days on saturday. I also went and got a SIM card for my cell phone. Wierdly, mari's cingular cell phone from the US which was specifically unlocked for this trip was not able to pick up a signal. I had purchased a Nokia 3220 in SF which did work.

There is a play structure close by across the river, next to the gym and swimming pool. I suspect we'll be getting membership there and hopefully the girls will become good swimmers before we return back. There is a grapefruit and orange tree in the garden outside and they've been entertaining themselves with the fruit, making juice etc.

Sunday is currently a lazy day. Lots of blogging :) We went in search of coffee at Pomeroy's. The web site seems quite pretty, but does not have basic information about the hours that they are open. They were closed on Sunday, so we ended up having coffee at the local flea market / garage sale (Montgomery Square). The latte was quite good. In the afternoon, we are headed to a Christmas Parade in town and visit Founders Park