Nelson

Trafalgar Street runs straight at the cathedral steps, and most Nelson accommodation is within a few blocks of it. Saturday mornings belong to the market on Montgomery Square, where growers, potters and bakers set up early.

Apartments and holiday homes here put Tāhunanui Beach ten minutes one way and the Maitai River swimming holes ten minutes the other. The track up Botanical Hill ends at the marker claiming the centre of New Zealand. Fish comes off the boats at the port, and the galleries reward an afternoon.