Views good enough to frame

Tasman Bay seen from the Captain's Quarters is a view to treasure. Picture / Victoria Bartle

To hell with it," I'm thinking, as we drop our overnight bags on the floor and look around our accommodation, with its grandstand views. "Can we just skip going out for dinner? I'm not that hungry. We could get by on crackers and cheese and a glass or two of the local wine."

The thought of simply hunkering down, wine glass in hand, to gaze at the breathtaking views of Nelson's glorious harbour is all too tempting. Later we discover that this far-from-painful malaise inflicts many guests at Ralph and Sally Hetzel's boutique accommodation soon after they arrive.

Ralph is used to newly arrived guests asking about the local restaurants, then abandoning all plans to dine out on their first night.

The convenience of a well-equipped kitchen helps, especially if the guests are better organised than we were and arrive with enough provisions to throw a meal together.

The Captain's Quarters and the Wheelhouse Inn are separate, self-contained, nautical-themed houses nestled into New Zealand native shrubs and trees in the Port Hills above Tasman Bay.

Cedar and expansive windows dominate both, giving uninterrupted views to one of the local real estate's jewel-in-the-crown views known as "The Cut" - a deep-water, just-wide-enough entrance to the inner harbour through which tug boats deftly guide almost 1200 big ships in and out of the port every year.

From the lofty heights of the deck - complete with well-cushioned outdoor furniture and gas barbecue - guests can relax and watch boats, seabirds and native birds, like the plump tui and cheeky fantail that serenaded us on our Sunday evening stay.

"You might want to try getting here in the afternoon, I reckon some of our best red sunsets are in the winter," Ralph had advised beforehand, in his laidback Californian accent (though New Zealand has been home to the Hetzels since the 1970s).

He was right. Despite a rainy weekend and some stubborn dark clouds, Nelson managed to snaffle the last of the sunshine that Sunday, with a sunset that just wouldn't quit.

You get the impression that the Hetzels are used to organising sunsets or almost anything else their guests want.

Six years ago, when they built the Captain's Quarters (the Wheelhouse came three years before that) one of the first calls they received was from the personal assistant of a Los Angeles attorney and his wife, making a booking for her employer.

She asked if meals were served, and suddenly Ralph could hear himself assuring her that a chef and waiter service could be arranged. ("Usually, we try to leave the guests in peace and privacy.")

She phoned again, asking Ralph to get in some local wines, suggesting some cabernet sauvignons - "around US$100 a bottle would be fine".

When the attorney and his wife duly arrived in Nelson, Ralph had organised a former London chef turned tutor to create local cuisine in the kitchen of the Captain's Quarters. Every second evening, while the American couple drank in the views and some of the finer local wines at their well-dressed table on the deck, the chef would create and serve three-course meals.

Those early customers are now regulars - their 10-day booking this summer will be their eighth visit. While the attorney is mad on fly-fishing - their meals are often the catch of his days in Marlborough's rivers - his wife is "mad about New Zealand art", says Ralph, and always returns to the United States with at least one original painting.

Surely the art capital of New Zealand, Nelson has a raft of retail art galleries and artists' studios in the city and on the scenic waterfront leading into it. Visitors can easily make a day of strolling from gallery to gallery on the central-Nelson art trail.

Just drinking from the hand-thrown pottery cups in the Captain's Quarters kitchen is inspiration enough to find the local potters who created them. Ralph is a potter too, and knows just where to send his guests to find the potters and their quirky and colourful kitchenware.

From the Captain's Quarters and the Wheelhouse, the trail is breathtakingly scenic, whether by road or a pathway down to the waterfront. The walk into the central business district is interestingly interrupted with cafes, restaurants, and art galleries such as the relatively new Seachel Gallery and, on the edge of the central city, the Refinery Gallery, and the Element Gallery at the visitors' centre.

Once in the central business district, a must-see is the Red Art Gallery, housed in one of the city's oldest commercial buildings. This boasts an extensive range of contemporary paintings and and a large and varied range of handmade jewellery from artists throughout New Zealand.

Red Art Gallery is at one end of Bridge St. Walk almost to the other end and you will find the Suter Art Gallery, on the edge of the pretty Queen's Gardens.

The Suter is home to some of the city's historic art collections, and has a cafe and an art gallery shop (those quirky coffee cups are often in stock).

The Catchment Gallery in Hardy Str is another contemporary art space, specialising in paintings and sculpture.

For ceramics head to the historic South Street Gallery which is full of local potters' creations.

On the way, call into Flame Daisy Glassblowers and see goblets, bowls, art glass and glass jewellery being made.

Art gallery maps for inner-city Nelson are available at most of the galleries.

Checklist

Getting there
Air New Zealand has regular flights to Nelson from Auckland and other airports around the country. See link below.

Where to stay
The Captain's Quarters and the Wheelhouse are both split-level homes with stairs and steps (not suitable for wheelchair-users).

Both are self-contained with a gas barbecue, oven and electric elements, microwave, clothes washer and dryer but not dishwasher.

There is an extensive entertainment centre in each, with a selection of compact discs and movies. You can contact them through the link below.

Arts and crafts
Nelson Arts Festival is on October 13-23. Programme details and bookings are available online. See the link below.

On nelsonarts.org.nz (link below) you'll find a list of art galleries and their websites and contact details.

Further information
Latitude Nelson, the regional tourism organisation, is contactable on (03) 546 6228.