Gripping time in full Nelson

Nelson is truly blessed by its location and climate, writes NAN WARD, who is ready to live the day.

Remember when you were a child and summers were endless? In Nelson, they still are - the region is the nation's top place for sunshine, basking in more than 2400 hours a year. It has helped spawn the branding phrase "Live the Day".

The protective arms of Tasman and Golden bays mean the Nelson region has a mild, settled climate unmatched in New Zealand. All year round you can stroll along Tahunanui Beach, an ever-changing landscape with the average 4m tides ebbing and flowing against a backdrop of mountains.

Snowcapped in winter, and the final farewell for the sun, the silhouette of the Arthur Range creates one of the most photographed sunsets in the South Island.

Tahunanui Beach is an ideal and safe family environment. It is flat, with a gentle surf, no rips, and a reliable onshore breeze to keep temperatures comfortable.

After your swim you can enjoy a coffee at one of the beachside cafes, or take a stroll along Wakefield Quay to the cafes and restaurants. Try Nelson's famous seafood, washed down with a fine local wine or beer.

Adjacent to Tahunanui is the Nelson Fun Park, where the family can enjoy mini golf, bumpa boats and a hydro-slide. For the younger children, the Lion's Playground offers no less of a challenge and hours of fun.

Also neighbouring the beach is Natureland Zoological Park, where you can get up close to meerkats, otters and wallabies, or chat to the cockatoos and preen with the peacocks.

If you are lucky enough to be spending a weekend in Nelson, the Saturday flea market features arts, crafts, food, and gifts from Nelson's myriad artists. Go early and soak up the atmosphere of a Nelson ritual.

Stroll from the market to historic South St, a gem of history in Nelson City, where the 19th-century cottages have been lovingly restored to give a snapshot of Nelson more than 130 years ago. The oldest such precinct in the country, its narrow cobbled pavement is lined with a mixture of private homes and boutique accommodation.

Just around the corner, in Nile St, is the South Street Gallery, the historical home of Nelson pottery.

A 10-minute walk to Vanguard St, and you are at New Zealand's most renowned bead shop, the Bead Gallery, which boasts more than 2000 varieties of beads from all over the world for you to create your own necklaces, earrings or bracelets. Schedule at least an hour; you will be absorbed.

Nelson is one of the top arts and crafts centres in New Zealand and is the base for more than 400 working artists. It is also home to the acclaimed World of WearableArt (WOW) Awards - a four-day show each September, which attracts visitors from all over the world.

Just two minutes from Nelson airport and on the main route to Abel Tasman National Park, WOW & Collectable Cars includes two galleries. The first features a taste of WOW, with moving and static displays, a UV gallery and audio-visual displays.

The second features an enviable array of cars from around the world.

The complex includes a cafe overlooking a restful pool, where you can enjoy a coffee, local food and wines.

Just metres away is the main route to Motueka, the Abel Tasman National Park and Golden Bay.

Stop at Mapua and enjoy delicious smoked morsels at the Smokehouse, where local vegetables and seafood are smoked using manuka shavings. You can buy vacuum-packed portions to take home to relive this experience.

Just next door is Touch the Sea, an aquarium which lives up to its name. Designed to mirror the marine environment, the dimmed lighting reveals young sharks, rays and conger eels, while the children's touch pools are home to anemones, starfish, crabs, sponges, scallops and paua.

The aquarium includes a gift shop with marine themes, where everything from shell products to wind chimes or local olive oils are on offer.

Carry on to Motueka, and the golden sands of Kaiteriteri, before reaching the Abel Tasman National Park and all it has to offer. Or you can venture over Takaka Hill to Golden Bay and Farewell Spit.

This wild and windswept tip of the South Island covers 35km of shifting sands. It is the protective arm between Golden Bay and the Tasman Sea and home to a bird sanctuary of international significance.

Farewell Spit is a protected nature reserve, but the Original Farewell Spit Safari is licensed to take visitors to experience the rugged beauty and abundance of wildlife of this unique environment.

Comfortable buses negotiate the soft dunes of the spit and the tours can take more than six hours - time well-spent for a fascinating ecotourism experience.

If being a passenger is not your thing but you enjoy spectacular coastal or bush scenery while in control of a fun machine, Happy Valley Adventure Tours is a must. Just 10 minutes north of Nelson, on the Cable Bay Rd, Happy Valley is a 650ha farm. You can drive your own four-wheel buggy, be a passenger or ride the six-passenger buggy.

Enjoy the solitude of native bush, alive with birdsong, and ride to the lookout for a breathtaking panoramic view, from Mount Taranaki in the north to Farewell Spit in the south-west.

A selection of guided tours is available, from 90 minutes to 3 1/2 hours. Happy Valley also has night safaris so you can watch the sunset enclose historic Delaware Bay, then enjoy the magic of glow-worms and nocturnal bush life.

Back in Nelson, as the day draws to a close, you may like to indulge in a spot of fishing from Connolly's Quay, just minutes from town. Cast a line out as the distinctive shape of Fifeshire Rock is lit by a beam of light from the shore, catch dinner and know you have been in Nelson and lived the day.

Nelson New Zealand

* Nelson tourism office, phone (03) 548 2304

* Nelson City airport is the fourth-busiest airport in New Zealand, with regular direct flights from Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.