Hi everyone! It’s Denis and Kiwi Education.
There are lots of small cities in New Zealand
with a population of fewer than 100 000 people.
Most of them look the same and remind each other by their infrastructure and appearance.
Residents of such cities have a quiet and peaceful life, raise their kids and enjoy it.
However, even among those cities, there are amazing places,
which were founded under particular circumstances and difficult conditions,
and raised geniuses, who made a difference to the world.
Today we are in Nelson – the sunniest city of New Zealand.
Nelson is a small city, located in the northwest of the South Island.
The history of Nelson began about 700 years ago.
It was the second settlement, officially proclaimed by royal charter in 1858.
Though the settlement was founded even earlier in 1841.
German missionaries were the first immigrants.
They arrived here on the ships and formed fist settlements and a church.
Later, the first Anglican chapel was built by the New Zealand Church Mission Society.
However, this great location for a harbour, chosen by sailors, lacked suitable arable land.
Because of that, about 30% of first residents left Nelson for more fertile lands.
In those days finding food was a central worry for people.
The population of the city is 52 800 people.
78% of residents identify themselves as European ethnicity,
about 8% as Maori
and the rest as Latino, Asian and others.
It is interesting, that Nelson has the largest population of Germans,
perhaps, because they were one of the first immigrants, arrived in Nelson.
The region’s economy is based on tourism,
seaport business in Port Nelson
which is the biggest fishing port in Australasia.
Moreover, Nelson is home to various large companies, their headquarters and premises.
There are about ten of them in the city.
The city’s economy keeps growing, which is confirmed by official GDP.
The cost of living in Nelson is the same as in other mid-sized cities of New Zealand.
The annual average salary is about NZ$ 60 000.
The average housing cost is NZ$ 610 000.
It is important to note, that Nelson is one of the cities, facing rapid house price growth,
which is quite attractive in terms of investments.
The city is served by highways, including State Highway 6, and an airport.
The local airport is considered one of the busiest in the country
with a plane taking off or landing every 4.5 minutes.
Nelson has one of the biggest cargo seaports in the country.
This port is a base for the largest shipping companies in the world.
The climate here directly depends on the temperature of the Tasman Sea and frequent winds.
Nelson has most recorded annual average sunshine, earning the nickname ‘Sunny Nelson’.
The average temperature is 18 °C in summer and 7 °C in winter.
Snowfalls, gales and storms are common in winter.
Being one of the oldest cities in New Zealand, Nelson has another feature.
According to geodetic surveys, started by chief surveyor John Spence Browning in 1870,
Nelson is located in the centre of New Zealand.
That place is called Centre of New Zealand.
But more accurate surveys, conducted in 1962,
showed that the real geographic centre is in the forest about 60 km southwest of Nelson.
However, the monument was not moved and is still here.
Despite its modest size, Nelson offers a wide range of activities and recreations,
such as various parks, spread throughout the city,
a zoo, sports grounds for different kinds of sports,
two stadiums which seat 15 000 people each.
There are many artisans, creating ceramic, glass and wooden artworks.
The art is an important part of the cultural life of the city.
Nelson has the Theatre Royal, which was completely renovated in 2010
and today it looks as on an opening day in 1878.
In addition, Nelson houses several museums,
the most famous is the World of Wearable Art & Classic Car Museum.
Sunny Nelson has retained many historic buildings
including Victorian buildings admired by locals for their historic heritage value.
The city hosts a big variety of festivals,
such as Jazz & Blues Festival, Kite Festival, Yacht Regatta and others.
The bay and local lakes have facilitated the development of water sports,
such as swimming, boating, yachting and fishing.
Nelson is surrounded by mountains
and is a gateway for three enormous national parks,
attracting ecotourism enthusiasts from all over the world.
The most famous park is Abel Tasman.
Nelson is world-famous for a person,
who was born in a family of farmers at Spring Grove
20 minutes from Nelson’s centre on the 30th of August 1871.
He was the fourth child out of 12 children in the family.
He graduated with honours from high school and then entered former Canterbury College in Christchurch.
At this time, he was already doing research and got his head into science, for which he devoted his life.
In 1908 at the age of 37 this genius scientist was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
for his investigations into the disintegration of the elements and radioactive substances.
He is known as a father of nuclear physics in the science world.
You may have guessed who I am talking about.
It’s Ernest Rutherford, a man whose name is even known by those who are far from the science world and nuclear physics in particular.
Nelson has one of the elite providers in New Zealand –
a governmental institute Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology founded in 1904.
The modern campus that gained the top rating by the NZQA,
is equipped with everything that students need for productive study.
The institute has a unique maritime faculty, preparing students for marine navigation.
According to the survey in 2019,
94% of students highly recommended NMIT.
This institute provides a big variety of modern specialist programme areas
such as IT, management, accounting, art and media and design.
NMIT also offers programmes which are especially in top demand in the region –
winemaking, maritime engineering and many others.
In addition, there is also one of the best language schools in New Zealand – Nelson English Centre,
that prepares for Cambridge exams and IELTS
and provides General and Academic English courses.
It is almost a dream to study in the sunny and bright resort city
with the support of qualified teachers who are English native speakers as well.
In conclusion, I would like to say that Nelson, being unexciting at first sight,
surprises with its particular cosy environment.
Those who like romantic seaside cities, the sunny weather, highlands and green colours of all shades, will love the city.
At the same time, historic, creative and scientific environment make the city unique and vivid.
Just remember, you always have a choice.
See you soon! Bye-Bye!