Showing posts with label Nelson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nelson. Show all posts

Tuesday, 4 March 2014

Top of the South

Nelson, half nelson
noun
a wrestling hold in which one arm is passed under the opponent's arm from behind and the hand is applied to the neck ( half nelson ), or both arms and hands are applied ( full nelson ).

Nelson, double nelson, triple nelson
The number 111 is sometimes called "a Nelson" after Admiral, who allegedly only had "One Eye, One Arm, One Leg" near the end of his life. (Which is in fact incorrect - Nelson never lost a leg.)
It is particularly known as a score in cricket. A score of 111 or multiples thereof (222 = "double nelson", 333 = "triple nelson" and so on) is considered unlucky by some in English cricket: most famously by the international umpire David Shepherd, who had a whole retinue of peculiar mannerisms - hops, shuffles, jiggles and so on - that he would indulge in if the score was ever a "Nelson" multiple. Particularly if the number of wickets also matched - 111/1, 222/2 etc.

 

Today sees Our Ship tied up at Nelson, New Zealand. Nelson is a city on the eastern shores of Tasman Bay, and is the economic and cultural centre of the Nelson region. Established in 1841, it is the second-oldest settled city in New Zealand and the oldest in the South Island and was proclaimed a city by royal charter in 1858.

nelson3

Nelson city is bordered to the west and south-west by the Tasman District Council and the north-east, east and south-east by the Marlborough District Council. The city does not include Richmond, the region’s second-largest settlement. Nelson City has a population of around 46,437 ranking it as New Zealand’s 12th most populous city and the geographical centre of New Zealand. When combined with the town of Richmond which has close on 14,000 residents, Nelson is ranked as New Zealand's 9th largest urban area by population.

Nelson was named in honour of the Admiral Horatio Nelson who defeated both the French and Spanish fleets at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Many roads and public areas around the city are named after people and ships associated with that battle and Trafalgar Street is the main shopping axis of the city. Inhabitants of Nelson are referred to as Nelsonians.

Nelson's Maori name, Whakatū, means 'build', 'raise', or 'establish'.

In an article to The Colonist newspaper on 16 July 1867, Francis Stevens described Nelson as "The Naples of the Southern Hemisphere”. Today, Nelson has the nicknames of "Sunny Nelson" due to its high sunshine hours per year or the "Top of the South" because of its geographic location.

NZ
Despite being on the South Island, Nelson lies at roughly the same Latitude as Wellington, which is on the North Island.(41º17’’ S)

Monday, 3 March 2014

New Zealand Ahoy! – Farewell Spit 7073!

Its 19:00 New Zealand Time , Monday 3 March 2014, and Our Ship the Glory has just passed Farewell Spit at a speed of 17.1 knots direction 150º on its way to Nelson on the Northern point of the New Zealand’s South Island.

Land Ahoy! New Zealand Ahoy! 

nelson

Farewell Spit is a narrow sand spit situated at -40.517, 172.867, at the northern end of the South Island of New Zealand. Known to the Māori as Tuhuroa, it runs eastwards from Cape Farewell, the island's northernmost point. It is located about 50 kilometres north of Takaka and 20 kilometres from Collingwood. It forms the northern side of Golden Bay and is the longest sandspit in New Zealand, stretching for about 26 km above sea level and another 6 km underwater. The spit runs in from west to east, and is made from fine golden sand – as Cape Farewell to the west of the spit is mostly composed of late Cretaceous quartz sandstones, i.e. silica but with traces of other heavy minerals, garnet, Ilmenite, magnetite and pyroxene. The erosion of the cliffs into fine sand carried on the sea currents creates Farewell spit further east.

nelson2

Saturday, 1 March 2014

Clayton is in Australia

I thought that might make you sit up.

Our Ship with Our Stuff left Melbourne last night/this morning 28 February/1 March, and is heading East-ish, bound for Nelson on the South Island. Sailing at 16.5 knots direction 69º

founders 

According to the latest signals being received from the Glory, she is just off the South-Eastern coast of Aus in the Tasman Sea, between Wilson’s Promontory and Founders Island (part of Tasmania). Just under 2,500 km to Tasman Bay and 22h00 on 3 March.

So, why is Clayton in Australia? Well, he is not. But Clayton is a part of Melbourne, at Clayton VIC 3168. Not a lot of people know that. Only people between St Kilda and Emerald in Victoria.