The Rich Culture of Nelson Tasman | National Geographic

New Zealand’s Nelson Tasman region is the home of sunny beaches, outrageous landscapes and Nelson, a small city that boasts a thriving art scene, craft breweries and wineries, and a farmer's market famed for its local specialties. National Geographic sent my colleagues and me to explore the area to tell its story.

Photographer Erika Larsen visited the beautiful Abel Tasman National Park to take a hike and a kayak trip with local guide, Lee-Anne Jago.

“Kia Ora, ngā mihi. Welcome to the Abel Tasman.”

“Thank you, thanks for having me. I wanted to meet you here because of this beautiful view, looking over Te Pukatea. This is where we are going to start our kayaking today. It’s amazing, the colors are beautiful. We've got a granite coastline, and in granite there's iron and so the iron corrodes with salt water and creates the orangey colour. It’s really accessible for all kinds of people, you don’t have to be really fit and climb mountains. People can kayak or you can walk. We've got beautiful campsites right along the Abel Tasman. So it’s a park that you can really take it at your own pace, whatever that is.”

“Whatever that is, yeah. We have a word in our culture, manaakitanga, and that means how we look after people. So it gives us great mana, it uplifts us when we look after people in the best possible way. Alright, let’s go kayaking.”

“Yes, I can’t wait!” [laughs]

“So this is Split Apple Rock, Tokangawhā is the Māori name. Toka means rock, and ngawhā means to burst, or split. We know that four hundred years ago the rock was already split, but at one stage it would have been a complete boulder. Everyone entering the Abel Tasman generally will come by here.”

“Ah so it’s that well known. It’s like the gateway.”

“Just over an hour away from Abel Tasman, I went to explore Nelson’s famous market, and what I found blew me away.”

“Why hello! This looks fantastic.”

“We’re passionate about real ingredients, and the health benefits of that.”

“Oh wow, that one’s really good.”

“Yeah, it’s a bit addictive. Triple cream Brie, with a line of shaved black truffle.”

“Oh my God. Crispy outside, inside is still moist and warm.”

“Okay! And they make you very happy temporarily.” [laughs]

“I’m here with Pic from Pic’s Peanut Butter, and Pic, I want to learn all about why this peanut butter is so special. I keep hearing all about it.”

“Well, I didn’t realise it was special, I just made some peanut butter because I got cross with buying peanut butter that was full of sugar, and I made peanut butter at home and it tasted nice.”

“You actually started selling it here, at this market.”

“Yeah, but it wasn’t until I took it overseas, to America that I realised that it was um, that it was special. I can tell that this is a community that likes to start things.”

“It is, it’s a wonderful market. I know that for a lot of people New Zealand is high on the bucket list.”

“Yeah. No a lot of people say, they say that New Zealand's on my bucket list, and I say look, there's no point in having any other list just get down here, because I know they're going to love it. I don’t know why the world doesn’t live here.” - [laughs] - “You know?”

Meanwhile, near Nelson, artist and author Christoph Niemann visited renowned local potter Katie Gold at her home studio.

“Hi Katie.”

“Hi.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“Hi, nice to meet you too. So we’re at your home, and your workplace and your gallery.”

“Well, we live here and work here, work from home my husband and I. I use slabs of clay and I build things up, make mostly vessels.”

“Tell me a little about the process.”

“A lot of people have seen my work before, they're wanting something representing part of New Zealand, where they live. We look at other pieces I’ve made and then we turn that into a piece of work for them. One’s like this I have put the map of New Zealand. So this is the old Captain Cook's map.”

“It's been printed on.”

“Oh, okay. So this is when New Zealand was spelt without an ‘a’. This piece here, the Pōhutukawa, which is the New Zealand Christmas tree. That flowers every December in New Zealand.”

“Would you like to come see where I make all the work?”

“I would love to see the studio.”

“Okay, great! Take a little bit of clay, roll it into a ball. And then you pop it into a little mold, and pop it out and you have the shell. So with all the shells, I then turn them into these little bowls and these can hang on the wall as well.”

“This is for an auction, but it’s got all the paper roads and the maps and the flaxes and what you’ll see on the coast in Nelson.”

“Yeah from our trip, we felt a lot that it was about the connection from land to sea, and it’s beautiful how it all comes together again, in the sculpture. So the Nelson region is full of creative people and we love sharing it with visitors who come here, especially if they give it a go as well.”

“This has been a huge privilege.”

Our journey ended at Neudorf Vineyards where we met Rosie Finn.

“Now this is nice.” [laughs]

“So mum and dad still live on the property, their house is just on the other side of those buildings. They planted the vineyard in 1978 and did their first vintage in 1981.”

“These are the vineyards that your parents planted?”

“Yep, this is all of the original planting, so some of these, these are some of the oldest Chardonnay vines in the South Island. There's a lot of respect for the soil and the land, and where we are.”

“It seems like Nelson is the kind of place that has lots of crafts and artisans, am I right about that?”

“Yeah, absolutely I think Nelson’s always had an abundance of creativity. This area in particular you've got potters, cider makers and olive oil and there's a lot of inspiration in the land. You’ve got the Abel Tasman this way and the Nelson lakes that way. So it’s one of those areas where it’s pretty hard not to be inspired I think.”

“Right, cheers to that!” [laughs] [glasses clink]

The Nelson Tasman region is truly magical, the people we met, the warm welcomes we received, the natural beauty we discovered. It’s a place to find inspiration. A place where art and craftsmanship, natural wonder and food and drink come together to create a culture of personal connection.