Nothing to Do in Nelson?? Let Me Be Your Guide Part III

One of many dresses/outfits on display at WOW

After Founders Heritage Park, we wanted to catch the WOW museum before it closed. Luckily, we did!

7. WOW

Oddly enough, "Wow!" is how I'd describe WOW!

WOW or the World of WearableArt and Collectible Cars Museum is like nothing I've ever seen before.


One of my favorites, Angel of a Different Kind,
made with latex, plastic, and fabric

WOW is an internationally renowned fashion design competition where designers create masterpieces that are worn in a show and used to create stories. The annual WOW show is held in Wellington, New Zealand, and showcases incredible works of art that the wearer shows off through movement. If it can be worn by a person, it can be in this show.

The WOW Museum houses more than 50 wearable works of art along with more than 140 classic cars. This museum is great for men, women, children, young and old. There's something for everybody.

WearableArts Side:

Entries from the Red category in 2017

I was absolutely blown away by some of these designs. The intricacies, the materials, the way it's used to tell a story is just so impressive. Fashion Week has nothing on WOW.

There are different categories every year. In 2017, there were Science Fiction, Red, and Illumination Illusion.

Some of the materials used in 2017 include:

• LED lights
• chain mail
• mesh crystals
• leather belts
• bicycle inner tubes
• cardboard
• foam
• sequins
• paint
• vinyl
• buttons
• felt
• wool
• plastic
• latex
• zippers
• PVC board
• spandex
• resin
• mirrored stainless steel
• hemp
• lycra

The 2018 season runs from September 27 - October 14 and is the 30th year of the show. Categories for this year are Reflective Surfaces, Under the Microscope, and Bizarre Bra. Also, 3 categories remain constant from year to year: Open, Aotearoa, and Avant-garde. Every year, there are awards for First-Time Entrant, Student Innovation, Sustainability, Wearable Technology, New Zealand Design, and International Awards for UK and Europe, Americas, Asia, and Australia and Pacific.

While the WOW show is always held in Wellington, there is an international exhibition that includes some of the works currently on display. The tour has been to Seattle, Washington, and Salem, Massachusetts, as well as other countries.

Below are more examples of the incredible pieces of art:



I feel like this is good inspiration for anyone who might want to make their own
prom dress, especially if their theme is Monte Carlo or Las Vegas!

Collectible Classic Cars Side:

The Nelson Classic Car Collection is one of the largest in Australasia. With more than 140 cars, you can easily see the evolution of the car.

Many of the cars here have gone through tons of restorative work to make sure they are visually appealing, but also to be able to drive. More than a few were still in driving condition and had their WOF (warrant of fitness, required in New Zealand to be driven on the road) updated recently.

The 100 Years of Motoring display has cars from 1908 (a Renault) to 2018 (Mazda MX5) and many, many more in between. There were Chevrolets, Ferraris, Mustangs and more. There were police cars, race cars, you name it, it was there.

I definitely don't know a lot about cars, but the vast amount of cars and the incredible condition some of these were in impressed even me. I'm sure any guy would love it and anyone who knows anything about the history of cars would drool.

Many of the cars were set up in front of iconic backdrops from the time when that car was popular.

See some of the cars set in their time below:

They even had the union jack-covered Jaguar, known as the "Shaguar" from the Austin Powers movie series.

Needless to say, I would HIGHLY recommend this museum to anyone visiting Nelson. For $24 per adult, it's absolutely worth every penny (even though New Zealand doesn't have pennies).

I probably could have spent hours there staring at the tiny details in each piece of art. And the cars were cool, too.

Bonus: Kaiteriteri (Beach No. 1)

Kaiteriteri also known as Kaiteri was not on my original list. But our hosts said it was a must-do, so we drove to this golden sand beach.

Like Cable Bay, the water here was also incredibly clear. We got there late in the day, so the shadows don't show the beach at its finest. But it definitely was a beautiful view.

With year-round sun and gorgeous views, there are plenty of things to do. Surfing, kayaking, hiking, you name it. Kaiteri is a launchpad for all sorts of activities. The Abel-Tasman, a long walking/hiking trail starts and/or ends here, so many people plan to incorporate Kaiteri in their trip.

Around 45 minutes from Nelson, Kaiteri was an easy drive from WOW. I thought it was going to be longer so we would see the sunset there, but it was so quick, we decided to make one more stop in our incredibly long day.

Tahunanui Beach at sunset

8. Tahunanui (Beach No. 2)

Known as Tahuna to the locals, Tahunanui Beach is situated right along the Tasman Bay and stretches for what looks like forever along. It's the main beach for Nelson and it's obvious why. With all the sunlight Nelson gets, the water is warmed and beach-goers can enjoy the shallow water far into the bay.

I wanted us to have a great view of the sunset and Tahuna definitely came through... But then the sun went down and it was way too cold to stay out there. It was time for dinner.

The suburb of Tahunanui looks out over Tahuna Beach and the Tasman Bay beyond

We went to Speight's Ale House, a pretty common sight in New Zealand, to watch the rugby and cheer on the All Blacks. For the first time probably ever, I ordered ribs. It was called the Pig Hunter and it definitely lived up to its name. I also got a peanut butter and banana smoothie (which I'm told is very American of me) and it was the most delicious smoothie I've ever had. I will be making them at home in the future.

The footie ended late, and since we were extremely tired, we headed back to the house and quickly conked out.

In the morning, we had a bit of time before we were going to leave, so we fit in one more bonus location to our trip.

Bonus: Rabbit Island / Moturoa (Beach No. 3)

Rabbit Island is a small island in Tasman Bay about 6 minutes from the house were staying at. The island is pretty small, 8 kilometres or 5 miles long. It was formed about 7,000 years ago. The island is part of a reserve. The Rabbit Island Recreational Reserve includes Rabbit Island, Rough Island, and Bird Island.

On our way out to the beach, we passed cyclists and fishermen with a gorgeous view of the snow-capped mountains.

Once at the beach, we had a beautiful view of the bay. The beach was relatively empty. There were tree roots and branches all along the shore.

The lack of buildings and amount of trees remind me of Hunting Island in South Carolina.

We walked along the beach and saw a pretty unobstructed view of the bay. No car noises, so sirens, nothing but the calming sound of the waves and the soft, forgiving sand under our feet.

It was cool, but not cold, with that never-ending sun beaming down on us. It was a great way to finish off our trip to Nelson.

There were a few things we didn't get to on the list including the Queen's Gardens and the Nelson Provincial Museum. I guess we will just have to make another trip!