April 11, 2016
We took a walk through town, which wasn’t much of a walk as it’s only a couple of blocks long. This place has the feeling of a somewhat dusty, quiet town on a highway, usually a terrible combination. But somehow Havelock manages to retain it’s low-key charm and appeal.
I think it helps that the main road is slightly hilly, and passing cars slow down enough not to be menacing. There aren’t many people around outside, but the business owners inside are folksy and nice. The locals choose to live here (as opposed stereotypical small towns where people feel stuck), and in fact seem proud and happy to be here. And there are enough tourists to keep the local economy thriving and justify having an i-Site, New Zealand’s tourist information center. (Below, a few photos from our walk around town; click to enlarge/scroll an any of the following galleries.)
Our final stop was the i-Site. We’d only gone in to find out about whether there’s a bus to Nelson and were surprised to find ourselves in a small nature museum. It seems the owner of this particular branch is also a taxidermist and has created this whole natural-history extravaganza representing the local wildlife. It’s something you have to see to believe; so we’ve put in some photos below. It’s well-worth visiting this i-Site just to see the displays!
For dinner we went to the local pub, the restaurant located at the Havelock Hotel that we wouldn’t even have known was there until someone recommended it. I guess anyone who’s local will know of it, and they don’t care to go after the tourist business. It’s like a secret pub, a low-key homey place where you can get a meal and a drink and, if you care to, watch whatever’s on one of the TVs. We had a pretty good Hawaiian pizza, and I had forgotten how addicting “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” can be. –Cyndi
