Nelson 2002 visit Day 1 and Day 2

Day 1 Saturday 25/5/02

DSC00295I arrived in Nelson early on a beautiful Saturday morning, once I got off the plane I could taste the fresh air and sense the peacefulness of this lovely town.

For some strange reason, coming to Nelson gives me a sense of coming home; it must have been the lovely people and the landscape of this place? The hills are green, gentle and the sea sparkling like a sea of diamonds.

We drove for about 15 minutes to aunt Su-Hui’s (the dance teacher) lovely home, situated on a hill near the centre of New Zealand pole. From the house you can see the harbour in the distance, the centre of New Zealand pole is visible from the bay window, and at the foot of the hills there is the mighty Maitai River, gracefully flowing, bringing good fortune to this home. I took a deep breath and told myself how wonderful that this is the first day of my holiday and I am going to make the most of it!

harbour-view
View of the house we stayed at

Day 2 26/5/02

One of the attraction that caught my attention in Nelson was the flea market! I would have to say that this flea market is far more interesting than the one in Christchurch. Under the colourful tents there are displays of varieties of food, arts and crafts, as well as wines made from local wineries. Whilst browsing around, there was a lovely sound of  harp music playing in the background.

lady_playing_harp

I met a Taiwanese couple at the market, they are selling beautiful origami cards and have been doing it for a while now. Professor Cheng is how I call him, he and his wife both used to be scientists in Taiwan, but now made Nelson their home. Professor Cheng has great skills making 3-D cards, that he sells every weekend, this is how they make a living now. I was fascinated to learn why and what made them change their occupation from a scientist to a paper craftsman? “Peaceful living” Professor Cheng told me.

prof_cheng
Professor Cheng and his wife

Later that day, they invited me to have lunch at their house, the trip was about an hour away from central Nelson. If you can imagine a little wooden hut on an 1 acre land, out of nowhere deep in the mountain, you can get a picture to what their hut is like. Professor Cheng had built this place from scratch, he even had to purchase some power poles so they have electricity. Water was pumped from a stream nearby.  I was impressed to see his dedication and craftsmanship!

They don’t have any kids, but they are not lonely,  geese, ducklings and hens running around the property making it a very picturesque sight!

We had instant noodles for lunch, despite the cold weather outside, the fireplace has made the room warm and cosy. It was a wonderful experience meeting the both of them. They live very simple lives, yet extremely happy, it made me think twice about living in the city.

Being a graphic designer, I find his paper crafts to be very interesting, and making them into greeting cards really didn’t do justice to his works, some should be inside an art gallery for display…

3d-card

Original hand-made 3D pop-up cards. Made by J&S Paper Crafts Riwaka Valley, Motueka New Zealand

3d-card2

3d-card1

To be continued…

6 Comments

Join the discussion and tell us your opinion.

Ying
November 6, 2009 at 5:03 pm

Nice cards, were they all hand cut? what is the price for one? looks like a lot of time and effort has been put into cutting one card!

Joseph
November 6, 2009 at 5:06 pm
– In reply to: Ying

Yes, all hand cut, paper came from Taiwan, the artist researched a lot of different paper before finding this one. These cards can be seen and purchased at the Arts Centre Christchurch, and cost $10 each. They have a special 50% off for the zodiac range of cards at the moment 4 Nov 2009.

Ying
November 6, 2009 at 5:23 pm

Wow, $10 is pretty cheap, considering the time he has to spend cutting each one, and there is material cost. With the 50% off offer, that is a give away! can almost buy one to frame on wall, haha.

Joseph
November 6, 2009 at 5:26 pm
– In reply to: Ying

Yeah, making a living from making craft work is not easy! so please support him by buying a card for your loved ones, I forgot which shop it is, but is one of the indoor shops, the cards sit on a small display table…

Ying
November 6, 2009 at 5:57 pm

I wonder if he teach classes?

Joseph
November 6, 2009 at 5:59 pm
– In reply to: Ying

Joseph KuI would have no idea, I only know his trade name is J&S, if you want to meet him in person, he is in the Nelson flea market every weekend.