It's a place in the sun and a place for fun. It has the 'nickname' of "Sunny Nelson", a title that is both justified and deserved. Nelsonians are proud of the fact that their city has the highest sunshine hours in New Zealand.
It has the busiest port in New Zealand and has the reputation of being a centre of arts. The many sunny days, the beautiful blue skies and clear, clean waters make it a paradise, the envy of those who do not have the delight of living here. The environment and scenery are both inspiring and soothing.
The seasons are in no way severe with no extremes between them. Even winter, although producing some good frosts, yields beautiful sunny days.
Nelson is known as nature's playground. There is so much here to appeal to all tastes all year round. The beaches have beautiful fine sand, and are very safe for swimming, boating and fishing etc.. There are clean rivers and lakes providing swimming, rafting and fishing and the bush and mountains give opportunities for tramping and hunting. In winter skiing is popular with a ski field not too far away. There is no shortage of golf courses that are well maintained. There are a wide range of cafes, restaurants and beautiful gardens.
Nelson also has the name of 'Sleepy Hollow'. In other words life goes at a leisurely and pleasant pace without the pressure and congestion that is experienced in the larger cities.

The city of Nelson was founded by British settlers in 1842, just 2 years after the founding of New Zealand and grew initially after gold was found near by. In 1854, Queen Victoria declared Nelson a Cathedral City, making Nelson the second oldest city in New Zealand (only Auckland, New Zealand's largest city today, with a population of over 1 million people, is older). The distinctive Cathedral, made primarily of local marble and concrete, was only finished in the 1960's.

Nelson city is north of Wellington, (the capital, situated on the North Island), and is at the centre of the Nelson Province which covers the north west corner of the South Island. The total population in the region is 87,500, with nearly all of the people concentrated in Nelson city (42,900), the large towns of Richmond (11,700) and Motueka (7,125) and the smaller townships of Brightwater (1,790), Wakefield (1,875), and Takaka (1,200), in Golden Bay.
(Nelson and Regional population figures taken from 2006 Census)