Nelson is close to the centre of New Zealand and lies at the shore of Tasman Bay, at the northern end of the South Island.

The city of Nelson is the administrative centre of the Nelson region.

Nelson has the best climate in New Zealand, as it regularly tops the national statistics for sunshine hours, with an annual average total of over 2400 hours.

Nelson is a centre for language schools in New Zealand, ecotourism and adventure tourism. 

Nelson has a high reputation among caving enthusiasts due to several prominent cave systems around Takaka Hill and Mounts Owen and Arthur, which hold the largest and deepest explored caverns in the southern hemisphere.

Nelson is a centre for arts and crafts, and each year hosts popular events such as the Nelson Arts Festival. 

There is evidence the earliest settlements in New Zealand are around the Nelson-Marlborough regions.

Nelson has beaches and a sheltered harbour. The harbour entrance is protected by a Boulder Bank, a natural, 13km bank of rocks transported south from Mackay Bluff via longshore drift.

Nelson is surrounded by mountains on three sides with Tasman Bay on the other and the region is the gateway to Abel Tasman National Park, Kahurangi National Park, Lakes Rotoiti and Rotoroa in the Nelson Lakes National Park. 


Resource: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson,_New_Zealand