Nelson in the 90s

Nelson in the 90s. It was the decade the city turned 150, a three bedroom house in Stoke cost $180,000, the Giants were national champions and wearable art exploded onto the scene with a creative burst of energy. Amy Russ takes a look back at a decade full of colour and energy.

Nelson’s greatest achievement of the 1990s will go down in history as the creation of the World of Wearable Art. It was a show that transformed Nelson and one that endures to this day, albeit in another city. But for many who lived here during that time, it was a place full of great fun, good music, dodgy bars, manual cars and when we all, somehow, became basketball fans.

These were the days when The Gathering, hosted on Takaka Hill, was high on festival goer’s calendars, Kaiteriteri hosted – what essentially became – an annual Cantab’s vs locals’ event with Tug of War and Mr and Miss Kaiteriteri competitions in summer. Wizards Space Parlour, Preston’s Surf Shop and Everyman Records were the go-to, and Shakespear’s, Zhivago’s, Horatio’s, Kacey’s and Metropolis were frequented nightlife hangouts, with a pit stop through Friar Tucks for a pack of chicken and chips with garlic rolls – or the late-night food bus.

Fifeshire FM was blasted on the radio, Georgie Pie came to town, and Hanafins was where you would patiently wait to get your photos developed from the weekend’s adventures.

Long-serving radio host for Fifeshire FM, Al Colombus, says the 90s was a decade where it felt like the region had started to ‘find its feet’. “Watching the city grow and change over the years, back then, things started to really take off. It was a whole community thing, and it became more cosmopolitan. The arts have always been strong in the region, but the likes of the Wearable Arts really put the place on the map. It was a landmark event and a highlight in community involvement.”

Al remembers those days fondly and his wedding history has been a source of great ribbing from friends over the years. “If I remember rightly, there were two marriages in that decade!”

He loved being a part of the Wearable Arts scene and the opportunity to co-MC their first show in Wellington. The music then was similar to 90s fashion, says Al, “it became more embodying, more encompassing. The 80s were too higgledy-piggledy. Post-punk was my go-to during my time at Fifeshire. It was hard to delve into your own style when you were so immersed in that environment, but I’ve held on to a lot of punk new wave music, which I’m actually starting to revisit now.” Live music really peaked in those days too with Al even having a stint playing in his own band during that time. He remembers DJing at Led Zebra and MC-ing at a festival involving one of Nelson’s biggest live bands in its day, Mumblegrunt.

Canaan Downs saw its fair share of festival go-ers in the 90s with the influx of people across New Zealand seeing the New Year in at The Gathering. Co-founder Grant Smithies and his partner Josephine Cachemaille helped co-ordinate the events in 1996 and 1997. Grant remembers a more unrestricted time with a lot more alternative and youth culture. “Places like the Black Fly Bar, Zippys café spring to mind, the Nelson Community Centre – which became The Artery, then The Hub.” The big social was at Everyman Records says Grant, “on a Friday night the place would be jammed up with people”.

“Metropolis was where it was at. It was flashy and it was great! Lots of touring bands, like Supergroove, used to call through Molly’s then too. Back then there was old-school licensing. Bars were bars. Ramshackle rock and roll bands played in town, they had club nights and lots more live music playing than nowadays.” Fifeshire FM presented the region with Stage Challenge and Pete Rainey made Rockquest a nationwide event with Waimea College band the Exploding Poppies becoming the first Nelson band to win the national competition in 1992.

While the music scene was thriving, so was the hospitality sector. Chez Eelco led the way decades earlier but it was still a favourite throughout the 90s. “Chez Eelco was a staple Nelson eatery,” says Al. “The Chez Burger and tinned mussel soup were particularly tasty.”

Doug McKee owned and operated Quayside Restaurant on Rocks Rd. A visit to Quayside to tackle their steak, and the salad bar stacked in a rowboat in the middle of the restaurant, was a fantastic way to spend a few hours - basking on the balcony, watch the sailboats, and taking in the view. The curried egg salad was a favourite amongst many patrons and Doug admits to still having the original recipe book from that time, including the infamous curried egg. “The pages are a bit worn, but it is all still there.”

Christmas Day and Mother’s Day were the Quayside’s biggest nights of the year, seeing six to seven hundred meals sent out on each night. After endless hours working, Doug made the decision to close Quayside’s doors near the end of the decade, but with his foresight, ‘The Waterfront’ became the first multistorey apartment block in Nelson. “It was the best use for the site. I decided that the waterfront was going to be apartments and it was a gamble worth taking. That was where the need was.”

As Quayside was getting ready to close, another new café popped up in the middle of town, Lambrettas. Lambrettas Café and Bar owners Leanne Odey and her husband Rhys say you could count the number of cafes on one hand in the late 90s. “I remember a massive waitlist for night-time service at Lambrettas, and shock, horror, smoking inside!” Leanne says one clear memory from the 90s was Tina Turner performing at Trafalgar Park. At the time, Turner was one of the world’s biggest pop stars and, arguably, her show is still the biggest act to come to town.

The 90s was also a great decade for local sport fans. The Nelson Giants captured the region’s hearts when it won its first NBL championship in 1994 and its second in 1998. Bill Dahlberg coached the Nelson Giants and said it was a great decade for developing young players. Four of his young Nelson basketball high school players went on to represent New Zealand in the Tall Blacks at the Sydney Olympics, and three of them made it to the World Champs in Turkey a few years later. “We did some good stuff. The nineties were a build-up of our age-group players. That is what I see from back then. A solid background in Nelson junior basketball. That was the group that came through in those days. A very elite and successful group of players.”

It wasn’t just the Giants bringing sporting success to Nelson though. Rower Dave Schaper competed at the Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996 and Sydney in 2000. Back in 1992, before the Mako, Nelson Bays famously won the third division of the national provincial rugby championship with a nail-biting win over Horowhenua in Levin. In 1999 the union won the second division for the first time.

The retail scene was also a bit different, particularly in Richmond, which at the time was a fraction of the size it is now. Former Village Cycles owner, Jim Matthews, owned a small apple orchard in Spring Grove, just a few doors down from where Wearable Arts were born, before deciding to open a cycle shop in Richmond. “Richmond was just a little village when we started the cycle business. That’s where the name Village Cycles came from. We were lucky enough to see the cycling world boom in the nineties, first with ten speeds and then with mountain bikes. It has gone into another hemisphere now with e-bikes.”

Late night shopping in Richmond on Thursdays in the 90s was at not one, but two malls, complete with an indoor water fountain and chandelier, an outstanding record store, DEKA and a concrete playground. Since then, the Village Mall and Richmond Mall combined to create a mall that has four times as many shops as the two smaller malls did.

“It’s funny” says Jim, “You think of all the years you’ve worked and all the things you’ve gone through, then you look back over the decades and not realise where they all go.”

The 90s was also the decade a young Nick Smith first won a seat at parliament, winning the Tasman seat in 1990. Kerry Marshall was the mayor of the Tasman district for most of the decade (1989-1998) while Philip Woollaston held the chains in Nelson from 1992-1998. All three men helped push through the building of Whakatu Drive, providing a bypass for Stoke, with work starting towards the end of the decade.

As far as lowlights go, the fire that destroyed the Majestic Theatre in January 1996 has to be up there.

In some ways there’s not a huge amount that has changed. In some ways everything has. People still hang out at the beach and listen to music, we still host fantastic festivals and local sports teams are still smashing goals. Shops have come and gone, we have seen buildings rise and fall, but the heart of the region, a strong sense of community, pride in our city and all things arty, has remained.

Nelson Tasman continues to grow, evolve, adapt and change. There will always be something emblematic about the place, its golden beaches and sailboats dancing in the shimmering sea protected by its half-moon haven. The iconic markets, sunshine, culinary delights and clever creatives.