An emergency trip to Collingwood which has the only brand of required nappies outside Nelson! Collingwood is the last place of any note before you sail off the top of South Island. Today it's a bit of a one horse town - the main street resembling something out of the wild west with the added attraction of the Mad Cafe and its Egyptian self healing tank!  (We won't go there) It once had pretensions though and was actually considered as a possible site for the capital of New Zealand after gold was found nearby.The settlement was named after Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, Nelson's second in command at Trafalgar and a whole down was laid out in the plain with names such as Trafalgar Square and Nelson Terrace. Sadly nothing came of the these grand designs though the town retained a sea-faring and mining element. 
It is surrounded by sea and estuaries - today absolutely still - reflecting the soft grey day.

After we purchased the nappies we followed the signs to the historic cemetery and found a hive of interesting buildings perched up a steep hill. The cemetery was built into the hill sometime around 1858 and a lot of work has been done identifying everyone buried there. We were amazed how many people had died from drowning - not in the sea but the river, once the main mode of transport.