Napier

After the rigorous activity of yesterday (floating down an underground stream wasn’t that demanding, but getting in and out of those wetsuits was hard work!) we decided to take a break and go and visit Napier. We last visited it in Easter 2011, so it was about due for a re-visit. Lisa in particular wanted to look at the Art Deco buildings.

On the way, we saw a sign that said Scenic Lookout. “Got to be worth a look”, I thought, so we swung off the road and up a little track to a turning place up a hill. “Looks pretty ordinary” I thought, until Nicola beckoned us over to where she could see…this:

After taking pictures, we carried on our journey, discussing why the sign didn’t give more information, or indeed why it didn’t appear to marked on our map. It's the Waipunga Falls, apaprently.

We arrived in Napier and found somewhere to park pretty quickly, then walked a short distance into the CBD to find a café. We quickly settled on 2 Fat Lattes and got some refreshments there. At this point, there was some disagreement about what to do next. Ian had found a guitar shop and was happy to stay there. Three of the girls were uninterested in architecture, so went off to do whatever it is teenage girls do to occupy their time. Having already investigated the train tour (at $50 a pop we thought it was too expensive for a guided tour) we bought a self-guided tour and myself, Nicola, Lisa and Eli went off for a walk around the Art Deco buildings. I pointed out interesting features such as I could remember from when we had a walking tour here last time. We’d arranged to meet up back at the i-Site, then after a quick visit to the Cigarette Factory, set about searching out some lunch in the newer development over in the West Docks. We settled on The Thirsty Whale and had a rest and some lunch there.

How time flies when you’re having fun! The drive had taken longer than anticipated so we decided to crack on and make a start at heading back to Taupo so that we wouldn’t be late back to the bach. We also wanted to stop off in town to try to acquire a new pair of shorts as mine had suffered a catastrophic split and were in urgent need of replacements. The girls also wanted to go in search of knacks, and I dare say knicks (and visit McDonald’s). My shorts search having proved unsuccessful, Ian and I repaired to The Crafty Trout Brewing Company, Taupo’s own craft brewery and pub, and decided that it would be rude not to try their beer. As we sat down the clouds opened, and there was a flash and rumble of thunder, so we ended up staying there slightly longer than we intended. Once the rain had slackened off a bit we ventured outside and met up back at the car, and drove home. 

Art Deco City

In the morning, we again drove down into town, parked up, and went for breakfast at Café Divine, where Nicola immediately ran in to one of her colleagues from the Wellington City Chorus. When I could drag her away we ordered cooked breakfasts, then headed along the road to the i-site to book ourselves on a guided walk around Napier at 10am.

Before the walk could begin, we had a look around the Napier Easter vintage car show. A whole bunch of cars (and the occasional truck) were parked in the Colonnade, so we took some pictures of them.

Ant Hill Mob Car

We set out on the walk, and our guide explained about how and why Napier is the Art Deco capital of the world. For the long version, read this, but the short version is that, after the earthquake in 1931, the city’s planners, along with the New Zealand government, decided to rebuild using the styles that had become fashionable since the mid-20s – what we now characterise as Art Deco, Art Nouveau, Stripped Classical, the Arts & Crafts style, and Spanish Mission style architecture…although at the time this was all lumped together under the banner “Modernist”. In only two years, the city centre was rebuilt. Also, several buildings which had been recently built at the time of the earthquake survived, and these are also part of the history of the town. Of the 164 buildings erected between 1920 and 1940, 140 are still there today.

Amongst the significant developments of the Art Deco style is the former Bank Of New Zealand building, now occupied by ASB. This is one of the few buildings to incorporate Maori designs into the decoration.

Maori fern and wave designs on the BNZ building

Other buildings show the continuing connection to the UK in New Zealand, such as this one that incorporates Liberty’s of London into its stained glass.

Whilst many of the original buildings still stand, a lot of the shop fronts and glass have been replaced. Fortunately some remain, such as this one, the Crown Of Thorns design:

Charles Rennie Mackintosh was a strong influence on the Arts & Crafts and Art Nouveau movements; his trademark rose motif is found in many stained glass works, like this now sadly defunct music shop:

After the tour we watched a short film about the earthquake and subsequent rebuilding, then went out again to look at the the city with our new-found knowledge. In amongst the ordinary shops of the city, there are a fair few antique shops that specialise in 1930s artefacts and clothing. We wandered into a couple and found out that, amongst other things, those 1920s-style beaded dresses weigh a ton! They’re full of hand-stitched glass beads, and they hadn’t figured out how to make lightweight ones.

After a spot of lunch we then headed back towards Bay View (where we're staying)...to check out a vineyard there. More on that later.

Napier

For our Easter holiday, we decided to visit Napier. “Napier’s lovely” they said. “It’s full of Art deco buildings”. So we popped down to our friendly neighbourhood car rental shop and got ourselves a RAV4.

There are two ways to get to Napier: go round the Rimutakas on State Highway 1, or go over the Rimutakas on State Highway 2. I was advised to take the latter route as SH1 would be packed with people going off to the West coast for their holiday break. Whilst I find the concept of Bank Holiday traffic jams in NZ somewhat laughable – I don’t think they have the concept of 20-mile tailbacks on the M4 – we nevertheless took their advice and went over the mountains – similar to the route we took out to Castlepoint and Martinborough. It’s about twice the distance at 325 km from Wellington, and what with stops for lunch and coffee, it took us over 5 hours to get there.

We arrived in Napier in the late afternoon and, after checking in to our accommodation, immediately set off into the centre of town to look around in the remaining sunlight. “It’s quiet, Sarge”, I remarked. “Yeah…too quiet. It’s a trap!” Well, it wasn’t, but all the shops were shut for Good Friday. They take their religious observance seriously here…at least, the law forces retailers to do so. We had a quick look around and took some pictures of the Art Deco buildings.

We found somewhere for dinner at Estuarys Restaurant, and then headed back to our hut for an early night.