Journal day 78 - Napier rising!

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Journal day ... Napier rising.
April 24

Napier & Hawks Bay.
Campervan park.
Had a great chat with Murray Fields, owner of the park.
Daughter in Wicklow, interested in irish. He told me a bit of the history if the 1931 earthquake that destroyed the entire city of Napier. He was able to speak very well about the history and the exact spot where we were standing in the campervan park field was perfect for a little lecture as he was able to point at areas of the surrounding landscape to describe what had happened. It turned out the field I was standing in, close to the city of Napier, was below water before the earthquake occurred. It turns out that Napier actually made 42sqkm bigger by the quake. This large area of ground was raised above the high tide level and claimed by the government as part of Napier. Murray was able to point at hills that were islands less that a century ago. When you looked at the landscape you could see where the traces of old sand spots would have once lead to beaches. And fields along the edge of the road that lead to the 'new' land have the same white metallic mineral material that are found on the beaches at Hawkes bay. Napier airport is also built on land that was once part if the bay.
I find this stuff incredible. Taupo lake was once land before an eruption of unimaginable levels shook the world and caused the land to collapse to create the massive lake. And here in Mapier the opposite happened with the land level rising.
 I saw on the Internet that more Christchurch earthquakes have been happening in the 3 range. 
New Zealand is a beast and it isnt even slumbering, it's snoozing, but it only takes a little snore to mess humans up pretty bad....

Had a walk around Napier appreciating the Art Deco architecture but not too closely as I'm gonna do the Art Deco tour tomorrow. But as it's Easter Sunday the streets are empty and the weather is perfect do good for photos.

Free public Concert down at the bay.

Napier Pics: Napier

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