Stepping back in time in Napier

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Day 553 (02.10.08)

Having given back our van in Christchurch due to the prices going up in preparation for the approaching summer we thought we'd probably get the bus around the north island but as we'd looked into it nothing really jumped out at us that seemed to suit our plans/travelling style/price range so we weren't really sure what to do. We love the flexibility that a car can bring so we looked into it and managed to find a really cheap deal so booked it up without thinking twice. They collected us at the hostel and with a quick stop at the office to sort out the bills etc. we were back on the road again and headed for Napier up on the east coast, a city blessed with the most sunshine hours in the country.

It's a fair way so, having passed some beautiful rolling green countryside, we arrived in the late afternoon and found a place to stay. Napier is famous for it's Art Deco architecture and this was the main reason we'd wanted to visit. In 1931 a huge earthquake hit the city and levelled the commercial centre. The city was rebuilt almost immediately resulting in one of the world's most uniformly Art Deco cities. We couldn't wait to have a look around so set off around the centre to admire the incredible architecture - it really was like stepping back in time. Every year Napier hosts a Deco weekend where everyone dresses up, they have bands, cars, period planes, and many other festivities - we'd love to come back for that one day - it looked incredible from the pictures we saw.

Day 554 (03/10/08)

We've less time in the north than we had on the south island so regrettably we had to pack up and leave lovely sunny Napier today. After a quick drive up to the lookout point on Bluff Hill and a tasty ice cream we were on the road again. As the city is the gateway to the Hawkes Bay wine region it would have been rude not to visit just one or two wineries so with recommendations from our hostel owner we arrived at the stunning Mission Estate. A beautiful building that used to house priests, overlooking the vines it was a fantastic location to taste some great wines. The restaurant on the outdoor terrace was too tempting and we decided to treat ourselves to a special lunch and made a booking for a little later in the day. We went a little further to Church Road winery to taste some more wines and then headed back for our lunch.

What a treat! The food was delicious, the wine very tasty, the service excellent and the location fantastic - couldn't recommend it enough really! Feeling full and happy we finally left to make our way over to Taupo our next stop. Thanks so much to the girls at LFA in Melbourne - we used some of Chrissie's leaving gift money for this treat.

The sunshine of Napier gave way to more overcast skies as we arrive into the centre of the North Island but we had a quick drive around the town overlooking New Zealand's largest lake before settling into our hostel for the evening.

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