New Zealand - North Island

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Hi everyone, well we had a nice sleep in the 'kiddypack', dead on 10.00pm, the ghetto blaster was turned off and PEACE and QUIET, lovely. The rules say they won't get their 'key bond' deposit back if they don't keep to them. One good thing is, because the youngsters are travelling, they don't get 'beered up' as they don't have the money to waste. You do see posters up about alcohol but I have yet to see a poster about 'No drugs', so that doesn't seem to be an issue over here.

So, in the morning we set off and walked to a view point overlooking Napier, what a hike, up and up we went, it was hot as well, we walked between the houses tucked away in the hills, everyone says hello to you when you pass them, that's when you see someone ! We got to the top of this mountain/hill and had great views. Clicky click with the camera, then back down, walked along the coast and back to an Art Deco shop where we had booked onto a walking tour. Our tour guide chap was called Barry, originally from Manchester, he showed us a short film on what Art Deco was about. Stu, myself, a Dutch girl and Barry then walked into the little city centre and Barry explained the speed lines, zig zags, sunbursts, the Maroi and the Spanish influence which was added to the buildings. Because of the 1931 earthquake no columns were allowed to be built underneath the shop veranda's so the veranda's are held on with big clips, that's the only way I can describe it and to allow light into the shops, they used skylights above and around the buildings, Barry pointed out the wood surrounding the shop windows, the doors and the style of art nouveau, this was more to do with a nature look, flowers and trees, a more softer look, rather than the horizontal, geometric lines used in Art Deco. He took us to the local theatre in town and showed us the lighting, we went into a bank, into a winery and all the time people who worked inside welcomed us because they were proud to show off their buildings. How nice is that ? I could go on forever about this, it really was very interesting and Barry was passionate about it all. After about an hour and three quarters we went back to a little theatre to watch a film on the 1931 earthquake that destroyed Hawkes Bay, Napier included in that. This was the reason they have all these Art Deco buildings because they had to rebuild everything from the start. They have an Art Deco Trust which gives the building owners a huge discount in paint in order to keep their buildings in keeping and looking smart. Napier holds a yearly event where people come from all over the world in their 20's and 30's fancy dress, bringing in the cars, the bands, tea and cake, champagne and having a good time. It really is a big thing here.

Well that took up all afternoon so from there we went to the RSA (Returned Services Association) and joined up for the time we are here. The place was huge, the beer is very cheap in these places, they had some dance class going on, no one was younger than 70, I kid you not ! Have no idea what the dance was, the closest I could describe it was line dancing. I didn't join in, but I was the only one that clapped and they seemed to like that !!

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