Many of you may know that Napier is the art deco capital of the world, but may not know why?
On February 3rd, 1931 Napier experienced a devastating earthquake that essentially leveled the city. When they started to rebuild the city the architectural style at the time was Art Decoy and as a result all the buildings were build in the style of the times and the legacy to the earthquake is this testament to a bygone architectural style.
We have been to Napier twice before and were just amazed again this time. As you can see from some of our photos (a couple of the devastation from the earthquake) and many of the buildings as they stand today, memories in mural and statue form.
Napier was a respite from our hikes in Whakapapa, so we did several long walks along the ‘Pathway’ - a brilliant bike path system that stretches miles in every direction and runs along the ocean from where it starts. We also rented bikes and did a 28km bike one sunny day (I think Ted was a wee bit tired by the end) … And we also did a wine tour.
Our previous time in Napier we chose Grape Escapes and decided to book with them again as we remembered Greg (the owner) as just being so gregarious and fun. Alas, we did not get Greg, but we got a private tour with Robbie and she was an absolutely delight. We went almost 90 minutes over our schedule time because we were having so much fun at each winery and just chatting none stop - she definitely is in the right line of work.
Aside from some walks, the cycle, and the wine tour - we celebrated the 20th anniversary of our first date at a restaurant called Pacifica - and it was amazing.
Today we headed to WHANGANUI for 3 nights and then we head to Wellington before ending this part of our amazing journey on the North Island of New Zealand …
More stories and photos to follow
Wishing everyone well in Ottawa and beyond,
Robert & Ted
