Day 7 Napier
We had
learnt not to trust the shipboard summary of things to do and see in the ports
we visited. They had understated the population of NZ by 20% and quite frankly
made each of the ports sound dull. Our experience was that there was a lot more
to do and see than the QE literature had indicated. For the Napier stop Johnny
decided to do his own research on the internet.
I was
getting quite used to this idea of going to sleep and being magically
transported to the next city. Napier, I expected to be quite small, but to me
it looked about the size of Geelong. The 1931 earthquake had decimated the city
and it was completely rebuilt in the Art Deco style. Building after building is
in that elegant style even today and the streets are full of cars from the
period and old gentlemen with blazers and boaters driving the tourists around.
The weather
was expected to be a bit unsettled so we set out with shorts and carried
raincoats in our day packs. There were so many tourists pouring across the road
from the shuttle busses put on by transport authority for the Cunard
passengers, that the lollipop ladies worked some lightweight boom gates to stop
the traffic.
Even though
it was Sunday morning, the streets were full of tourists. We walked along one
of the main shopping strips and visited an Aladdin’s cave of art deco clothing,
house hold goods, art work, jewellery and toys at the antiques centre. They
actually make a lot of new clothing in the Gatsby style for the many thousands
of tourists that flood into the city for Art Deco week in February. Apparently
everyone gets into the swing of things and even the navy and police get into
the spirit.
All the
street signs were written in an Art Deco typography. Above every shop, there
were still building details and colour schemes that were in that early 20th
century style. Apparently, the 1931 earthquake uplifted a whole section of land
along the seafront and extended the city significantly. As well as the vintage
cars, there were a couple of vintage busses that the town council had bought
from San Francisco. At great expense they were restored and outfitted for NZ
conditions. They cost a million dollars but when the venture was found to be
ill advised, they were sold off for $30,000. When we saw them, the buses were
being enjoyed by tourists who crowded on to the open back section to take
photos.
We stopped
for a morning coffee at a funky little Turkish restaurant. Later as we toured around
we found several other Turkish restaurants in the area. The coffee was good and
it gave us a chance to have some respite from the rain which was by now, coming
down solidly. The road surface was hot so the rain was turning to steam as it
landed. We zig zagged through the streets but by the time we got down to the
seafront we had half decided to take the next shuttle back to the ship. The rain
was coming down quite hard. We passed a series of six Victorian houses on the
seafront, built by a local farmer for his six daughters. I thought that sort of
thing only happened i in Cyprus.
We caught
the shuttle but by the time it has driven along the seafront and started on the
return, the rain had stopped and glorious sunshine changed our mood and that of
Napier. We hopped back off the bus quite close to where we had been initially
deposited.
So far all
we had seen in New Zealand was unfailingly polite and considerate behaviour,
but Napier showed us another side. At the end of one of the main streets, a
group of young indigenous people had gathered and were behaving for all the
world as if they were a bit tipsy. One girl was waggling her bum at us and
others were shouting and falling over one another. Everyone seemed to be
ignoring them so they eventually moved on. As we moved down the street towards
a path that would lead us up to one of the hills overlooking the city, some
young jerk took offence at John crossing the road (legally and with a green
light), hooting his horn and coming a bit too close for comfort. There are
stupid people the world over.
Well, there
is was. Another bloody great big, steep hill. I needed the steps to make up the
10,000 so off we set. The path zig-zagged its way up the hill and it promised a
wonderful view across Hawkes Bay. The path rose up from behind one of the
churches and the land for the path was donated to the city by a local
benefactor. It all looked very promising as we set off. When we got to the top,
the path ended abruptly and we seemed to be in someone’s parking bay. At the
top of the hill was a lot of expensive housing but not even a park bench for
the weary climber. I guess they didn’t want to encourage interlopers like us. So
after a quick consultation with the internet, we headed through the suburb to a
set of steps that landed us back at street level.
Working our
way back to the bus we found a large Asian supermarket and bought a bag of pea
chips. Perfect, we thought, to have with a beer on deck as the ship pulled out
of Napier later that evening.
Napier was
a busy place on this Sunday. We were getting a bit tired by this time and
decided to head back to the shuttle. If we hurried we could get back for a
quick snack at the Lido and maybe even catch the afternoon movie on board. It
all went like clockwork and that was what we did. I quite liked the film
Denmark and afterwards returned to the Lido for afternoon scones before heading
back to the cabin for a rest and the chance to consult the daily newsletter for
what sort of entertainment was available after dinner.
Dinner was
back in the Britannia. It was another very nice dinner. We didn’t hang around
though as we planned to go to the show on the Queens court Theatre. It was a
stunning mixture of ballet and circus arts. The couple performing were from
Sydney and genuinely looked as if they cared for one another.
We danced!
After the restaurant, we walked past the Queen’s Court where it was party
night. We had stopped by several times before and jiggled quietly in the corner
as other took to the floor. As we watched they struck up moon River and it was
a waltz. The last time we had waltzed to Moon River, it was on our wedding
night, 40 years ago. We slipped onto the dance floor and it felt wonderful.
