Napier Week 2 (2016-02-27)

Our second week in Napier has been a busy one with a variety of activities, including biking, hiking, walking tour, museum visit and animal rescue, all while dealing with 30 degree temperatures most days.

 

We woke up on Monday morning to see a furry little creature on our deck.  He didn't seem at all shy, so we suspected that he was somebody's pet.  Marlene gave him a carrot stick and he hung around for the rest of the day.  Late in the afternoon, two young girls came looking for their lost rabbit, and with the aid of another carrot stick I was able to return the squirming creature to its owners.

 

Rabbit on our deck

 

Biking has been a frequent pastime this week.  We have been north to Bay View, south to Clive and West to Puketapu.  The main path along the seafront is concrete, but there are a myriad of other trails, mostly made of lime sand, which packs down fairly hard and makes a good riding surface.  It seems that we can always find a destination that has a place to eat and drink - Bay View has the Snapper Cafe at the Napier Beach Holiday Park, Clive has the Zepplin Cafe, and Puketapu has the Puketapu pub (I bet your local doesn't have an annual pig hunting competition).

 

Decision point along the estuary 

 

 Marlene among the gum trees around tidal estuary

 

 Maori Canoes at Ahuriri

 

My sister Margaret came to visit on Wednesday and she left this morning.  She stayed at Denzil's house, but we spent a lot of time with her and the cousins.  On Thursday we did a walk in the Tangoio Nature Reserve, which took us through native bush to the Te Ana Falls and Tangoio Falls.  It was a very pleasant couple of hours out of the city and mainly in the shade.

 

Tangoio Falls (20 metres high)

 

On Friday, Marlene and I biked to Puketapu, to meet Margaret and the cousins for lunch at the pub, where we enjoyed a great meal on a shaded patio - I chose the roast pork dinner and struggled to finish it.  The ride to Puketapu was about 20 km, and faced with a freshening northerly wind, we were happy to strap the bikes on the back of Maureen's car for the trip home. 

 

Friday evening we took a guided art deco walking tour around downtown Napier, which told us more about the earthquake and the rebuilding of the town.  In the photo below, the low stone wall at the edge of the park area was the seawall prior to 1931, and it was built to stop the waves from washing away Marine Parade.  In the earthquake, the city rose two metres, leaving the ocean much lower and further out from the road.  Debris from the fallen buildings was piled on the newly exposed foreshore, and once the rebuild of the city buildings was completed, the whole foreshore was turned into the park that we see today.

 

The pre-1931 seawall

 

The 1931 earthquake was immediately followed by a fire which destroyed most of the buildings that had not fallen in the quake, as most were of wooden construction.  The fire burned for days as there was no water supply to use to put it out.  Only a handful of buildings survived, notably buildings made of reinforced concrete.  Responsibility for the rebuild of the city of Napier was placed in the hands of two commissioners, whose word was law, and they had the city rebuilt in two years.  The commissioners mandated that all new buildings must be of reinforced concrete construction, but the facade could be any style.  As art deco was popular at the time, the buildings were constructed in the art deco style.

 

Our guide was quick to point out that art deco simply means art decoration, and can be applied to any building, including the more classical styles and the Spanish Mission style popular at the time.  I have posted a few photo's below to show the art decoration on various buildings.

 

 

 former home of Bank of New Zealand

 

 

The Masonic Hotel 

 

 

 

 Spanish Mission Style

Gleeson's Munster Chambers 

 

When my grandmother, Mary Gleeson, first arrived in New Zealand, she lived and worked in the Victoria Hotel in Napier, which was owned by her uncle, Patrick Gleeson, and managed by her cousin, Catherine Gunn.  By 1931, Paddy Gleeson was long dead, and Mary had married and thankfully had moved away, avoiding the devastation of the earthquake.  Paddy's son continued to live in Napier, and the Munster Chambers in the photo above was his place of business at the time of the earthquake.

 

On Saturday we visited the Hawkes Bay Museum, where we listened to first hand accounts of the 1931 earthquake, by 4 survivors....it was fascinating to hear of their experiences.

 

 And so ends another great week.  The weather is forecasted to be a little cooler in the coming week, with rain showers likely, which would be a welcome reprieve.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Napier - Art Deco Weekend Gatsby Picnic

Sunday afternoon was the Gatsby picnic.  Some people just take their blanket and sandwiches down to the beach, but others really get into the spirit of the event, with very elaborate gazebos.  There are prizes for the best picnic setting, but you cannot start setting up until 6 am, and spaces are first come first served.  Needless to say, some people would have been there since 6 am.

 

Below is a sprinkling of the gazebos that we saw as we wandered around "the lawn".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We settled for sharing roast lamb in a bun from a street vendor....not our finest meal of the week.

Napier - Art Deco Weekend Soapbox Derby

Sunday morning was the art deco soapbox derby.  There were three competitions -

• 4-7 year olds
• 8-12 year olds
• 4-12 year olds with adult pushers

 

All of the races were fun, with 3 cars per race, but the youngest kids were the most fun to watch.  Some were totally stunned and didn't seem to know where they were.

 

The first race

 

Ahead of the pack 

 

Traditional model 

 

A popular young man 

 

Girls won too 

 

Lying down on the job 

 

Speed demon 

 

 Slick looking vehicle

 

Napier - Art Deco Weekend Transportation

Saturday was the art deco week vintage car parade, which is limited to 250 cars from pre-1946.  People came in all forms of transport , everything from planes to walkers, to see the hour long parade.

 



Plane

 



 

Traction Engine

 



 

An early camping combination

 

 



People from the 30s

 



We found ourselves a good vantage spot and settled in to watch the parade.  There were the classic style cars....

 

 

Cars with 1930s air conditioning.... 

 

 

 

 Redneck cars....

 

 

Even one Studebaker....

 

 

 

 

There were two-wheelers with motors.....

 

 

 

and two-wheelers without motors....

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 Even women driving eight-wheelers....

 

 

 

 What a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

 

 

 

 

 

Napier week 1 (2016-02-20)

Our accommodations in Napier are small but fully functional for 2 people.  We have a full-size fridge, stove and microwave in the kitchen, a washing machine, a TV and 1 bedroom, with a shaded patio outside the kitchen, featuring a table, chairs and a hammock.  We are only about 70 vertical feet up the hill, a 15 minute walk from the centre of town, and a 30 minute walk from the Cafes in Ahuriri, so in the middle of everything.

 

Marlene relaxing on the patio

 

After checking the local newspaper and Trademe website, and finding nothing suitable, we decided to purchase a pair of cheap ($99) bikes for our time in Napier.  The store was undergoing renovations and they could not tell us when they could assemble the bikes, so we nixed that idea.  But my cousin Maureen came to the rescue, offering us her sister's bike (Denzil hasn't been able to ride for a few months) and also borrowing a second bike from a friend.  So by Thursday we had wheels and were ready to take on the wider area.

 

Friday was our first day out on the bikes, and we left home at 9:20 am, giving us almost 2 1/2 hours before lunch with Maureen and Denzil in Ahuriri.  We set off through back streets, and connected onto the waterfront bike path.  There were very few people on the bike path, and by 10 am as we had reached the southern end of the paved portion of the path, we decided to head back towards Ahuriri, with a plan to ride around the estuary before lunch - this biking stuff is really easy.  How wrong we were.  On the ride down we had been helped by a tail wind averaging 35 kph, meaning the ride back was straight into that same wind.  Sometimes it felt like we were standing still.  After several stops along the way to catch our breath, we made it to Ahuriri at 11:40, just in time for lunch.  I will be checking the wind forecast before our next biking adventure.

 

Taking a break from the bikes

 



We hear a lot these days about clean energy, electric vehicles, etc., but one enterprising person in Napier seems to have found a much simpler way to reduce their carbon footprint, but it probably will not catch on - a wind-up car.

 

Wind-up Car

 

As indicated in my previous post, Napier was largely destroyed on February 3rd, 1931 when a strong earthquake struck the city which was built on a hill with very little flat area around it.  The surrounding land rose about 5 feet in the earthquake, allowing the city to expand onto a large plain that was previously under water most of the time. 

 

The art deco style of architecture was popular in the 1930s, and as Napier was rebuilt with so many art deco buildings it claims to be the art deco capital of the world.  Although totally oblivious when we made our bookings, our first week in Napier just happens to be art deco week, when the locals dress up in 1930s styles and host many events with a 1930s theme.  Must be the luck of the Irish!

 

 

 Art deco week began on Wednesday, but the major events were at the weekend.  The locals dress up in their 1930s finery to take in the vintage car parade, soapbox derby, street party, Gatsby picnic, and various evening dining and dancing events.  For those wanting to dress down a little, there is also a depression dinner, reminding us that the dirty 30s were not all glitz and glamour.  We watched the vintage cars, the soapboxes and wandered through the picnic area, which were all great events, but I took way too many photos to post on one page.  So after I finish this post, I will post the photos of these events separately to give you some flavour for art deco week.

 

On Emerson Street there is a piano in the street, with an invitation for passing people to play it.  You hear mainly chopsticks, twinkle twinkle, etc., mainly off-key, as passing people play a few notes.  But on Saturday as we headed home, there was a crowd gathered around the piano and the music was very good, especially given that the pianist was a young boy.  I tried posting a video but that did not work, so look at the photo below and imagine the sweet notes of the 1930s.

 

  

 

  Young boy playing piano

 

All in all, we had a great first week in Napier, and are looking forward to our remaining 3 weeks here.

 

New Zealand - The First 10 Days

Our Vancouver to Auckland flight was uneventful, and we arrived about 40 minutes early on the morning of February 5th.  The formalities would have been painless except that we declared the 7 tins of maple syrup that we had brought with us (always declare or face a very large fine for bringing in foodstuffs to New Zealand).  Although signed off very quickly by the Customs Officer, the subsequent x-ray process took a while...."what's in the bag?" asked the x-ray officer, staring at the large objects on his screen.  Tins of maple syrup we replied.  A second officer was called and 4 of the tins were removed from my suitcase (Marlene must look more honest than me, as her 3 tins went untouched), x-rayed collectively, then in groups of 2, shaken, and eventually, put back in the suitcase.  No problem, but we chewed up all of that extra 40 minutes.

 

Both my sisters were on hand to meet us in Wellington, and after dropping our luggage at Margaret's house we headed out for a walk with the sisters and my cousin Shelwyn, and the customary after walk coffee.  It was great to feel the warmth in the sun, with no sign of rain or frost.

 

February 6th was the 100th anniversary of my Mom's birth, so we spent the weekend at my sister Tricia's place at Featherston, along with Margaret, her son, daughter in law and grand daughter.  We had lots of laughs, good food and several long walks, as we remembered our Mom / Nana.

 

On Wednesday of the following week we visited my Auntie Bridie in Palmerston North and had a great visit with her, still going strong at almost 95.  On our way back to Wellington we stopped off at the funeral director's in Foxton to arrange interment of Auntie Noeline ashes in the family plot, and spent a very enjoyable hour with the funeral director who regaled us with tales of his 40 years in the funeral business....doing wheelies in the hearse (at a family's request) and the antics of Karl Sim, a local legend and art forger.  It seems that the police were convinced that Karl was up to something illegal, and somebody had seen him in his backyard with a shovel in the evenings.  The police got a search warrant and 4 officers arrived at Karl's house to dig up his back yard.  A while later, Karl rushed from the house, headed down the street to a store, and returned carrying a brown paper bag.  When questioned about what was in the bag, the police sergeant responded "seed potatoes" - as the police dug up the yard, Karl planted his potatoes in the freshly dug soil (Google "Karl Sim Goldie" for more info on this loveable rogue). 

 

I managed to fit in two visits to Archives New Zealand, the National Library of New Zealand and the Wellington Public Library, all a very convenient suburban train ride away from Margaret's house.  We also had a Thai takeaway meal with Shelwyn and Colin on Friday night and visited another cousin, Karen, and her husband Ian on Saturday to see their new place in Oriental Bay.

 

One thing that I noticed in my travels was the difference in price between gasoline and diesel.  When we left BC, regular gasoline was 109.9 cents / litre and diesel was about 99.9 cents / litre.  Canadian diesel was about 9% cheaper than gasoline.  In Wellington, regular gasoline was 167.9 cents / litre (154 cents Cdn) and diesel was 86.9 cents / litre (80 cents Cdn) - about 48% cheaper than gasoline.  It would appear that diesel-driving Canadians are being substantially ripped off!

 

Gasoline / Diesel Pricing

 

Early on Sunday morning we bid farewell to Margaret and set off on the 7:30 am Intercity bus to Napier where we will stay for the next 4 weeks.  The bus was a double decker, and we rode upstairs rather than paying extra for the "Gold" service downstairs.  The 5 1/2 hour trip was uneventful....a bathroom break in Palmerston North and then lunch at Matamau, before heading to Hastings and finally Napier.  You have probably never heard of Matamau and you will probably never hear of it again, as it exists pretty much in name only, with the only visible sign of habitation being the diner where the bus stopped for lunch.  The menu consisted of anything fried that you could ever want and a few other items....we settled for toasted sandwiches and a drink, as it was the only game in town.





 

 Intercity Bus at the Matamau Diner

 

On arrival in Napier we dragged our suitcases the 1.5 Km from the bus station to our accommodations and then headed out to pick up an initial supply of groceries, before settling in to life as locals.

 

Why Napier you might ask?  The simple answer is that in previous years we have had extended stays in Doubtless Bay, Gisborne and Nelson, and this year Marlene wanted to try somewhere different.  Napier is a small East coast city (better weather) which was largely destroyed by an earthquake in 1931 and subsequently rebuilt in the Art Deco style which was popular in the 1930s.  It has a long waterfront pathway and is great for cycling.  So why not?  Napier is also where my maternal grandparents lived when they first arrived in New Zealand, I have two cousins living here and Marlene has a friend from 40 years ago here also.

 

I will try to post each week or so, to keep you up to speed with our life in Napier.