Day 7 Napier to Wellington Sat Jun 28
The day dawned bright blue and clear, despite the forecast, so decided to do the ‘Art Deco’ walk at 10a.m. There was a big earthquake in Hawke’s Bay in 1931, which destroyed most of the old Victorian/Edwardian buildings in Napier, mostly because fire broke out and the water mains were fractured. Next door Hastings was not so badly hit. So downtown was re-built in the ‘Modernist’ style, only called Art Deco much later. Napier also gained lots more land, because there was an inland lagoon which rose 2 metres, so lots of new houses were built then too. An awful lot was accomplished in just 2 years. The Public Trust building above was one of the few which survived the earthquake, being built of reinforced concrete. The last picture of the 6 wooden houses, the ‘Six Sisters’, also survived because the fire swept inland driven by the sea breeze and missed them. So the new buildings were built out of reinforced concrete too. A lot of them look good on the outside but the interiors are just plain concrete, it being the time of the Great Depression and so not much money around. It is lovely though, and the guide was very knowledgeable, I learnt a lot in a very short time. The replacement street names were set into the pavement, there being no building on which to hang the signs. Like a lot of other places, even some of the 1930s building were destroyed right up until 2000, but they’ve stopped now!
As I drove on Highway 2 back to Wellington, I could see heavy rainclouds and snow on the central plateau, but it didn’t start raining heavily till I got to Woodville, where I stopped for brunch and switched to Highway 3 for Palmerston North, to come down the coast rather than the ‘scenic route’. I have noticed that there are a lot of rainbows in NZ, far more than in the UK, I guess because the weather is so changeable. The worst bit of the drive was coming through the Gorge, but I followed a camper van which was going quite slowly so that was good, in very poor visibility. Arrived at Hilary’s at about 5, having had a very interesting week. There are some places I would like to re-visit, Gisborne is on the list! Also, Hilary hasn’t been to Whakatane & I think it’s well worth a trip. We plan to go to Banks Peninsula and Hanmer Springs on South Is when I’m next here, and a camping trip (complete with kitchen sink, Hilary doesn’t do anything too basic!) to Hawke’s Bay. Hopefully we will do the full day wine tour next time, while the children do their own thing. I’m really pleased I took the time out to see a bit more of this beautiful country, I shall miss it, only 3 more weeks here!
The day dawned bright blue and clear, despite the forecast, so decided to do the ‘Art Deco’ walk at 10a.m. There was a big earthquake in Hawke’s Bay in 1931, which destroyed most of the old Victorian/Edwardian buildings in Napier, mostly because fire broke out and the water mains were fractured. Next door Hastings was not so badly hit. So downtown was re-built in the ‘Modernist’ style, only called Art Deco much later. Napier also gained lots more land, because there was an inland lagoon which rose 2 metres, so lots of new houses were built then too. An awful lot was accomplished in just 2 years. The Public Trust building above was one of the few which survived the earthquake, being built of reinforced concrete. The last picture of the 6 wooden houses, the ‘Six Sisters’, also survived because the fire swept inland driven by the sea breeze and missed them. So the new buildings were built out of reinforced concrete too. A lot of them look good on the outside but the interiors are just plain concrete, it being the time of the Great Depression and so not much money around. It is lovely though, and the guide was very knowledgeable, I learnt a lot in a very short time. The replacement street names were set into the pavement, there being no building on which to hang the signs. Like a lot of other places, even some of the 1930s building were destroyed right up until 2000, but they’ve stopped now!
As I drove on Highway 2 back to Wellington, I could see heavy rainclouds and snow on the central plateau, but it didn’t start raining heavily till I got to Woodville, where I stopped for brunch and switched to Highway 3 for Palmerston North, to come down the coast rather than the ‘scenic route’. I have noticed that there are a lot of rainbows in NZ, far more than in the UK, I guess because the weather is so changeable. The worst bit of the drive was coming through the Gorge, but I followed a camper van which was going quite slowly so that was good, in very poor visibility. Arrived at Hilary’s at about 5, having had a very interesting week. There are some places I would like to re-visit, Gisborne is on the list! Also, Hilary hasn’t been to Whakatane & I think it’s well worth a trip. We plan to go to Banks Peninsula and Hanmer Springs on South Is when I’m next here, and a camping trip (complete with kitchen sink, Hilary doesn’t do anything too basic!) to Hawke’s Bay. Hopefully we will do the full day wine tour next time, while the children do their own thing. I’m really pleased I took the time out to see a bit more of this beautiful country, I shall miss it, only 3 more weeks here!
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