The historical significance of Napier is pretty straightforward - in 1931 there was a huge earthquake which all but flattened the city, and it was completely rebuilt. Therefore pretty much everything was built in Art Deco style, so much so that there are 90 buildings of interest in a 90 minute walk! As I mentioned earlier the hostel there was another a highlight of our stay, not only well equipped and friendly but also in a really interesting building. We definitely needed to take note of the tour office guide's instructions to look up as we wandered round the town (or maybe city? - everything seems very small here!) and we really enjoyed it all.
Napier's location on the coast adds to its appeal, and although I couldn't imagine being there for ages it is definitely worth a visit, especially as there is also a good selection of cafes and shops. We therefore made further attempts to get used to the fact it is definitely now nearly Christmas as there seemed to be tinsel everywhere! My parents will be joining us for Christmas in Melbourne, and it was very odd to speak to them in Napier and realise that we'd all be together again in under a week.
Anyway, we still had a few miles (or should I now say kms?) to cover before then! After a brief stroll round Napier's museum, on Thursday afternoon we headed another hour or so south to Waipukurau where my friend Emily is now living. For those of you who don't know Em, she used to work for the company I was at when I first moved to London and quit work to start her round the world trip nearly a year ago. Her original plan was to be back in the UK in time for Christmas, but then she met a Canadian guy in Japan and currently lives with him on a sheep farm in New Zealand...never let it be said that life is predictable!
It was great to catch up with her and to meet Rod (thanks to you both again for looking after us so well) and I have to admit that I can see the appeal of life on the farm. As you will see when we manage to upload some photos, Daisy the 8 week old lamb who they are hand rearing is a very lovely addition. Also, the lamb Rod cooked us for dinner was excellent - on second thoughts perhaps I wouldn't be too good at farm life after all...
Unfortunately we were only able to be with them for one evening before we moved on, but we had a great night complete with Christmas crackers and too much wine. The next day's early morning wake up call from Daisy was not quite so good (I think it was 5am) but Em & Rod are clearly far more used to early starts than we are as breakfast was on the table at 7am. Em then took us into town for our 9am bus, and we were off on our way to Wellington.
Friday was a dreaded travel day! After a delayed 4 hour bus trip, we headed out to the airport to catch the short (25 minute) flight to Picton in the South Island where we had then planned to catch another bus to Nelson where Andrew's friend Eva lives. Unfortunately we missed the bus due to a delayed flight, so Eva had to come to pick us up from Picton, about a 4 hour round trip which finally got us to her place at about 11.30pm. Thanks again Eva! Despite the hassle of travelling we saw some lovely countryside along the way to Wellington, and were really pleased to be able to have the chance to see a little bit of the much talked about South Island.
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