Napier

The morning started at CreativeHQ, a startup incubator in Wellington. I had met Alan Hucks, their Business Strategist, at an AnimFX event and was eager to learn more about them – I had referenced them as a local example of incubator spaces in my class but hadn’t met anyone there yet. Alan arranged for Kim and me to meet Steve O’Connor, CEO, and Tui Te Hau, Programme Manager, this morning. I learned a lot from them about the startup environment in NZ, and left very impressed with what they’re accomplishing and their future plans.

Wellington and AnimFX have been fantastic, but it’s time for Sarah and I to move on. We checked out of the Museum Hotel and drove to Napier – about a four or five hour drive. We stopped in Greytown for lunch (a bit mediocre) and Waipukurau for coffee and chocolate (excellent coffee, even at a roadside stand!). It was a beautiful but uneventful drive, with the exception of ten minutes of tropical style rain and stops for lunch and coffee.

View Wellington to Napier in a larger map

We checked into our hotel in Napier in a beach district that used to be the main port until the earthquake of 1931. (More on that tomorrow.)

The view from our hotel room across Hawke Bay

Hawke Bay Coastline, with its beautiful clear turquoise waters.

We walked along the old warehouses which are now becoming restaurants and had dinner at Speight’s Ale House. Very good food there, and I particularly enjoyed their Old Dark on tap.

Speight's Old Dark on tap

That's right, 40% Possom

While downtown in Napier, we did some shopping and I bought a wonderfully soft mostly wool sweater. After I tried it on and loved it I read the label and found out it was 40% possum. What? Possums here are not like opossums at home – we have giant rats, but in NZ they have soft furry mammals. They are also an invasive species that is threatening the trees and wildlife, so slaughtering them for their fur is an environmentally friendly thing to do. Feeling good about my effort to help the indiginous flora and fauna, I swiped my credit card and haven’t looked back.

From McDonald’s website:

New Zealand’s unique native forest is under attack. Throughout the country 80 million Possums destroy 22,000 tonnes of our indigenous flora every night. With no natural predators, this introduced pest is striking at the very best of our landscape. Competing with native birdlife for food and habitat,the Possum feeds on native trees such as rata, totara and kowhai while posing a significant threat to New Zealand’s distinctive national icon – the Kiwi. This ecological crisis originates from the 19th Century when Possums were introduced to New Zealand to establish a fur trade. Today, the industry is environmentally focused and plays a vital part in controlling Possum numbers. Possum Merino is an environmentally conscious choice – wearing a McDonald garment allows you to contribute towards a sustainable future for New Zealand’s flora and fauna.

Napier Art Deco

Napier was almost leveled by an earthquake in 1931. What remained standing was soon destroyed by subsequent fires. The quake came in two parts, the first lasting a minute at 7+ magnitude followed by a minute of rest, then a second jolt simliar in size and duration to the first. In the process, the Pacific Plate rammed itself under the Australian Plate, raising the town of Napier two meters and adding 8,000 hectacres of new land to the area. The townspeople rallied and in 22 months had rebuilt the entire city. They chose to build in an Art Deco style to represent their modern and future-looking attitude. Plus, it was fast, cheap, and earthquake safe to pour concrete walls.

We booked a car tour of Napier through the Art Deco Trust, and were picked up at our hotel in a 1939 Packard by our guide Tony, who was dressed in fine ’30s style.

The 1939 Packard that we toured Napier, NZ, in. Our tour guide, Tony, is in the background dressed in his '30s finest. Behind Tony is the National Tobacco Company building, an exquisite Art Deco building with new Art Nouveau flairs.

Looking over Tony's shoulder. You need a megaphone to backseat drive in this car.

Sarah and me in the roomy backseat.

After the two hour tour we had him drop us off downtown so we could grab a late lunch (almost impossible at 3pm). Everyone had told us that the walk back would be about fifteen minutes, but we’re pretty sure now that their accents were throwing us off, as the walk actually took fifty minutes.

Another example of Napier Art Deco style.

We crashed in our hotel room for awhile and listened to the guys upstairs singing along horribly with the ’70s rock they were blasting. We hoped that after dinner things would quiet down. We had a nice meal across the way at East Pier, followed by coffee and dessert downstairs. All was quiet when we returned to the room.

Or so we thought…

Wellington to Napier

Merino Wool (and Possom) Sweater

Napier, New Zealand – Art Deco Tour