Nov 19 ’11

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…

Merino Wool (and Possom) Sweater

Napier, New Zealand – Art Deco Tour