25/08/12 Saturday Morning
After waking to the
sunrise through my hotel window, I showered, dressed and arranged to meet Marc
for breakfast.
I then headed over the
road to the beach. At that time of the morning the sunlight was surprisingly
warm against my face as I passed through a well tendered public garden,
stopping to check the time on the large clock embedded in a flower bed was
correct.
The beach at Napier
stretched out into the distance, in one direction towards the harbour and
docks, and in the other out towards Cape Kidnappers, which sat in the distance,
silhouetted grey against the morning sky. A beach of fine black stone, it
softly crunched underfoot as I walked alongside the waters edge as the waves
crashed and broke raising a fine sea mist in the crisp air.
As I walked back to
the hotel I looked up to the buildings nestling on top of a large outcrop of land,
which dropped suddenly to meet the beach road below.
Napier, in its current
form was created after the earthquake of 1931, which destroyed the centre of
the town, and cost the lives of 256 people from building collapse, and the subsequent fires.
The city centre was rebuilt in the
Art Deco style, which gives Napier it’s charm, and a big reason why it was on
my ‘must see’ list.
After seeing the
prices for the hotel breakfast, Marc and I decided to track down breakfast in
the town centre, after another wander down the beach of course.
The city centre was as
I had hoped, small and mid sized buildings lining the streets, in the grand
style of Deco. The colours changed from building to building, but kept the
pastel pallet of the 30’s. It was beautiful to my eyes.
We found the Café
Divine on the corner of Tennyson and Hastings St, there were already quite a
few people sat outside drinking coffee and tucking in to wonderful looking
breakfasts. This would do nicely.
Taking a seat outside
we chatted to each other and to people on the tables around us while sipping on
yet more excellent coffee, and then the cheery waitress bought our breakfasts.
What a way to start the day, poached eggs with bacon, on toasted Turkish bread
(no, I didn’t know either) and dressed with a little salad. Marc’s choice of
eggs Benedict, with bacon of course, looked equally as appetising. If I could
breakfast this way every day…
It was hard to tear
ourselves away from the café after eating, sitting in the morning sun, taking
in the buildings around us, talking rubbish and drinking coffee seemed to good
to give away yet, but wander on we did. After all, it wasn’t as if I wouldn’t
be wanting to stop for coffee again soon enough.
We zig zagged up and
down the streets making up the main city centre, sticking our heads into a
myriad of shops, from music stores to antique dealers to tattoo parlours, all
the while I was lost in the architecture of the streets.
After a walk down
Emerson St, which is one of the main retail streets in Napier, and more like a
regular high street with its selection of ‘regular’ shops. More like a regular
high street until you look above the ground floor fascias, and see yet more
Deco styling and details to the buildings.
If you
don’t like the Art Deco style, or find it a bit Kitsch, don’t go. Actually, forget that, do go!
Even if architecture
does nothing for you, the vibe of the city, and the friendliness of the people are
worth the visit alone.
At the end of Emerson
there was a lovely verdant park, where there was a farmers and local producers
market. Tall palms, stretching up to reach for the sun, bordered the park and
large trees cast dappled shade over the market.
There were many little
stalls selling fresh produce, home made jams, breads, meats, locally grown
olives and olive oil. If this was my home, I could imagine a lazy Saturday
morning wandering around the market, picking up goodies for the weekend, then
sitting sipping coffee for a while. It looked like this was what a lot of
people were doing, as the market was busy, but not heaving.
Then, behind
Backermeister, a German artisan Bread stall, I spied a matt black bobber style
bike resting in the shade.
As I was looking over
the bike the young guy on the Bread Stall, Andre, smiled and said hi. We
chatted, and I asked him about his machine.
It turns out it was
his bike, a home build based on an old tired Suzuki LS650 Savage, which he had
remodelled and bought into life by the application of hard work, and some
tractor parts. Yes, tractor parts.
The seat unit and number plate holder were
parts that Andre had salvaged from an old tractor. With a matt paint scheme,
and emblazoned with the name ‘The Krauter’ he had created a personal and mean
looking ride, but with a wonderful tongue in cheek humour.
A lot of people I’ve
spoken with over here, have mentioned how the Kiwi spirit is sometimes embodied
by a ‘mend or make’ mentality, where if something like a part is not available,
or stupidly expensive, then make it yourself, get your hands dirty. I like
that. In the past I admit, I was of the throw money at the problem mindset, my
how times can change you.
Leaving the bike to
sit in the shade, I purchased a giant Pretzel, actually a Breadzel, as it was
closer to a loaf in size, and met back up with Marc.
We mooched around the
town for a while more, stopping for the occasional coffee as expected, and then
headed back to the beach via the beachside gardens and public spaces.
We spent time just
sitting on the beach, watching the sea and chilling out. As I’m finding out
more and more on this trip, I’m drawn to the sea whenever I get the chance. In
a country like New Zealand, there are a hell of a lot of bays and beaches to
see. Excellent!
We sat and talked
rubbish, we sat and just watched the sea, we spent a good half an hour just
firing small stones at a lump of driftwood a few metres away, and spoke of how
chilled out the whole vibe of Napier was.
Just after lunchtime we felt the road calling, and decided to head off. We made our way back towards the hotel, which had
kindly let us leave the Kirishima in their car park for the morning.
Stopping in the iSite
(NZ Tourist Information) store on the seafront, I picked up a couple of souvenirs
and chatted to the lady at the counter. She asked where I was from; how long I
was in NZ for, what did I think of Napier and did I know I reminded her of
Richard Hammond… Ha! First one in NZ! It seems Top Gear is just as popular over
here. She told me a little of Napier’s history, and about a huge Art Deco
festival they have each February, where there are parades of 1930’s cars, music
and fashion, and how the town dresses up in period costume. If I’m still in the
country come Feb, I may have to drop in for a look.
As I’ve said, I had
looked up Napier on the web before coming to NZ, but I didn’t really know what
to expect. I knew that along with South Beach in Miami, Napier was one of only
a few well-preserved Deco cities, but my only experience of South Beach, having
never been there, is from episodes of Miami Vice that I was glued to in the 80’s.
Don’t worry, I wasn’t
expecting Italian exotica car chases and cops in Versace suits in Napier, nor would I
expect to see that if I ever get to Miami, I’d possibly be just a little disappointed
though.
What did surprise me
though, was just how at ease I felt in Napier, for a city it’s not big by any
means. Combined with Hastings, it’s neighbour, I read that it’s the fifth
largest metropolitan area in New Zealand, and that’s with a ‘combined’
population of around 125,000 people. After Auckland, and Wellington there is a
big drop off to Napier/Hastings. Maybe that’s why, although it’s a city, it has
a small town relaxed vibe to it? Or maybe it’s the people, or the beach, or even
the breakfast I’d had? Either way, I’ve liked everywhere I’ve been since I
arrived, and all for different reasons, but Napier? I’ll be seeing you again,
count on it, but for now a new road awaits.
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