….1930’s, that is!
(Side note: It's about time we got the blog up to date...with so many ports in New Zealand and changes in the itinerary due to the coronavirus, we've let it slip. Will catch up in the next few days!)
We arrived in Napier in the evening and had dinner at Prego
rather than going out into town. Turns out that this was not the best idea. We
didn’t know this beforehand, but we had arrived just in time for Napier’s
annual Art Deco Heritage Festival, which is a really big deal here.
But before we get to that, Captain Vorland had another
chance to show just how deft he is at moving Crystal Serenity around tight
spaces. Our assigned berth was in a rather small port area, where he would have
to swing the ship 90 degrees and then back into the dockage. It was
rather windy, hitting the ship side-on, and we had help from two tugboats, but he managed it. Our friends
Terry and his wife Kerry were in Napier and watching this from a nearby hilltop
overlook. Even they thought it was some pretty skilled maneuvering.
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| It was quite windy - we needed the help of a couple of tugboats |
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| This is the berth we were aiming for... |
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| ....bow in the corner and then swing the rest of the ship in. We weren't sure she would fit. but the captain obviously knew what he needed to do. |
We should have twigged to the fact that something was going
on when we saw some old-time planes fly by….
We were in the wrong part of the ship, and didn’t know about
the air show that could be seen from the aft decks until someone told us about
it later. Oh, well…
The next morning we took the shuttle into town early, as
Terry had booked an Art Deco Walking Tour with the local historical society for
10 a.m. It was quite the vision, walking around downtown. Lots of people were
dressed in 1930’s period costume, and there would be a parade of oldtime cars
starting at noon.
Why is this such a big thing, you ask? Napier was literally
wiped off the map on February 3, 1931 when a massive 7.9 magnitude earthquake
lifted the whole town by about 2.5 metres. Whatever the earthquake left was
consumed by fires that started right afterward. It only took a few weeks before
the decision was made to rebuild, and many of the buildings erected in the
ensuing two years were of the design of the time
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| One of the gardens by the seaside |
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| The bicycle ride around town would be starting soon. Look closely and you will find people dressed in period costume, and riding vintage bikes! |
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| The entrance to the Masonic Hotel. It looks like we're on a movie set! |
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| The art deco plasterwork and paint are beautiful. |
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| Old buildings, old cars, and even the kids were dressed up in 1930s gear. |
After the tour we drove out to see some of the area around
Napier and have lunch. Terry drove us out to Mission Winery, which was
established over 100 years ago, for a tasting. It is a beautiful place with a
very nice view over the vineyards. It’s odd to see a subdivision right across
the street; wonder if being a wine drinker is a requirement for buying a home
there.
Unfortunately, they were booked out for lunch, so Terry
drove us to the Crab Farm Winery to eat. Although the wine wasn’t the greatest,
the seafood platters were amazing!
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| This was a platter for two! Delicious - our dinner that night was soup with cheese and crackers in the Bistro! |
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| With Kerry and Terry at Crab Farm, about to dig in. |
In the afternoon we drove out to see Craggy Range, one of the better-known wineries in Hawke’s Bay. For a very reasonable fee, a couple
of us tasted 5 very nice wines, some of which are even available in the Vintages
section of the LCBO.
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| One of the vineyards |
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| The 'Cellar Door' tasting room |
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| The craggy range that give the winery its name. |
We said goodbye to Terry and Kerry at the port, but only for
a little while. Terry was making a reservation at Doyle’s at Watson’s Bay in
Sydney so we could have our traditional seafood lunch together.
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