Life . . . Reframed: Napier, New Zealand

The stream running beside our home in Napier (on the right)

We had a beautiful sunny drive from Rotorua to Napier, and just as we pulled into the driveway of our AirBnb, the rain started. We were double-checking the names of our host and hostess before we got out of the car . . . when there was a knock on my window. Trevor, our host, was standing there with an umbrella ready to escort me through the rain to the front door!

Carol, our fabulous hostess in Napier.

I knew we were going to like these people before we even got there. We had texted them from the road that we were running about an hour later than we had planned, because we didn't want them sitting around waiting for us. The response? “No problem. Beer and wine are waiting!” We got into the house and there was a beautiful snack laid out - cheese, crackers, spreads and home-preserved olives (YUM!) We all sat down and had a wonderful conversation sharing travel stories and getting to know each other. The time flew by and we realized we were getting hungry, so Carol and Trevor asked if we would like to join them for a light dinner. Turns out Trevor is a bit of a gourmet - he hunts, fishes, preserves, and makes his own sausage. We had a wonderful meal, they gave us some tips on what to do and see in the Napier area and we all said good night.

One of the wonderful dinners we shared with Carol and Trevor

Trevor at the BBQ. Their house is quite interesting -
it's clad in powder-coated metal, in varying colours
and textures. I really liked it.

I like people who have fun things like this tea steeper, and
aren't afraid to bring them out to use in company.
I want one of these!

The next morning we drove into the town of Napier and took a guided walking tour of the area. There was an earthquake here in the early 1930s, and the entire town had to be rebuilt all at once, and was naturally mostly done in the style of the day . . . which has come to be known as Art Deco. The town realized a few years back that they really had a bit of a treasure on their hands, and so they have worked to preserve the old buildings and have created a tourism attraction for themselves. It’s really lovely to walk around, and our tour guide was full of interesting information on the buildings. None of which I can remember! Napier holds an annual 'Art Deco' weekend every February and thousands of people come for the event - everyone all dressed up 1930s style. We missed it by about two weeks - would love to come back for it.

They seem to change the car daily in the main town square.

Beautiful shop entrance

On the main street

This statue is called "A Wave In Time" and portrays
a woman of the Art Deco period with her greyhound.
Apparently this was a popular style of image during that
period. It can be seen on the main street of town.

More of the colourful main street

I took this because it was cute. No other reason

Glen checked it out. Full of guy stuff and t-shirts that have
manly quotes on them. Didn't buy anything though.

A fun flower pot in the middle of town.

The entrance to the waterfront area. There's a large paved area
behind the gates used for major events, and the beach is just beyond that.

Beautiful gardens between the front street and the beach. All this
area would have been underwater prior to the earthquake lifting up
the land.

Napier is a port town, and also has a beautiful beach waterfront. Not sandy beach though - it’s all small, flat, polished black pebbles. Before the earthquake, there was a long peninsula in front of town, creating a protected basin. After the earthquake, all the land from the peninsula inland lifted up and it’s now usable land. It was funny to see a before and after map.

From the gardens on the front street looking towards the
main shopping street of town

Baa baa black sheep have you any wool? There are a lot of
sheep in this country. This wool shed
is near the shipping docks.

Glen looking for a sheepskin to take home. I talked him out of it!

The port of Napier from a very high bluff above town

Love this tree. Dr. Seuss would have really liked it I think!

We then took a drive into the surrounding area which is mostly sheep farms and vineyards. There are a number of wineries in the area - we toured two of those the next day. One was called Church Road and the other called Mission. Thinking we might take home a nice New Zealand sheepskin, we stopped in at the local wool shop . . . but really by the time we ship it home, we may as well buy one there.

I think this farmer is double-dipping. Grape vines & sheep!

Nice farmhouse out in the middle of nowhere.

The hills and landscape just outside Napier. Stunning.

At the Mission Winery. Because no-one has ever seen a wine barrel before. :-)

These are Plane Trees at one of the wineries. The bark is gorgeous.

Vineyards at the Mission Winery in Napier

Mission Winery - beautiful old wood building

The Church Road winery - would probably fit in somewhere in the
Okanagan Valley just fine.

After two days, we bid a reluctant farewell to our new friends Carol and Trevor. There are some AirBnB hosts we now count amongst our friends, and these two definitely fit that bill. They are the nicest people you’d ever want to meet and couldn’t do enough to ensure we had a great stay. Carol even arranged to borrow golf clubs from a friend so she could take Glen golfing one day. Too bad they got rained out on the fifth hole. But we intend to stay in touch with them, and sure hope they make it to Canada one day or that we meet them on one of their European cycling trips.

These are butterfly cocoons that Carol has in her garden. If
you look carefully, you can see a little ring of gold dots like
a necklace around the top of each one. Quite pretty

Glen with our new pals Trevor and Carol - Superstar AirBnB hosts!
Beautiful home and beautiful people.

Neighbouring house - Art Deco style

Another neighbouring house. Quite the pretty town

Glen bidding farewell to an awesome kitchen!

Trevor recommended that we travel the Taihape route highway over the mountains to the west coast and New Plymouth. It’s probably not the route we would have chosen on our own, and boy were we glad he told us about it. Stunning scenery. We had to stop on the road at one point to allow some sheep to cross the road from one pasture to another, and in another spot for some cows to do the same thing. There were some very narrow, winding parts, and a photo opportunity at every curve. Sorting through them for the blog has been a challenge!

Beautiful Kauri tree leaving Napier

We had to wait for these guys to cross the road. Unfortunately
it took me awhile to dig my camera out of my bag and they
were all crossed before I could get a photo of them on the road.

Very curvy and beautiful, mountainous highway. The pampas
grass grows wild and is beautiful on the side of the road
and in the forests

They have a fondness for one-lane bridges in New Zealand.
Especially on highways. Really odd. I'm glad we didn't meet
a logging truck on this one.

Narrow roads, steep cliffs, logging trucks, beautiful
wilderness - so glad Trevor recommended this route
for us. Much better than the main, boring highway.

Near the summit of one of the passes - it's a long,
steep, and winding way back.

Back to the rolling farmland. Watch out for cows on the road!

There's a snow-covered mountain peak waaaaaay off in the distance!

We stopped in a town called Bulls. I think Bulls has one claim to fame and that is its name. They have made a play on it for every business in town, so it’s really fun to walk around. Not much there - just a little working farm town really, but quite entertaining and worth the visit.

One of the many 'garbage cans' around town

Garage door on the police station

The Police Station

A Deli

After about 5 hours, we arrived at Mana Bay on the west coast - lovely black sand beach with huge surf. There’s a rusting old freighter on the beach, and a very old rail wharf going out into the water. It clearly hasn’t been used in years, but is very picturesque.