Art Deco

Friday 19th February 2024

We checked out and parked the van up then took a good look around Napier. It’s a lively town but seemed remarkably full of British tourists. After a bit we realised that a cruise ship had come in! They all left at lunchtime so the town emptied out.

In 1931 there was a huge earthquake in Napier and the town was mostly flattened. They decided to rebuild in the art deco style which is why it is so extraordinary. To learn more we took a guided tour in the afternoon. One problem was that immediately after the earthquake a fire tore through the town, so all the wooden buildings that were left were destroyed. The land in Napier rose 2m in the earthquake do all the water pipes burst and they couldn’t put the fires out. They had to completely rebuild so someone had the bright idea of taking all of the fourth year architecture students from Auckland university and making them do their last year in Napier on real work!! They think that’s why some of it is so modern. Anyway what a brilliant idea!! sone Of the buildings were knocked down in the 70s and 80s but they then realised what they had and it is all protected now. After the tour we are straight in the van for the 2 hour drive to Taupo, our next stop.

It was a very mountainous road and we had underestimated how much diesel that would take. No petrol stations obviously!! But we rolled into Taupo ok!! Just a bit stressed!! We stayed in a lovely motel in the front by the lake, which is enormous. Dinner was ok, not the best.