Off to Napier, again by Naked Bus. Napier is an important sea-port in the Hawke's Bay region, and Hawke's Bay is renowned for it's vineyards and wineries. The town was devastated by an earthquake in 1931 and had to be more or less completely rebuilt. It was previously of old colonial style with the normal large stone buildings, pillars and balustrades which collapsed causing many deaths. For reasons of future 'earthquake' safety, current architectural fashion and not least, due to the recession at the time, cost, it was reconstructed in Art Deco style throughout. This style remains today and is one of the main selling points of the town. It is indeed a very attractive place. If you like Art Deco, that is.
Left: A view of the town from the top of Bluff Hill, an observation and trig point on the northern end. The sea-port is just behind. I walked up here. It doesn't look too high, but I got lost in a maze of paths up there and was absolutely knackered by the time I got to the top. OK, so it's not a particularly impressive photo, but after my enormous effort getting there you are jolly well going to look at it!
The other noticeable aspect of the town is that it closely resembles an English sea-side resort from the late 1950s. It brings back nostalgic memories of summer holidays at Scarborough from that period. The sea front promenade has old fashioned sunken gardens, clock golf, a bandstand, an open air swimming pool and an amusement arcade. There were probably even donkeys and a Punch and Judy show on the beach. It was like being in a time warp and, apparently, in the summer it gets very warm. A sort of 'Filey-sur-Mediterranean'. I found, again by chance, a gem of a hotel to stay in; The Masonic ( right ). It was rebuilt in 1932 and by the state of the decor inside has been changed little, just dusted maybe, since. The lift must be the original with a rattley old iron trellis gate to shut and it takes 10 minutes to go up one floor. It is truly magnificent in a kind of moth-eaten and careworn way.
The rooms were beautifully old fashioned with old bookcases, a sink on a pedestal, art deco lamps. Few mod cons, but a very comfortable bed. It was like a living museum. And inexpensive. It gets my strongest recommendation.
The Duke of Gloucester and his entourage stayed here in 1934, as the framed memento of his visit ( right ) shows. The Queen also stayed here in 1953, or thereabouts. So this place has had quite an 'A list' of guests........and now me!
Left: The Clive Square gardens with palms.
Right: Further example of the architecture.
...and the newspaper building....Not owned by Rupert Murdoch one assumes....
...and, of course, the mandatory Oirish bear. Actually, I don't think there are so many Irish establishments as in many other countries. There seems to be a bit of a shortage of the traditional British style of pub as well. I am told that people in NZ are not so accustomed to going out in the evenings. Interestingly, on a couple of occasions last century NZ came close to voting in 'prohibition' thanks largely to women ( having just got the vote ) voting for it and the men being too pissed or complacent to bother to vote against!
I went on a wine tour. The majority of the wineries/vineyards are around nearby Hastings, a bigger town and includes the exclusive 'Gimblet' area. The first winery we visited was this one ( left ), Mission Estates. It is owned by the Catholic church who make a healthy profit from it to help pay for priests in retirement. The previous brick chapel on the right side of this building ( when it was a monastry ) collapsed during the 1931 earthquake killing 9 monks who were praying inside. Not hard enough, obviously.
This is also the place where they hold a popular music festival each February. When Rod Stewart 'headlined' here in 2005, the tickets ( 25,000 of ) sold out in 22 minutes. He was so popular that, by public demand, he has been recalled for next February. Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, the Maori warbler, was the first 'star' to perform here many years ago when the audience was more refined and less intoxicated. We also visited the Esk Valley, Church Road and Moana Park wineries who were most generous with their 'tastings'. Frankly, they all taste much the same to me after a couple of glasses. I think my taste buds were irreparably damaged when I served in Cyprus many years ago. The desalinated water there was more expensive to produce than the cheapest wine so, at dinner, we were given copious amounts of the local rot gut in lieu of jugs of expensive water. The first sip took your breath away, and if you spilt any on your clothes it didn't merely stain them, it dissolved them! After the first two glasses it tasted just fine. Hence my damaged wine appreciation skills. We also visited a chocolate factory which seems standard procedure on these jaunts for some unknown reason.
Almost by coincidence, the guy who runs a shipping agency and who has arranged my later onward passage to Australia, has his office in Napier. His name is Hamish Jamieson ( right ) and he is a most helpful and competent operator, and amusing raconteur to boot. His father was a Colonel in the Royal Scots, so he decided against following on into the army and went to sea instead. If you need a ship organising in this part of the world, Hamish is your man: hamish@freightertravel.co.nz.
Left: This is Carissa. She deserves a mention in dispatches because she is a remarkably amusing and cheerful girl who runs the best coffee shop in Napier ( Esquires ). Having coffee, and nosh, there is a good fun experience! She has great plans to travel so, unless you get there soon, you might miss her.
I left Napier ( Naked Bus again ) and on into sheep country, going south to Dannevirke. The photo ( right ) is such and there are thousands of sheep around but, as always, my camera cannot see them. Maybe they are green sheep here, but it gives you an idea of the countryside. The main town is called Dannevirke because the original settlers in this area came by ship from Scandinavia. There are lots of 'Viking' bars and restaurants around the town. The reason to go there was to visit an ex-army friend of mine, Roly, who emigrated to NZ in 1992. He is a 'sheep and fencing' expert, and after several varied jobs he has ended up as Mayor of the district of Tararua, with his HQ in Dannevirke and with a lovely wee hoose in the village of Pongaroa, where his wife is a schools' principle. Being mayor of one of the NZ districts is no mean job. It involves much more political work and 'hands-on' management than a Brit mayor. The people must like him. There is nothing he does not know about sheep too.
Left: Phillipa, His Worship the Mayor, Roly ( note Regimental tie ) and Krug. We had an amusing evening at the local pub in Pongaroa. I was bemoaning the fact that I have, so far, seen few good pubs ( true ), but this one was magnificent. Good food and beer and busy with a lively crowd of entertaining local characters.
We had a fantastic evening 'swinging the lamp'. Thanks Roly and Phillipa.
Onwards, onwards...next stop will be Wellington where it is, apparently, always windy. Poop.
No comments:
Post a Comment