Art Deco City - Blogabond

"Something different" was our plan, so after Wellington we decided that we would take a break from scenery and lakes, and city living and hikes etc... and headed out to a small town called Napier.
Napier is set on the East Coast of the North Island, and is a remarkable place in its own right. The North Island is a newly formed land mass geologically speaking; New Zealanders often feel hundreds of Earthquakes and scientists will mesaure a thousand more! The North Island also features some of the worlds' most spectacular volcanic sites. So what does all this have to do with Napier??? Napier was inhabited quite early on by Maori people and later by westerners. As it developed and the western settlement grew into a township by the late 1920's, it was not predicted to be an unsafe area and was relatively level to the sea. However, in the early 1930's Napier suffered a particularly severe earthquake that measured 7.4 on the Richter scale; the earthquake ripped through the town, and raised up land from beneath the sea several miles out. A fire then gutted what was left of the rubble and debris.

This leads on to why Napier is a glimpse of how things used to be....all of Napier was rebuilt in what was the Art Deco Period, and today much of the architecture remains exactly how it was, including the parks, walkways and the very typically english pebble beach promenade. Up to now, the Napier Annual Festival, decks every building and every person in the 1930's Art Deco style and fashion; and the whole place is transformed to a past time that locals are clearly quite proud of.

We really enjoyed Napier because it really was something different and a chance to enjoy a very different New Zealander lifestyle. We also got the opportunity to visit a working gallery and pay a visit to Napiers many antique and tribute shops.

written by

Priya&Tim on March 13, 2007 from Napier, New Zealand

from the travel blog: Cheeky Round The World Trip

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