Last weekend, Dan and I went up to Napier to visit Maria before she left to take up a new teaching job in Manurewa. We hitched a ride up with her landlord / flatmate Paul, passing through Wairarapa wine country and such NZ hotspots as Dannevirke and Eketahuna. The central business district of Napier was pretty much levelled in a big earthquake in 1931 and was rebuilt in the then-fashionable style of Art Deco. Since the last time I visited Napier circa 1988, someone on the local tourism board has cottoned on to the idea that this would be a great thing to use to market the town. I'm not sure if Miami needs to look to its laurels just yet, but Art Deco Napier is well worth a visit. There's even an annual Art Deco weekend in February. These pics show the Spanish Mission-style Criterion hotel (now a backpackers), the Provincial hotel, the Carillion (which was chiming Christmas carols while we were there), a Lion's head fountain and a lamp-post .
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