Napier Day 7
Saturday 29th March 2025
Day 7 Napier
After a leisurely sleep in we attended to our laundry and partook of a delicious breakfast at Café on Tennyson. My eggs with mushrooms were delicious. I then took time out to explore Napier whilst Geoff put in a couple of hours rechecking his notes for the upcoming training course on Tuesday.
Napier has a beautiful town centre with many art deco buildings built following the devastating earthquake (7.9 on the Richter Scale) in 1931 which had totally destroyed all of the city centre and raised the surrounding land mass by 2 mts. I wandered, snapped photos whilst managing to dodge the rap music competition and the pro-Palestinian demonstration on Marine Parade.
Geoff and I met up for coffee before joining a 2 ½ hour walking tour of the CBD. Our guide was well versed in all things Napier and told the story of past and present well. She explained how following the earthquake there were 2 commissioners put in charge of the recovery and redevelopment of the city. Many people died. Many left. Firstly, a temporary commercial hub was established known as Tin Town where the business heart of the town could get back on track whilst their buildings downtown could be rebuilt to their choosing. Napier was flooded with architects, builders and labourers as it was the height of the depression and many people were looking for work.
It was interesting to note the various styles of building facades including Stripped Classical, Spanish Mission and Art Deco.
Being Saturday night, we sought out a wine bar in a lane way – Monica Loves. I have to say that I am enjoying the local Chardonnays.
This was followed by dinner at Mister D’s in Tennyson Street. I think this may well be the best restaurant in Napier. We certainly had the best waiter. He convinced us to share a starter of Kumara Langos followed by Roasted Fish fillet for me and Roasted Eggplant for Geoff accompanied by a side of very tasty courgettes.
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