Napier is a city on the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island. It’s the nexus of the largest wool center in the Southern Hemisphere, and the primary export seaport for northeastern New Zealand. It’s located in the center of the Hawke’s Bay region, which is the largest producer of apples, pears, and stone fruit in the country, as well as one of New Zealand’s primary wine regions.
But Napier’s most distinctive and charming characteristic is its Art Deco architecture.
In 1931, Napier suffered a devastating earthquake that leveled much of the city. The photo below shows Napier before the earthquake, with 19th-century buildings.
The streetcars in the photo above were removed after the earthquake – not because they were too extensively damaged, but because they were not profitable.
When Napier was being rebuilt following the earthquake, the Art Deco style was gaining in popularity around the world, especially after the 1925 International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts held in Paris. Here are a few examples, in addition to the lead photo.
When we first arrived in town, we walked through this lovely park on our way from the bus stop to our apartment hotel, a block away. It was a wonderful first impression of the city.
This carillon played every 15 minutes during the day.
During our stay, we visited the Faraday Museum of Technology. The pre-earthquake photo above was on display in this museum.
The museum was housed in a building that was originally Napier’s electricity-generating station. They still had one of the Fullegar engines that generated electricity for the town’s streetcars and people’s homes. It was a lifesaver after the 1931 Hawke’s Bay earthquake.
It’s the only working Fullegar engine remaining in the world. A museum staff member gave the audience a demonstration.
The museum featured all sorts of equipment, household appliances, communication systems, and toys from the past 100 years. Here are a few.
The museum had a Tesla coil, and we were treated to a demonstration. Watch the fluorescent tubes glow while the coil is on.
Here are some other scenes from the aquarium:
We walked from the aquarium back to the center of town along the waterfront. Napier’s beach is stony, not sandy, but it was picturesque.
This small park was on the esplanade between the ocean and downtown.
We were amused by this statue on downtown Napier’s pedestrian mall.
We enjoyed a couple of nice dinners during our visit. The Portofino restaurant on the ground floor of our apartment hotel served delicious Italian food, which we enjoyed with a local Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay.
The Station offered delicious, inventive cocktails, and their handmade jalapeno poppers were among the best we’ve ever had. Jeff is drinking The Station, made with vodka, lychee liqueur, peach liqueur, cranberry juice, and sugar syrup. Dave is drinking the Kiwiana, made with gin, lavender syrup, passionfruit syrup, lime juice, kiwifruit, and lemon. (Yes, we photographed the drink menu.) The pizza was good, too!
