Napier & Hawkes Bay, New Zealand

Mission Estate Winery 
- Hawkes Bay, New Zealand

Hawkes Bay Vineyard - New Zealand

Art Deco National Tobacco Company Building
- Napier, New Zealand

Downtown Park - Napier, New Zealand

Napier & Hawkes Bay, New Zealand (12/3-4/2009) - Napier is one of prettiest towns in New Zealand having been rebuilt in one of the world’s largest collections of elegant Art Deco and Spanish mission architecture that was popular at that time.

Arriving late Thursday afternoon was interesting - downtown Napier was deserted. It was like one of those movies where a disease or chemical disaster hits a town and nothing but the buildings are left. A lesson learned is that is takes more than unique architecture to make a town have vitality.

Located on the west side of New Zealand’s North Island, Napier does have some interesting things like the Marine Parade along the waterfront with cafes, museums, and Marineland - New Zealand’s national aquarium. 

Even more fun for us was another wine tasting day driving around the beautiful scenic Hawkes Bay region, the second largest wine-growing region in New Zealand, visiting some of the better of 70 wineries such as Vidal, Te Mata Estates (the oldest winery in New Zealand), Craggy Range, Mission Estate, and Black Barn - great for lunch (see photos).

We also visited Waimarama Beach, one of the many beaches this area is famous for. We had our first L&P - a very popular fizzy lemon drink that they call World famous in New Zealand.

Some history... In 1931 a massage 7.8 earthquake demolished the whole town of Napier. It was rebuild in the Art Deco style you find there today.

Please see our 8 other blog posts on wonderful New Zealand:

New Zealand Auckland

New Zealand Christchurch

New Zealand Milford Sound

New Zealand Nelson Abel Tasman National Park Marlborough Wine Region

New Zealand Queenstown

New Zealand Rotorua

New Zealand Wellington (Capital)

New Zealand West Coast South Island Franz Josef Glacier Wanaka

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Write by: AN - Sunday, December 27, 2009