Neat Napier

I fell in love with Napier and Hawke's Bay. The Art Deco was everywhere, including the lovely County Hotel we stayed in. Upgrade got me a full length jacuzzi bathtub and separate shower, a huge room and an enormous terrace. This hotel is one of the very few buildings from before the large Napier earthquake of 1931, it does have an elevator all the same. It serves complimentary Kiwi in the reception and complimentary port in the library, and the staff is fantastic. Spotless. Their Wine Street restaurant was wonderful: Never before had asparagus that delicious and crunchy, and they did my "well done" steak to perfection.

Across the street is the fabulous New Zealand Wine Centre, you get a voucher from the hotel which you need because there's so much good wine to be tasted, looked at and bought. No, I did not buy that bottle. Good thing we'd handed in the car here in Napier, I did buy some smaller ones! More pictures here.

 

The esplanade is pretty, they are making it even better with water theme and skate part, that part should be ready next year. Turquoise water 😊More pictures

Shopping precint is the sweetest ever, with lots of quirky shops, here are two of them: King of Swords and Charleston Chic. More pictures from the lady on Facebook, she makes many of the things in her shop but graciously let me take pictures for personal use. When the yearly Art Deco week of Napier gets closer, February 2017 is next, she sells a lot. More pictures here from the sword shop, he imports his stock and is happy to advertise - said he had very few swords in just now, since he'd sold a lot at an Auckland festival.

Did I mention totally lovely weather in Napier?

Very sad to leave Napier after just one day. Bus trip to Wellington was boring and it rained.

PS. This visit was 9.-10. november, before the earthquake.

Games: Tiny bit of Wordfeud. Some Seeker's Notes.