The Bay Cities

I was glad to reach a more varied landscape on the outskirts of Napier, and easily navigated to Chris' house in Hastings, arriving around 5. A cuppa and a natter later, and the years began to roll back from our last meeting. Chris was determined to show me as much about the Kiwi lifestyle she could in the brief time we had together. It was refreshing to see it through her eyes as a settler rather than a local who maybe took too much for granted. She prepared a good meal of local lamb and home grown salads. When I said how much I loved lamb she asked if I would like it again the next day, and went about hauling an enormous side of lamb out of the freezer. No chance of going hungry in this household, just like the old days when our kids were at nursery together!

On Saturday, I woke around 7.20 am which rather surprised me as I have been sleeping a lot longer than that recently. As I made my way to the bathroom, Chris asked me if I had felt 'it'. 'Nope, what?' was my reply. The earthquake she explained. Well I hadn't consciously felt anything but it almost certainly was the reason I had woken earlier than usual. That area has a history of earthquakes and a later check online showed that there were several that day, but the 7.2o one was the largest at 4.8.

In 1931 Napier had a large quake that really shaped it future. Napier sits towards the southern end of Hawkes Bay, on the coast. (Hastings is a few miles further south and inland, but the 2 cities are often referred to in the same breath as The Bay Cities – well, in tourist bumpf at least. In the UK neither would merit as a city on size alone.) The beaches of Napier are long, clean and inviting. There are some deceptive rip currents, which make swimming a bit dangerous. Looking out across the sea you cant see another island or landmass. It's a case of next stop Chile. Consequently, earthquakes in Chile can produce tsunami warnings in Napier, and indeed Chris has seen one of about metre. Further up the coast in Matakana, Natalie said that Tsunami warnings were no strangers to her lifestyle, but the biggest to date hadn't even reached a metre. Here she said what went on in Japan influenced their risk too.

Back to 1931. A 7.8 earthquake destroyed Napier, and claimed 256 lives through the ensuing fires. Houses were, and still are, mainly built of wood in this area. The ship lap construction can be seen throughout the country. Although the wood used is often the native Kauri which is extremely hard, it is not magical and still burns well. The houses are generally single storey bungalows, (land is plentiful so why bother with staircases?). Most of the city was flattened and had to be rebuilt. Since there was severe economic depression, workers cam from far and wide, and within 2 years the city had been rebuilt in the current modern style, Art Deco, with some Spanish Mission and some Stripped Classical. To this day the area is internationally renowned for its 1930's architecture, and often is used as a filming location for anything of that period.

The first sightseeing Chris took me on was naturally around Napier to view the architecture and shops. We started with an over view from the top of Bluff Hill, then went into town where it was really fascinating to stand on a street corner and to feel transported to another era when looking at the buildings in any direction. Of course the fashions and cars gave the game away that we were in the 21^st century, although for one weekend a year even this changes. No trip to any town is complete without a visit to a coffee shop, and NZ again showed off its fantastic food to me. We went into Opossum World where I learnt how this creature had become a pest in NZ and there was a keen drive to eradicate it. We checked out a few shops and then, a quick walk down the Esplanade later, we were off to explore another aspect of the area.

Hastings is known s the fruit basket of NZ, and indeed on my drive there the day before, I was aware of orchard after orchard after vineyard after orchard after grove. Kiwis, apples, pears, grapes, peaches, plums, nectarines, lemons, olives, oranges, melons and apricots to name a few. We were now going to sample some of these fruits in modified form. The Filter Room ale and cider house is a brewery in the heart of an orchard and vineyard. The sun shone, a band played live music and what better way to continue exercise our jaws and catching up than over some of the local brews. The beers and ciders all met with my approval – that was a first on this trip!

When this was done we had to address the more mundane needs of shopping. Supermarkets are just that – NZ ones are smaller than UK with less choice but the fruit and veg suppliers down the road are something else. Fresh from the fields and often organic. Nothing imported from further than 10 miles away, but often lot closer.

Having done that we went to Te Mata peak, which is about 400 mtrs above sea level and gives a breath taking view across Hawkes Bay. The day was beautifully clear and we could see for miles across to Mt Ruapehu, which I had seen on my drive the previous day was covered with snow. There's a Maori tale about this peak being the body of a local chief who died while trying to win the hand of a maiden. Maori folk lore is full of such stories. There's another one that tells how Maui who is one of the most famous of the Maori gods fished up the North Island out of the sea. The hook he used is said to have become the cape at the southern end of Hawkes Bay.

That evening we dined on the most delicious roast lamb ever and drank local wines. It was such a shame I had so little time here. I could really get to like it here.

Sunday came with an early start. I took my leave of Chris at 7.30 am armed with enough packed food for the long drive that would eventually take me back to Matakana. I had arranged to have dinner with another friend and her family in West Auckland, about 6 hrs away.

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