Napier & Wellingoton

Napier was hit by a massive earthquake in 1931 when most of the town was destroyed and 258 people died. As a result of this the town was re-built with a concentrated effort on the design of the town centre where there is the most Art Deco buildings in one town probably anywhere in the World given this was the style in the great Depression when no building work was happening in most of the world. It is now a major attraction bringing in lots of tourists.

The Toad Hall Hosted (named after Wind in the Willows) where we stayed was one of the few buildings in the town centre to completely survive the earthquake.

Even the more recent additions to the town centre are designed with the Art Deco appearance.

The locals love the unique aspect of their town and dress up in the clothes of the 30's etc to give the town a nice atmosphere.

There are lots of old cars and clothes shops selling 1930'2 wears as well.

Chom Poo Moo likes to learn about the Maori legends - this is a statue of Pania who died in the sea after refusing to return to her family due to being in love with the wrong man.

Chom Poo Moo felt sorry for these injured Possums!! Even though they are considered a pest by most New Zealanders as they eat too much of the vegetation.

Bird racing!!!

The Tom Parker Fountain on the Marine Parade in Napier.

The Otatara Pa (fortified village)Historic Reserve on the outskirts of Napier - the place where the main Maori tribe of the region first settled - set high over the area it gave a 360degree view allowing them to see any enemies approaching and is now an important archaeological site.

The Te Papa Museum in Wellington was huge with lots of interesting displays on traditional Maori life and the arrival of settlers into the area.

Bunny Street in Wellington - why the bee??? Because this is where the Parliament Building is and it is affectionately known by locals as The Beehive!!

Makes more sense when you see the shape of the building.

Old St Paul's Cathedral in Wellington - I was intrigued to see what a 'Gothic' cathedral in the New World would look like - but on arrival it was explained that it is in fact classed as 'Colonial Gothic' so not quite Notradame - but still pretty.

As it is the New Zealand summer Wellington hosts a calender of free outdoor concerts - so we went along to this Jazz concert in the Botanic Gardens which was really good.

My Precious!!!

Ok so I am sad - I went along to the Weta Cave Museum which is one of the special effects companies who worked on Lord of The Rings amongst other famous Hollywood films. Was interesting to see the models and how they go about some of it.

Andrea thought she had met the man of her dreams - till she realised he didn't have hairy feet - then she dumped poor Gollum!!

We met some of the not so nice characters from the movie as well.

This big ugly Orc decided to scare poor wee Chom Poo Moo.

But not to worry - all this travelling hasn't made me go too soft so I soon put him in his place!!

The views over Wellington from the Mount Victoria Lookout. It is quite a built up city centre and it is not till you get up here that you realise how spread out and hilly the surrounding area is.

We went along to the Colonial Cottage Museum to get a taste for the life the early European settlers would have had. It could have been transported straight from a quaint English village (probably was!!).

This was one of the first washing machines - hydraulically powered....

And a manually powered food mixer - who said modern gadgets make life much easier!!

And even then there was still concerns about keeping fit!!

Next stop was the Tattoo museum - traditional Maori tattoo's like this one were only worn by the tribal chiefs - the patterns were carved onto their faces then filled in with charcoal colourings or other food dye's - sounds painful!! Again the tattoo's were away of telling the tribes history and to scare off enemies. The earliest settlers found it so fascinating they would cut off the heads of the local people and keep them as souvenirs!!

Chom Poo Moo wanted a closer look before deciding if she wanted to go ahead and get a tattoo...

Now anyone who can afford it can get the Maori tattoo's - even Mona Lisa decided to get one of the traditional tattoo's the ladies would have had around their mouths.

Kaitoke Regional Park on the outskirts of Wellington was also a nice leisurely walk - and where some of the 'Rivendell' scenes from Lord of The Rings were filmed.

Lots of quaint and unusual houses scattered around Wellington as well - this one was next door to our hostel.

Then there is the mixture of the old and new in the City Centre.


I have heard for years how beuatiful and scenic New Zealand is and have not been dissappointed with what I have seen so far. There are stunning views and scenery and it has been great driving around which is a new way of travelling for me on this trip and allows you more freedom - and it is easy to drive for hours when the scenery is so spectacular.

There is of course lots of crazy things to do over here - New Zealanders are the inventors of mad and whacky sports. As you can see I have done a taster of some of the one's in the North Island but still a few others to try out and now I have arrived in the South Island lots more to come I am sure.

Think the photo's about cover everything that I have been up to. I was hoping to get organised enough to travel onwards straight from New Zealand but that has happened so it looks like I will be home at the end of Febuary at least for a little while till I get myself organised again. Will keep you posted and as much as I am not looking forward to hitting Scotland in winter it will be good to catch up with anyone who is about.

Hope that you are all well.

Jack xx