New Zealand - Napier

We decided that we should really go and visit some of the places that potentially have a job for me, so we can decide if we want to live there or not. Top of Ben's list was Napier and sure enough the guide book makes it sound lovely. It's in the middle of New Zealands wine growing territory (can't be bad!) on the east coat of the North Island and famous for it's art deco buildings. It's often described as "Mediterranean" in terms of it's climate and scenery and with the combined population of Napier and neighbouring Hastings at around a hundred and twenty thousand, it should have a fair amount going on. It's a fair old drive away from everywhere else though. It took us a good five hours, through the separating mountain range, to get here. Admittedly Margery wasn't quite a nippy up some of the steep, windy roads as other vehicles, but none-the-less it is quite a long way.

Knowing that the beach in Napier is pebbly I presumed that it would have a sea-front something like Brighton's, but with a bit of Miami Beach (art deco) thrown in for good measure. However, we pulled up on the front one grey, cloudy evening (Mediterranean?!) and found ourselves next to a crazy golf course - it felt much more like Barry Island than Miami Beach!!

We've been trying desperately to keep and open mind though and have spent a couple of days exploring the region. We happen to be here during their biggest event of the year too, which is some big art deco thing. It's pretty cool seeing people wandering the streets in 1930s outfits and lots of old fashioned cars driving around. We even stopped to listen to a 1930s style band which proved to be pretty amusing when we realised that we'd sat down in the middle of a big group of adults with special needs. Ben coped very well but was heard to say "I'm hoping for one that the crowd doesn't know" as they all sang / groaned along to "Down by the Riverside"!

It's not that there's anything wrong with the place exactly but it's just not special enough to come all this way and settle for. The sea-front is really disappointing and the surroundings are Mediterranean, which thinking about it means quite barren. Admittedly it's handy for wine but you know what? They transport that all over the World! What there is around here however, are some absolutely beautiful beaches (no not the one in town!) but they're at least three quarters of an hours drive from the town and loads of places in New Zealand have beautiful beaches. Plus it's so far from everywhere else it's really quite isolated. Anyway, the long and short of it s we don't want to live here. But in the mean time we've made the most of the beach and the sun and spent last night parked up right next to the beach and this morning I went for a run along it. Can't be bad :0)



The highlight of our time in Napier though has undoubtedly been going on a wine-tasting tour. When we did one in Argentina we went to three wineries and tasted a couple of wines in each one. Not in New Zealand! We went to four wineries and tasted eight or nine wines in each one! We were battered by the end of it! It was a really good laugh and believe it or not we've learned something about wines too. I'm proud to say I now can tell the difference between a Malborough Savingion Blanc and a Hawkes Bay Chardonnay, so I have a new method of choosing which wine to buy which isn't based entirely on what's on offer in Tesco!