Okay, so Napier, right?

Small seaside city on the east coast of the North Island. Refer previous post for country information.

Napier has two claims to fame.

First, it has an amazing beach, and stunning views:



The other claim is after the jump.



I'm sure Napier was always a nice place, but after 10.47AM, 3 February 1931, it became somewhat unique.

That was when one of New Zealand's most devastating natural disasters occurred. Napier, and a fair area around it, was largely destroyed by an earthquake. The town centre was shaken strongly enough for most of the buildings to fall over, and then engulfed in fire so fierce that the local fire brigade had no choice but to stand back and watch.

New Zealand was horrified. We'd always known we were at risk of this sort of disaster, but this was the first time anything on this scale had happened.

Strangely enough, this disaster is largely responsible for the success of Napier today. Everything, as I'm sure you've been told before, is in the timing.

When Napier was rebuilt, the world was in the middle of a revival. Economies were looking good, and architecture reflected an almost insane level of confidence. The world was a good place, and everyone was intent on making sure that they were surrounded by things that reflected it.

As a result, Napier has basically become the art-deco capital of the world. Nowhere else are there as many buildings in this one style. Entire blocks of art-deco, largely cared for and maintained, make the city a popular destination for all sorts of events, and the locals encourage this just the way you might expect.

I was fortunate enough to have a day to spare in my second most recent visit to Napier that meant I could take advantage of a festival. You can see how much fun I had...





The great thing about the festival it that it wasn't just the buildings. Vintage cars flood the centre city, and people dress for the occasion.





If you're interested, you can see the rest of my Napier Pics. Have fun.

This last visit, though, I realised the extent of the devastation that led to this point.

In 1929, St John's church in central Napier burned to the ground. I'm not sure of the details, but the building was completely obliterated. They cleared the site, raised a substantial quantity of money, and started to rebuild. They got it completed, and were applying the finishing touches when the brand new church, which had not yet been used for a service, was toppled by the earthquake, and again burned to the ground.

The foundations of the church still sit as a reminder. Unfortunately my photos of that didn't work out. It's not all beer and skittles.

From Napier, I drove to a little place called Waihi. Later.