Steve and Cathy's Blog

Insignia arrives in Napier right on time at 8:00am after a stunning sunrise.

It’s quite a busy port – the 4^thbusiest in the country, we find out later.  And we see more logs … lots and lots more logs, as well as the same Maersk container ship we had seen in Tauranga a couple of days ago (Cathy says Steve is the only personon the ship who would notice that).  Our excursion, Art Deco Highlights of Napier, begins at 8:30am.

We board our bus and meet our very engaging driver guide Peter.  He will first take us on a tour of the city and some of the “new” (since 1931) suburbs, an important introduction given the horrendous earthquake of 1931 that was such a pivotal event for the town in so many ways.

We proceed along the Marine Parade, a beautiful linear park that hugs Hawkes Bay (named by Capt. James Cook) for two miles.  Our guide points out houses that survived the earthquake and fire because the wind shifted just in time and the firemen used sea water to stop the fire from spreading to the south of the central business district.  Cathy is also impressed at the enormous Norfolk Island Pines that have been planted along the road, because they are grown as houseplants at home.

He drives us through the area that was part of Ahuriri Lagoon prior to the earthquake, now home to many interesting Art Deco homes.

Then through Westshore with its million dollar summer homes.  And then past what locals humorously called “Perfume Point” when the formerly untreated sewage was poured into the water.  It is now a very clean industrial area.  We also went up Bluff Hill to see homes that had survived the earthquake because of their wooden structure.

As we drive, he relates the post-earthquake history of Napier, including “Tin Town,” the temporary “Wild West” commercial area that sprung up as the original downtown was being rebuilt, the Harbour Board that was created to deal with all the “new” land created by the earthquake, and the commissioners that took over administration of the rebuilding project.  It is a great foundation for the next segment of our excursion: a walking tour presented by a volunteer member of the Art Deco Trust.

Before we continue with the actual tour, I want to spend a few paragraphs describing Art Deco in more detail, so that the tour and our joy at seeing these buildings will make more sense for those who aren’t into this style.  I am taking a few paragraphs from a website called visual-arts-cork.com:

“Exemplified by the geometric designs of famous New York buildings such as the Chrysler Building and Rockefeller Centre, Art Deco was the most fashionable international design movement of modern art from 1925 until the 1940s.

“The art deco style, which above all reflected modern technology, was characterized by smooth lines, geometric shapes, streamlined forms and bright, sometimes garish colours. Initially a luxury style (a reaction against the austerity imposed by World War I) employing costly materials like silver, crystal, ivory, jade and lacquer, after the Depression it also used cheaper and mass-produced materials like chrome, plastics, and other industrial items catering to the growing middle class taste for a design style that was elegant, glamorous and functional.

“The word art deco derives from the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs Industriels et Modernes, held in Paris. The show was organized by an association of French artists known as La Societe des Artistes Decorators (society of decorator artists), led by its founders Hector Guimard (1867-1942), Eugene Grasset, Raoul Lachenal, Paul Follot, Maurice Dufrene, and Emile Decour, some of whom were previously involved in Art Nouveau. Note however that the term Art Deco was not widely used until popularized by the art historian and critic Bevis Hillier in her book Art Deco of the 20s and 30s (1968).

“The Art Deco style, adopted by architects and designers around the world, spanned the “Roaring Twenties”, the Great Depression of the early 1930s, and the years leading up to the Second World War. It suffered a decline in popularity during the late 30s and early 40s, when it began to be seen as too gaudy and ostentatious for wartime austerity, after which it quickly fell out of fashion. The first resurgence of interest in Art Deco occurred in the 1960s – coincident with the movement’s affect on Pop Art – and then again in the 1980s, in line with growing interest in graphic design.”

Peter drops us off at the Art Deco Centre gift shop and exhibit area on Tennyson Street.

We browse the shop for a few minutes, visit the “happy room” and are ushered into a room to watch a 15-minute video entitled “The Day that Changed the Bay” concerning the earthquake and rebuilding of the city (I think it’s on YouTube if you’re interested).  We are then divided up into groups of ten and meet our volunteer guide Barry, member of the Art Deco Trust that was formed in 1985. He will spend the next ninety minutes taking us through the Art Deco Quarter.

So we stroll from building to building and street to street while Barry fills us in on the history and then the architectural and design features of many of the buildings. Because we are on an Art Deco Trust tour, we have the opportunity to tour a couple of buildings not open to the general public.  The highlight of the tour is about twenty minutes spent in the Municipal Theatre.  And the highlight of the theater tour is an a cappella men’s choir practicing in the lobby! Here are some of the architectural details as described on the heritage.org.nz website:

“The Municipal Theatre is a characteristic example of an archetypal Art Deco building – the theatre. Designs for amusement and entertainment houses in Europe and America allowed architects to indulge theatrical fantasies which created prototypes for more mundane building during the heyday of Art Deco. Interior design in these theatre buildings was as important as architectural structure. Radio City Music Hall (1932) in New York, for example, incorporated elements which celebrated modern materials and new technology; electric lights were shaped as torches, the handles of the main doors formed a chevron motif. These same features are repeated on the Municipal Theatre, Napier, and there is evidence of a concern to create a “streamlined” effect.

“Streamlining was the greatest stylistic innovation of the Depression era, and it is a strong feature of the interior of the Municipal Theatre. There are dynamic curving lines, and leaping naked female forms surrounded by swirls of drapery done in plaster, and the foyer has coloured neon lights which are indebted for their form to the aesthetics of the automobile. This theme is continued in the curved walnut-veneer ticket box (like a dashboard in a vehicle) and the lavish use of chromium-plated steel which extends in lines from wall lights in the auditorium and also features around the circle in the auditorium.

“Typical of the Art Deco celebration of new technology are the lighting fixtures which are an integral part of the decorative scheme. The auditorium is flood-lit by coloured lights from a central dome, and from this, stretched to the four points of a compass, project the raised linear panels with geometrically-shaped light fittings.”

After our tour of the theatre, we continue walking through the downtown area.  There are several interesting, quirky things to see, including this statue that our guide is standing next to.  It was placed there in the 1980s for no particular reason, but it has become a very popular piece of downtown Napier.

One of the subjects that Barry discusses in the annual Tremains Art Deco Festival held every year in February.  Art Deco aficionados from all over New Zealand and, frankly, all over the world, come to this every year.  It features people dressed up in 1920s fashion, many cars from that era, and all kinds of events.  We can’t even imagine how much fun that must be.

We follow our guide Barry (who actually moved here years ago from the UK) as he circles back to the Art Deco Centre.  We shop and chat with other tour guests and Barry.  We could have spent a mint in the place, but we aren’t sure what we would do with it all, so we just get postcards.

It is now lunchtime, and Barry has recommended a place named the Angkor Wat Kiwi Bakery and Café that’s a few blocks away.  He tells us that the owner is from Cambodia (hence the name) but that he makes award-winning meat pies, a staple in New Zealand.  So Pat Watt, the O’Dells, Rosenthals and us – plus some other Oceania guests – head down there.

The food is as good as Barry said it would be.  The variety that’s available is huge, the pies are hand size and very delicious – and filling – and it caps off a wonderful morning. We had beef pie, beef and mushroom pie, chicken pie, and a few dessert pies. Fabulous crust! They are probably OK with using lard here! After lunch, we all part company.  We walk around with Pat Watt as she shops for a rugby jersey for her son, and then we leave her to do more shopping and head for the Marine Parade to spend some time.

We wander around there deciding whether or not we have the energy to do anything more.  We decide we do not, and pick up the shuttle bus back to the ship at the Tourist Info Centre right there.  It’s back to the ship by 2:00pm, which is just as well as everyone must be on board by 3:30 for a 4:00pm sailing.

We push away from the dock and see our neighbor the Laust Maersk container ship is unloading dozens and dozens of reefer containers (containers with refrigeration) on to the dock.  Steve speculates that it’s for kiwi fruit, but it could be for lamb or butter or milk (he just can’t get this freight obsession out of his head!). This New Zealand is a busy, prosperous place.  We see that everywhere we look.

This evening we have a dinner in the Grand Dining Room.  The food is delicious.  How do we remember that three weeks later?  We took pictures of Steve’s main course and Cathy’s dessert, that’s how.

Tomorrow we will look in Picton, which is at the very top of the South Island.  That will be our last stop in New Zealand.  We have to say that the weather here has been absolutely perfect autumn weather.  Hopefully it will continue tomorrow for our boat ride.