Day 2 - Napier

We started the day with a trip to Napier Prison, built in 1906 and situated on top of a hill behind the town. It's a very small prison, housing around only 40 prisoners and was still a prison up until 1993. Despite the size, there was quite a lot to see and we were given audio sets which told us about each area of the prison (Simon is a huge fan of the audio guides as he doesn't have to stand there and read). We were the only people in there so it was a bit creepy in places, especially walking around the cells.

After the prison we had a quick walk (and by quick I mean very quick as they are very small) around the Centennial Gardens which were built by the inmates of Napier Prison.

Napier was completely destroyed after the 1931 earthquake. It was therefore completely rebuilt in the following 2 years in the popular architectural style of the time, Art Deco. The architecture is therefore absolutely gorgeous and reminds me of La La Land. It would therefore be rude not to do an Art Deco tour of the lovely seaside town which kept us busy for the afternoon.

The tour started with a presentation on Art Deco which was really interesting. We then went for a walk around the town whilst our guide pointed out the zigzags, fountains, sunbursts and ziggurat aesthetics. All of the buildings are painted in lovely pastel colours so everything is so pretty. If you can't already tell, I have completely fallen in love with Napier. In February each year, they hold a Art Deco weekend and everyone dresses up in 1930's attire and you can find vintage cars, vintage games, 30's music and dancing. It sounds amazing! The tour finished up with a short film on the 1931 earthquake where we got to see what Napier looked like before and after.

Sadly that concludes our time in Napier so we hopped back in the van and made our way to Hastings, a nearby town for the night. And Simon finally got his fish and chips!Read more