Art Deco

I got up and started my drive from where ever I was in the middle of the North Island to Napier. Napier is the Art Deco capital of the world. They had a really bad earthquake that devastated the city back in the early 1930’s and when they rebuilt it, it was all in art deco and still is.

My drive there was going to be about 2 hours and I figured I wouldn’t see all that much. I was partially right, although I came across a windmill farm, which had never seen before. We are talking modern windmills that help to generate electricity. There had to be around 50 of these things spread out all over farm land from what I could see. They had a hill you could drive up and be at the base of one of them to see just how large they are. I wish the US could have more of these, I know they are working on it and a lot of people complain about them but I think they are really good.

Anyway, after spending about 10 minutes there taking pictures and reading about them I headed on my way to Napier. I finally got here and let me tell you, you FELT like you were tossed back to the 30’s and 40’s! The buildings were all still in art deco (hence the naming) and a lot of the stores sold attire from that era and some of the makeup stores specialized in the makeup from that period. Oh what I wouldn’t give to live in that time frame for a week, in this city. It would be a huge culture shock yes, but it would also be super cool. I love some of the clothing, hair and makeup styles from back then….if only they were popular today lol.

I ended up booking myself into a hostel that night (Toad Hall) and didn’t know that I booked the biggest room possible. I felt like a princess in this damn thing! It was all in art deco, with a small balcony, stained glass windows and my own bathroom! Hahaha yay no sharing! I know it sounds silly but you spend 3 months on the road and you will understand J

I wanted to see the city all lit up at night but I was so exhausted, and there was a god awful band playing next door that you could hear, that I just decided to put in ear plugs and get some sleep, which I did in that big beautiful bed!