Archive for the 'Napier' Category

No Trip to NZ is Complete Without Hawke’s Bay

Posted by Ruth Atherley on May 14, 2012 at 1:04 pm

While we didn’t visit Hawke’s Bay on this trip to New Zealand, we did have a chance to catch up with the Hawke’s Bay team at TRENZ. Full of fun, adventure and a cheeky Kiwi approach to life – it’s always a highlight to hear what is happening in Hawke’s Bay.

Hawke’s Bay has a Mediterranean climate with hot summers and mild winters. And it is home to Napier, one of the most fabulous Art Deco cities in the world. It also has a wide-range of fabulous wineries and restaurants, the country’s oldest farmers’ market, great cycling trails (you can do a wine tour on bicycle!) and world-class golf courses like Cape Kidnappers – which along with an exceptional golf course also has the largest mainland gannet colony.

Hawke’s Bay is an exceptional place filled with amazing things to do, see, eat and drink, and it is home to some of the most amazing people in the whole world. It’s a “must do” when in New Zealand.

Even New Zealand Prime Minister John Key thinks so. Not only did he sample a Hawke’s Bay apple while he toured TRENZ, he confided in our Hawke’s Bay Tourism pal Vicky Roebuck that he was heading to Hawke’s Bay that very weekend. “Sweet as,” I say.

Napier -The Art Deco Capital of the World

Posted by Ruth Atherley on May 7, 2012 at 11:16 am

We’re big fans of Napier’s Art Deco Trust. Napier is one of my favorite places in the whole word and the Art Deco Trust is at the heart of sharing the fabulous history of this city.  We had the chance to connect with Sally Jackson, GM of  Art Deco Trust at TRENZ and she gave us some updates on what’s going on in her world.

The Art Deco Trust has been operating for over 26 years, running world renowned, guided tours focused on the unique Art Deco heritage of Napier. Thousands of people are taken on Art Deco Tours every year by the Trust and over 35,000 people come into Napier for the biggest event of the year, the GEON Art Deco Weekend, held over the third weekend in February each year.

Napier, New Zealand’s Art Deco City, attracts consistent attention for its unique early 1930s architecture which is the result of a massive Richter 7.8 earthquake which ravaged the region on February 3, 1931 where 258 people died, 162 in Napier City.

Napier bravely rebuilt in the styles currently fashionable overseas – Stripped Classical, Spanish Mission and above all, Art Deco.  It was truly the “Newest City on the Globe” and the result was the highest concentration of Art Deco style buildings in the Southern Hemisphere. In fact, I believe that today Napier has the most art deco style buildings than any other city in the world, with the exception of Miami’s South Beach area in Florida.

The Art Deco Trust launched some exciting new tours at TRENZ. They feature Art Deco tours by planes and by Art Deco style bikes. Now visitors to Napier can tour the Art Deco city by foot, vintage car, bike, bus and by vintage plane. Prices range from $16 per person to $2000 + for a full capacity bus trip.

The Art Deco Trust offers a large number of extremely popular tours that can include all of these transport methods which can be complemented by a visit to an historic Napier seaside village rich in cultural heritage, a visit to the most photographed building in New Zealand (the Louis Hay masterpiece, the National Tobacco Building), the famous Deco houses of Marewa, Napier’s 1930s Art Deco Suburb and Art Deco shopping.

Art Deco Tours explore Napier’s fascinating townscape of the 1930s, born of earthquake, fire, death and courage. Nowhere else can you hear stories of a city’s rebirth and capture a feeling of what it must have been like to live in the 1930s Jazz Age.

For more information, please check out their website at www.artdeconapier.com.

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