Napier - a city with Art Deco touch

My day started early today: I had to drag myself out of bed at 5 o'clock because my host offered to drive me to a viewpoint to watch the sunrise.

Can't the sun rise a bit later?
Well, grumble, grumble. Who said being a backpacker would be easy? ;)

From the viewpoint, you actually had a wonderful view of the two bays next to Poverty Bay and, of course, the sun. It promptly rose at 5:37 behind the horizon and resulted in some pretty pictures. And I can claim that I was very close to seeing the first sunrise of the day. The place for that is even further east, at the end of East Cape.

I was still tired though.

Afterwards, I had breakfast with coffee and then the usual packing started. I mean: stuffing everything into backpacks and complaining that it keeps getting more.
My host then drove me to the perfect spot for hitchhiking, we hugged and then it was thumbs up again!
After 20 minutes, 2 former Mexicans, now New Zealanders, picked me up in their car. It had a big damage last week and now they wanted to test it by driving to a nearby beach.

Oh great.

But there's no complaining, so I got in. Usual small talk, quick goodbye and then I was back on the road.
But this time I definitely got more sympathy because I was exposed to the full sun. And even though hardly anyone got lost on this road, I was picked up after 5 minutes.
A local, a Maori, was on his way from Gisborne to Wellington. I can't beat that with my measly 220km, but at least he drove right past Napier.
He had an adventurous driving style, I had fun, and after just over two hours, Napier was already in sight.
Apparently, I must have made a good impression on him because he really drove me to the city center and dropped me off in front of the house.

I'm slowly getting used to having my own room, which is not good. But now I live in a pretty nice area, only disturbed by a busy road.
It's a 15-minute walk to the city center, and the supermarket is right on the way.
It was 2 p.m., so I still had plenty of time.
Of course, I walked in the wrong direction for 20 minutes, so I wasted 40 minutes. What am I always thinking?
Somehow, at some point, I managed to take the right way.
Napier was shaken by a very strong earthquake in 1931, which destroyed large parts of the city at that time. It also lifted a piece of land, which is now where the airport is.
The city was then rebuilt in the Art Deco style, which is the trademark of Napier. There is even a festival once a year where thousands of people roam Napier in costumes. Who would've thought?
So I stumbled through the city center and realized that I actually had no idea what I was looking for. Embarrassing, but true: I wouldn't recognize an Art Deco house if I were standing in front of one.
That's why I decided to postpone the cultural city tour until tomorrow and focus on the other side of Napier today.

My first stop, as always, was the Visitor Centre. The lady overwhelmed me with offers for wine tours, city tours, tours for everything, but I probably wasn't a good customer there.
Instead, I explored Napier on my own, just as I know it.
The city has a beautiful waterfront with a long promenade for strolling. The sea has that turquoise color that I love...
On the way were the 'Sunken Gardens' (not really sunken, just a normal garden), 'Pania of the Reef' (some kind of figure that did something, I haven't figured it out yet) and a viewpoint.
But the best view was from Bluff Hill, overlooking the entire bay.
After that, I continued along the coast, passing beaches and cafes.
Eventually, I came to a building that I had to see, according to the lady at the Visitor Centre. It seems to be distinctive and everyone takes a picture of it - so I took a picture too. I didn't find it spectacular, but what do I know?

On the way back, I only went through the Botanic Gardens and to the supermarket because my feet were hurting. The new shoes are not the best...
In the evening, I even had the house to myself because my host went to a concert. For the first time in days, I was truly alone.
You can't imagine how nice that was...
But I'm going to bed early because I have a sleep deficit and a lot to do tomorrow!