Napier, New Zealand

Date: February 15, 2019
Location: Napier, New Zealand

After spending Valentine’s Day at sea, the ship docked in Napier, New Zealand. The port is a working industrial port so you can’t walk anywhere from the ship. A free shuttle bus with two stops downtown was provided for free.

We took the shuttle bus to the second stop at the National Aquarium of New Zealand.

We arrived just as the little blue penguins were being fed.

When the sun hits them at the right angle their backs look teal.

Little blue penguins are the smallest species of penguin with a height of 12-14 inches.

When the penguins float on the surface of the water they resemble ducks.

Here is one swimming underwater.

The aquarium also had a couple alligators. This one was in the water.

Here is a large sea turtle. We also saw a Kiwi bird, but they only come out when it is dusk, so the room was too dark to get a picture.

The main exhibit tank in the aquarium goes over and around the walkway.

We were at the aquarium when the fish in the reef tank were fed as well.

After feeding the fish, the scuba diver entertained the kids and blew air rings.

We walked along the black stone beach to the downtown area.

These are the sunken gardens that are below the road level.

On February 3, 1931, an earthquake destroyed the Napier downtown area. 256 people were killed in the earthquake when buildings collapsed.

The town was rebuilt in the Art Deco style that was popular at the time. Each year in February there is an Art Deco Festival that attracts many people. The festival runs Wednesday to Sunday and the cruise ship was there on the Friday of the festival. We didn’t know about the festival and at first just noticed many people dressed up in 1930s attire.

The festival attracts many people who bring their old cars to the town.

We went to the MTG Hawke’s Bay museum where there is an exhibit about the 1931 earthquake. One of the temporary exhibitions was George Nuku’s Bottled Ocean 2118. Everything was made from plastic bottles.

In each New Zealand port we saw tons of trees. Wood is New Zealand’s third largest export after dairy and meat.

As the ship was leaving we saw some planes fly over. They were part of a flight show for the Art Deco Festival.

Napier is unlike any other place because almost all of the buildings are Art Deco. Starting in the 1990s the buildings have been protected and restored to keep the Art Deco look.