Sound shells at seaside resorts aren’t new – they are as old as the holiday trade – but Napier’s sound shell looks more California than Clacton-on-sea. That’s because this, like much of the New Zealand town, was built in the Art Deco style after the 1931 Hawkes Bay earthquake. It was built by the Thirty Thousand…

If you grew up in Australia or New Zealand (or the UK, or many Commonwealth countries) chances are you are familiar with the BBC show “Till Death Do Us Part starring Warren Mitchell as Alf Garnett. But if you were in the US, the equivalent show was All In The Family – which featured “Archie…

  I’ve mentioned in earlier posts this week that Napier’s Art Deco architecture is the result of the town being wiped out by an earthquake in 1931, and the decision to rebuild in the aspirational, modernistic style. I also mentioned that the reason New Zealand gets so many earthquakes is that it sits on the…

This week’s travel theme is N for Napier – and for Wednesday, its a lovely church in the heart of the town. It is “The Waiapu Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist, Napier” –  which is quite a mouthful! It is more often referred to as “Waiapu Cathedral”, “St John’s Cathedral”, or “Napier Cathedral” ……

Napier, New Zealand, is world renowned for its Art Deco buildings – it has such a smorgasbord of structures on display that it could take days just to photograph them. But WHY does Napier have so many? From tragedy rises beauty. One of New Zealand’s nicknames is “The Shaky Isles” – because it sits on the boundary of…

This week’s travel theme is N for Napier, a city on New Zealand’s North Island, most noted for its extensive array of Art Deco buildings. And one of the first places to catch the eye of tourists is the Masonic Hotel, right on the waterfront of this seaside town. It is the third iteration of…