Got up at 8.00am as usual and rushed to the window, where the Edge was about to dock in Napier, on the north island of NZ. Like Picton, the first thing we saw was endless piles of sawn logs, all awaiting export for the paper and furniture industries.
The weather was bright and sunny, blue skies with only a few wispy clouds drifting by. We didn’t have any excursions booked, preferring to explore on our own; in any case, the ship’s shuttle buses took you right into the centre of all the sights.
After breakfasting in the Ocean View Café once again, we had a walk around deck to see what the temperature was like. March is the start of autumn in New Zealand, so we imagined the weather would be something similar to September at home. When packing, we’d brought puffa jackets and cagoules and hats, not quite knowing what to expect weather-wise.
After strolling around the decks though, we decided a light jacket would be enough, as well as my flip-flops.
Following yesterday’s debacle with the endless queues to disembark, we decided to wait a bit to let the crowds disperse. It was around 10.00am when we disembarked and made our way to the line of waiting shuttle buses.
The ride in the bus was great. It took us along a wide road flanking the wide, sweeping sandy beaches upon which the Pacific ocean’s waves lapped gently. It only took about 15 minutes until our bus driver announced the first stop, which was at the heart of a typical seaside resort, or he said he could take us further along the beach so we could walk back. We decided on the latter.
As we alighted from the bus, the main ‘touristy’ drag had thinned out, and there was nothing but the vast Pacific ocean, a wide sandy beach and several cycle paths and pedestrian paths. Cyclists, walkers, joggers and dog-walkers were in abundance, and we saw several people setting up their windbreaks and towels on the beach. Children hovered at the water’s edge (children can never resist going in the sea!) and we could smell that gorgeous fresh ozone scent, that clean, windblown salty smell with a tiny hint of fresh seafood. Aaaahhhh… if someone could only bottle the smell of the sea, they would make an absolute fortune. 😊
To our left we looked, with interest, at the hotels, houses and apartments, all with the certain charm of a bygone era. We later learned that Napier was devastated in 1931 by a colossal earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale in which the town was razed to the ground and at least 256 people were killed. When the main part of the town was rebuilt in the same style as that which it had been, that is, the Art Deco of the 1930s, and it remains today one of the best examples of Art Deco styles.
In fact, we saw several vintage classic 1930s cars, their chauffeurs dressed in striped jackets and straw boaters, offering tours in the vintage vehicles around the ‘old town’ which was like taking a trip back to pre-war days. The cost to hire a vintage vehicle and driver was NZ $260.00, or about 130 quid. If there had been four passengers, that only worked out at £32.50 per person, so really not bad at all.
Soon we arrived at the main seasidey, touristy part of the town. In lots of ways it could have been a seaside resort anywhere; the Crazy Golf course, the skateboard rink, the sea-front hotels and restaurants with the ever-present scent of candyfloss and hotdogs. A quick look at Google Maps told us that there were several gorgeous manicured parks and gardens, and we decided to head for the nearest, the Sunken Gardens.
Napier’s Sunken Gardens were created in the 1960s and are described as the ‘hidden treasure’ of the Marine Parade, because they sit below street level and allow you a sense of serenity amongst the frenetic life of its urban surroundings. The Gardens were officially opened in 1969 by Sir Lew Harris, who donated a floating “bio-morphic sculpture” in one of the small ponds.
While we were enjoying the Sunken Gardens, we decided to see if there was a Geocache nearby, and indeed the app confirmed that there was, near a slowly-turning water wheel in one of the other ponds. We followed the directions on the app until it said we were only two metres away, but try as we might we couldn’t find the cache, and had to give up. In any case, it was too nice in the gardens not to sit and enjoy the sounds of trickling water, the birdsong and the hum of bees.
Lots of bright plants and flowers were everywhere, a veritable riot of colour. It was a lovely place to sit and contemplate.
Afterwards, we decided to walk into the main town, and we arrived at a long, pedestrianised street full of shops and chic cafés. At least we thought it was pedestrianised, but as we walked along, a local lady informed us we were actually walking on the road; the pedestrian area was on the other side! We thanked her and hurried out of the way of any vehicles. 😊
As I had run out of moisturiser this morning, we decided to find a pharmacy so I could buy some more; the lady in the shop was very helpful. We also bought a bottle of cold water from which to take frequent sips as it is far too easy not to drink enough and to become dehydrated; in my case, that manifests itself as a headache and swollen ankles.
After browsing around the shops for a while, we came to the end of the street and spotted a lively pub called Rosie O’Grady’s which appeared to be doing an absolutely roaring trade. Loud Irish folk music emanated forth, and we realised it was 17th March – St. Patrick’s Day. It only seemed fitting that we went inside for a pint of Guinness or Kilkenny; we chose the latter. Bar staff walked around dressed as leprechauns in green and black, and the place was lively and noisy. We enjoyed our drinks, then decided to continue exploring, as it really was too nice to be indoors. 😊
We found another gorgeous garden called Clive Square which had originally been used as a sports ground or village green; the gardens were formed in 1884. However, after the 1931 earthquake, the square was used as a temporary shopping centre nicknamed “Tin Town”. Walking around it now, though, it contained lots of flowers, tall palms and ponds with water lilies and water features. It was lovely.
We decided to take a slow stroll back to the ship, and we arrived back around 2.30pm. We thought it would be a good idea to sit “on the edge of the Edge” on the Magic Carpet where we had a good view of the harbour and the comings and goings of other vessels.
As we sat there enjoying a cocktail each (!!), we saw a massive cargo ship loaded with the ubiquitous timber as it slowly turned around and headed off somewhere, perhaps China, to deliver its load. The sea and the sky looked very blue indeed.
What an attractive little place Napier is! It perfectly mixes the present day with an era gone by, and its understandable why the Kiwis themselves come here for a holiday. 😊
After our drinks, we returned to 3142 for an afternoon power-nap, and awoke refreshed, after which I got showered and shampooed and changed into something smarter for the evening. Celebrity Cruises don’t really have a dress code as such, most days are ‘smart casual’, and then there are a couple of evenings described as ‘evening chic’ which is supposed to be smarter than smart casual, but not as formal as formal, if you see what I mean.
Trevor and I always adhere to the suggested dress code (who doesn’t love the glitz and glamour of dressing up on a cruise!) but it seemed as if the majority of passengers didn’t even make an effort. We still saw people dressed in shorts, t-shirts and sandals (and the ever-present baseball caps!!) going into the dining rooms, and in fact Trevor and I were often the smartest ones there, even on the smart casual nights. 😊
As we didn’t want to be ready for 5.30pm, we decided just to go to the Ocean View Café once again for dinner, and I enjoyed some beef fajitas and chilli con carne tonight. We were sitting by the window so we could catch a glimpse of the sunset, but once again it dipped behind a mountain; we still enjoyed the sight of the orange sky and the purple-lined clouds, however.
After dinner we looked at the activities programme to see what the night had in store for us. We really enjoy the nightly game shows in The Club; they are so much fun and are a great ice-breaker. Tonight’s game show was called “Relay” and featured the Officers versus Passengers (or ‘Guests’ as they want to insist on calling us these days). It consisted of a number of challenges against the clock, such as stacking plastic beakers and seeing who could unravel a full toilet roll the quickest.
Each team had to nominate someone from their team to do the challenge, but in some cases it was also a relay; that is, as soon as you finished your feat, the next person had to take over. So it continued, and it ended up where the officers won, but only by one point. Everyone got a prize for participating though. 😊
This was followed by a St. Patrick’s Day Pub Quiz and featured questions based around Ireland and the Irish. We were doing quite well to start, until the questions were about Irish actors and Irish pop stars, when we fell flat on our faces. Of course, we know some, like Bob Geldof, U2, Ronan Keating etc, but others we hadn’t heard of at all. We only scored about 12/20 – the winners scored an impressive 18.
It was then time to go into the theatre for tonight’s show, which featured a female magician and illusionist called Jessica Jane. She was very different and absolutely excellent, aided by her glamour and good looks. She engaged the audience and asked for volunteers to assist her on stage. One of her tricks consisted of asking two people to sit on stools on opposite sides of the room. The volunteers were then blindfolded, and Jessica went up to one of them and touched them briefly on the head. She then asked them to point to the part of their body where they had felt the touch, and the other person pointed to her head! Each time she tapped one participant, the other person tapped the part of her body where she (thought she) had been touched. Amazing.
We really enjoyed Jessica’s show a lot – it was something different and very entertaining indeed.
Following the show, we returned to The Club where Dom, the assistant cruise director, was holding Irish Dancing classes. We certainly had no intention of joining in (I don’t think my knees could cope with it!) but we thought it would be hilarious to watch, and indeed it was. All the more so when several passengers had clearly been making the most of their all-inclusive drinks package. 😊
We ended the evening on a cheerful and lively note, where we were entertained by singer Charlie Pothecary, who played the guitar and sang a series of sing-along Irish songs. Everyone joined in lustily and a great time was had by all. It was around midnight when we left The Club and made our way back to 3142 after a really great day. Looking out of our window, we could see the faint outline of the waves washing alongside the Edge as she took us to our next exciting destination. We settled down in our massive bed with its rustly cotton sheets, and slept very well.