Napier Art Deco festival. It definitely has the wow factor.

Saturday afternoon, 36 degrees in the shade and the streets of Napier were swinging to the sound of jazz. Gents in boaters and braces, ladies in elegant tea dresses and cheeky flapper outfits, all with a backdrop of the art deco architecture of Napier – it really was like stepping back in time.

There are so many things to see and do during the festival – some events are free, some are ticketed, but whatever you have on your itinerary, it’s going to be a blast.

I had grand plans of visiting the Art Deco sale, having some dancing lessons, watching a 1920s movie at the outdoor cinema and doing a walking tour of the city. However, partly due to the heat and partly due to being so overwhelmed by the sights and sounds, we didn’t do half of what we thought.

However, we saw the parade of 250 beautiful classic cars (some of which were worth NZ$1 million), people dancing in the streets, old war planes flying over the beach and steam engines chugging up and down the streets.

One of the best aspects of it all was meeting such great people. We got chatting to Vic and Jan from Napier in the bar of the old Masonic Hotel and although we had already booked and paid for a holiday park, they offered us their driveway and use of their bathroom for free, as well as having a full on BBQ. We still have their address so we’ll be in touch.

We also have new friends in Melbourne – Pete and David. We met these guys at a bus stop waiting to go into the town and over the next couple of days had a great time. More on the Sunday afternoon Gatsby picnic in the next blog!

After another early morning wake-up (6am – why can’t I get up this time at home?), we planned to get to Auckland’s Sky Tower in time for it opening. Luckily, when we arrived at 8.30am it was open. We both forgot to check the times.

The Sky Tower is like a smaller version of the CN Tower (Toronto), but still tall enough if you are considering some of the activities. You can walk around the perimeter, on the outside, on a 2 foot ledge, attached to a wire. Or, you can fling yourself off, attached to a couple of wires and hurtle towards the pavement, landing on a trampoline target (that isn’t unlike the one from Jamie and the Magic Torch – showing my age here).

I had actually considered the second of those options whilst sat on the comfort of my own couch, in my onesie, with a cup of tea. It’s very different when you see what’s involved.

My name is Dianne Howard and I’m a chicken.

It took all my resolve to walk across the 3 feet bit of glass floor.

The visit was good though. It’s really interesting to get a 360 view of Auckland – the harbour, the suburbs and the volcanoes. Yep, there are 7 of them (at least), the youngest, Rangitoto Island, being only 600 years old, which isn’t long in geological terms. Or as Angus likes to say, less than a knat’s fart.

Well, we’ve journeyed to Napier today in our fancy campervan to see the Art Deco Festival. More to follow soon!

You may be wondering why our last two photos were titled ‘Crafty’ and ‘Very Crafty’. Well, as we mentioned in a previous post, NZ is very keen on craft beer, or real ale as we refer to it in Blighty.

After trying to kick the ass of jetlag a third time, we finally made it back to our favourite bar, Vulture’s Lane, in Vulcan Lane (which is obviously where Spock and Kirk meet for a beer) on Thursday afternoon.

We decided on a taster selection of six different beers, out of the 30 pump and bottled beers available. For fellow ale lovers, we’ve named them below (Brewery, ale name, ale type) – don’t you just love some of the brewery names!

• Yeastie Boys ‘Golden Perch’ (Summer ale)
• Yeastie Boys/Brews Brothers ‘Fork and Brewer Collaboration’ (Spring ale)
• Ben Middlemiss Brewing ‘White Lady’ (Witbier)
• Behemoth Brewing Company ‘Iron Harvest’ (Saison)
• Liberty ‘Oh Brother’ (Pale Ale)
• Governor ‘Governor’ (Lager)

They were all really good, but our favourites were ‘White Lady’ and ‘Fork and Brewer Collaboration’.

As we were enjoying the Winter Olympics snowboard events on the TV, we also decided to try the Epic Pale Ale. Also very good!

We did intend on going back again later that evening for some more banter, but as you might have guessed, we fell asleep. Ah well, it was a good day :0)

Damn jetlag. By Wednesday we thought we’d beaten it, but it snook up on us again.

The day started as usual, with us awake at 6.30am. That’s not too bad as we like to be out and about early. It so happened that Barcelona were playing Man City in the UK on Tuesday night, so it was at 8.45am Wednesday NZ time.

We missed the first half, which wasn’t an issue as Iain (Angus’s dad) was providing updates via text. By the second half we found a bar that was showing the game, and serving beer. My first instinct was ‘No way, not at this time in the morning’. But I noticed other people drinking and thought ‘oh well, when in Rome’.

Two halves of lager later and I was zombied. But, at least we’d got to celebrate two Barca goals while on the other side of the world.

We went out for a walk to get some coffee, fresh air and to sort out a sim card – it’s not always easy to get wifi in NZ, so buying pre-paid data makes sense.

Fast forward to 4pm and we thought we’d go back to the apartment for an hour’s siesta.

Woke up at 10pm. Had pizza. Fell asleep at 11.30pm, determined to feel normal the next day. Check back later to see if we did!

*N.B. The ‘lost day’ was due to jetlag, nothing to do with morning beers ;0)

We could have sat and gazed at the view from Delight Cafe, Waiheke Island all day. The heat of the sun wafting in through the windows, the picture perfect blue ocean and an ice cold fizzy orange juice to cool down. However, we had some exploring to do.

Waiheke Island is a 40 minute ferry ride from Auckland and boasts some gorgeous beaches. There are also around 19 boutique wineries and craft breweries. Believe it or not, we didn’t visit any of those! The only option at this time of year was an organised tour and we didn’t feel like being herded around in what seemed like such as relaxed place.

We used the public buses to visit Oneroa Beach and Onetangi Bay, where we paddled in the Pacific and unwound to the sounds of the waves. We even came across Blackpool Beach! No amusement arcades and bingo halls here though.

We have to say that the bus drivers seemed to enjoy going around the tight corners as fast as possible, which wasn’t ideal when trying to take photos or video.

The contrast in the types of houses was interesting – million dollar homes overlooking the bays, to ramshackle bungalows in need of lots of attention. Apparently, Waiheke Island was a bit of a hippy haven up until the 80s, when people with money saw the advantages of living in paradise and commuting to the big smoke. I guess a 40 minute ferry ride is much better than sitting in rush-hour road traffic for over an hour!

The ferry ride out to Waiheke Island was much more enjoyable than the ride back, when everyone was serenaded by the kiwi equivalent of Glee Club. I think I’m getting old.

check out a wee video

By the time we got from the airport to our accommodation it was around 9am. We knew it would be far too early to check in, but thought this might be a good thing as we wouldn’t be tempted to have a ‘nap’, only to wake up 8 hours later.

Luckily, the place has a pool and gym with shower facilities, so we were able to freshen up – a real bonus for anyone standing within 3 feet of us.

First priority was factor 30 sunscreen. We know that the sun in NZ is extremely strong and found out later that day that the ‘burn time’ was just 7 minutes.

We then went for a stroll around the Auckland Harbour area and sat in the sun for a while, then did a bit of shopping in Queen Street, which has a strange mixture of designer shops, a la Gucci, high street shops and cheap souvenir shops.

Come lunchtime, our watches were telling us it was 12.30pm, but our bodies were telling us different. We didn’t know whether we were tired, hungry, thirsty or what. We stumbled across the ubiquitous Irish bar and stopped for chips and a nice ice cold coke. Yes, coke!

After returning to the hotel to check in and gaze longingly at the comfy bed, we forced ourselves out and about again. A few hours later, which all passed in a bit of a haze, we found ourselves in cool-named Vulcan Lane, at a bar (Vulture’s Lane) serving craft beers (real ale).

By the time we left, at 7pm, we had got to know Jordan, one of the staff, and her brother, who runs the bar. They gave us loads of tips on the best places to eat in Auckland and generally just had a great chat. We may return to do some beer tastings! (Angus:- We will definitely be returning).

At 9pm we were back at the hotel, stuffed with tasty Hell Pizza, struggling to keep our eyes open, so we admitted defeat.

It’s now 3.15am and it appears that Angus has succeeded in Operation Beat Jetlag, whereas I’ve failed miserably! Oh well, I’ll have a read of some tourist leaflets about Waiheke Island, which is on our to-do list.