Saturday, 19 November

Tauranga, NZ

Unexpectedly still in Tauranga. Yesterday afternoon the captain announced that we will be overnighting and spending another day here  because of bad weather farther north along the New Zealand coast. Our visit to the Bay of Islands has been canceled and the Westerdam will proceed directly to Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, on Sunday morning. Today in Tauranga, strangely enough, the weather remains spectacularly fine, although it did rain overnight. I won't complain because this was the first rain since I arrived in Sydney on 4 November

Tuesday, 15 Nov 2022

Napier, New Zealand

Finally, I can give my readers a tour of Napier, Art Deco capital of New Zealand. It was several days ago that I presented some preliminary information about the 1931 Napier earthquake. I shall repeat that here, for the sake of putting the development of Art Deco in context (skip it here if you have already read it):

"At 10:47am on 3 February 1931, a tremor lasting over 2.5 minutes (incredibly long for the earth to move), struck the Hawkes Bay and Napier area, killing 256 inhabitants. The earthquake was followed by a fire that lasted several days and destroyed almost every building in this small city.

"To recover and to create a unique place that people from around the world would want to see, Napier was restored in 'Art Deco' style, developed in France in the late 1920s."

When the city was rebuilt, from 1931-33, the Art Deco movement influenced the exterior of most newly-built structures, the interior design of new and surviving structures, and ornamentation of the few surviving buildings. After the completion of earthquake recovery in 1933, almost all buildings subsequently added to the CBD adopted this style. In the 1950s there was a general refurbishment, repainting, and cleaning up of the architecture which gave us the Napier we see today.

The Napier Art Deco Trust (office and shop pictured below), offers a variety of walking tours with guides in traditional costumes. The ship offers these tours as a group shore excursion, lasting one hour. However, through Viator--an online travel site--I was able to book a two-hour tour that included entry into several of the buildings, not just a look from the outside (and less expensive than the ship's one-hour tour). It turns out that I am the only person on this tour, with my own private guide, resulting in an exciting and unique visit.

Art Deco Trust Building (above)
and Antiques Cars on Display (below)

My tour guide, Tony, is a knowledgeable and pleasant companion for two hours. He provides the interesting facts and personal stories that make the city's artistic history come alive. Before setting out with Tony, I watch an excellent short film about the earthquake and its aftermath, with lots of footage recorded at the time.

Most of the destroyed buildings were built in the new style during the two years after the earthquake. Since then, most new buildings have adhered to the style externally. Some major examples:

Many of the the major decorative motifs of Art Deco are expressed both outside and inside the original and remodeled buildings in Napier:  symmetry, layered shapes, intricate line art, rectilinear geometry, aerodynamic curves, metallic colors, and ancient Egyptian symbols. Some specific characteristics that are seen most often include:  heavy geometric influences, triangular shapes. zigzags, trapezoidal shapes, straight and smooth lines, and sunburst or sunrise motifs. Local craftsmen added Māori designs in Deco Style.

Maori Design in Deco Style on Wall Moulding (above)
and Ceiling Windows (below)

Sometimes entire lobbies were recreated to follow the new forms.

In the doorway (bottom center of picture above), a ziggurat shape etched in the glass above the two doors was placed upside-down when the building was remodeled. It remains that way today, with few people bothering to notice. 

The stylized lobby of the original Memorial Theatre--which seats 1,100 people and is used for touring shows and rock performers, as well as local and school groups--displays a dazzling colored light fixture.

Local retail stores have kept their traditional interior designs, even when the function and purpose of the store changes, or new owners take over.

Blue and White Glass Dome in a Crafts and Gift Shop

Originally a Music Store, This Frontage Became a Late-Nite
Bar for Many Years. It Was Finally Restored as a Music Store Again

Transom Glass in Music Store, Based on the Artwork of 
Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Renowned Member of the Glasgow
School of Art

I have more deco photos, but you will all have to come to Tucson to see them. I also have many photos from three other world cities known for Art Deco buildings: South Beach, Miami, FL; Nancy, France; and Alesund, Norway (pronounced ol'sun).

Napier has other attractions as well:  set on Hawke's Bay, the city has a lovely seafront promenade, crystalline beaches, and great opportunities for fishing (so I am told). The surrounding area also produces some of New Zealand's best wines, and many wineries are open to visitors.

And finally, all the major streets are named after famous British authors. Keep this in mind for the next blog from Gisborne, where the streets have the names of British politicians. Coming soon!