Easter in Napier
Trip Start
Aug 13, 2007
1
53
91
Trip End
Dec 31, 2008
Napier,
North Island,
New Zealand
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
We drove up on Good Friday and arrived around lunchtime. It's a 4hr drive from Wellington, but it was a glorious day and not much traffic so we were in good spirits.
We stayed at Aqua Lodge, a backpackers right next to the cricket ground, Maclean Park. We were going to stay in a motel or somewhere but when we tried to book, in January everywhere was pretty full, due no doubt to the Barmy Army arriving for the cricket. Anyway, Aqua Lodge was pleasant enough and we had a double room with ensuite, so we only had to share the kitchen facilities.
After dumping our stuff at the hostel, we walked the 10 mins into the city centre, and had a walk along the seafront. There is a nice wide pathway where people were walking, cycling and rollerblading. We sat on a bench watching the waves roll in and the world go by.
After a long car journey we were both suddenly hit with tiredness so we ventured into the shopping area and found a nice cafe. The weather was so good, we decided to opt for the Mediterranean style Al Fresco dining! You can even see the palm trees in the background.
As we were drinking our cups of tea, we saw Andrew Strauss (England cricketer) walk in with his wife and kid (well we assume it was them).
The rest of Friday was fairly uneventful. We had something to eat at Breakers, as all the supermarkets were shut so we couldn't buy anything. We then wandered back to the hostel for an early night.
Saturday we wandered back into the city centre to buy some books, for me to take to the cricket on Sunday. In the afternoon we met up with Pete and Claire, who happened to be in Napier for Easter as well. Claire's family is from Napier. We aimed to go to a winery to have some lunch and wine tasting. However, everywhere we went to was either fully booked or had a wedding on or some other excuse, so we ended up going to a pub in Havelock North for some food. I did have a glass of wine to make up for missing the wine tasting!
In the evening we had tickets to see Jack Johnson at Church Road Winery. We're getting the hang of these outdoor concerts now. Everyone is very civilised, and either have picnic blankets or foldaway chairs. Those with the chairs had to go and sit up on a bank, quite far away from the stage. We had left ours in the car, and were glad that we had as the people without chairs could get right up to the stage. Luckily the rain held off, although it did start spitting at one point and threatened to get worse.
Jack Johnson is quite special to us, as last time we were in NZ, we had a month in a campervan with only a Jack Johnson tape to keep us company. Needless to say we both became very familiar with his In Between Dreams album. When we got back to the UK in 2005, we tried to get tickets for his tour in the UK but missed out, so this time we were on Ticketmaster at the first available moment to buy tickets. Good thing too as the Napier gig was sold out. We also played one of his songs, Better Together at our wedding whilst we were signing the register. Anyway, he didn't disappoint us as the gig was really good, and the support act Matt Costa was pretty decent as well.
Sunday was all about the cricket! It cost us $22 each to go for one day, that's less than £10. We took our picnic blanket, and some food and set up for the day, on the grassy bank. I also took a book, just to read inbetween the exciting bits. Apart from the weather being quite cloudy, the day was brilliant. I saw a total of 15 wickets being taken, and the whole NZ team being bowled out. I also got a chance to experience the Barmy Army singing, and some strange people dressed up!
