Hey all,
From Rotorua we headed to Gisborne, first city in the world to see the sun each morning. That was really the main reason we went there. We got up at 5:30 to watch the sun rise from the beach, unfortunately with our luck it was cloudy and we didn't actually see much of a sunrise. But I guess its the thought that counts right? We also checked out another Jade Carvers shop, got to watch a few artists working on carvings, and picked up a couple "raw" stones because I want to try my hand at carving a piece. My stained glass grinders are diamond grit and wet grinders so they will work perfectly for jade carving too. Who knows, new hobby?
We are currently in Napier, famous art deco city in the Hawkes Bay area. A little bit of history on Napier, it was hit like most places by the depression in the early 30's, and then in February of 1931 (I think, pretty sure it was 31) it was hit by an earthquake that devestated the city. First it crumbled, then was ravaged by fire so that anything that may have survived the quake was destroyed. The town was almost completely rebuilt two years later. This boom of building actually created jobs and brought people from all over New Zealand. The city was primarily built in the art deco style and most of it still remains today. There are four buildings still standing today that did survive the quake and resulting fires, one of these is the hostel we are currently staying in. It shows too. I have to admit, our reaction when told that this building was one that survived was a unanimous "pity..." If the building had been looked after in the last 80 years it might be a different story, but it is in a sad state, Miles was afraid he was going to fall through the floor in one place... and there are wires hanging out all over sort of haphazardly tacked to the walls up the stairs, and well yeah, we're a bit afraid to touch anything for fear of catching something. Quite the dive really. The buildiing just needs..... a dozer. Not our best choice to stay at, but we just need a place to rest our heads at night, so it works. Despite our hostel the area is very well kept. The city takes very good care of it's many gardens, statues, roads, etc. Very tidy place. Once again we have walked most of the area. It is quite nice walking beside the beach, primarly consisting of gravel, with the cool breeze blowing over you. Its really warm here. Probably the warmest we have had since arriving in NZ. Closer to the city centre the heat really bares down on you. The ocean breeze doesn't blow for the buildings. So stopping and getting an ice cream was quite the treat.
On January 25 we arrived here in Napier, that first day we arrived at about 1:00 and had enough time to check out a very uique and morbid store as we later found out, called Opposum World. Apparently NZ is fighting a losing battle with these Australian introduced opposums. 70 million of these animals are estimated to be here, they eat in one night approximatley 40 tonnes of vegitation every night. So as Opposum Worlds slogan says: "Making quality useful products out of an ecological nightmare." They have actually come up with some pretty good uses for these opposums. Unfortunatley they display the means of attaining their products quite vividly, and some of the methods are quite cruel. The use of opposum fur mixed with merino wool is the softest and most insulating natural fibre today. The opposum fur reduces the itch of the wool, and the merino wool is strong, warm. Resulting in the softest quality sweaters, gloves, and toques. Anyway, enough about opposums.
After our slightly off-putting tour of Opposum world we decided to head to the aquarium instead. Live animals are more our thing. The aquarium was pretty neat, it displayed and described many of New Zealands native fresh and saltwater fish as well as many of the introduced species that have become pests in the area. They have a tunnel that goes beneath the oceanarium (much like the one we went to in Perth Angie), and there are sharkes and rays and an assortment of large fish in the oceanarium. Overall it was a pretty cool place. Oh! there was also a display of early diving gear, we're talking like the moon suit looking diving gear with the huge helmets and the weights that you had to drop in order to get back to the surface. There was a handmade helmet made and used by a local diver back in like the 60's that was pretty cool too.
That evening we relaxed in the Ocean Spa. A collection if different temperature pools with an ocean view. The pools are only about 100m from the shore, so you can see the different hues of color on the Pacific as the sun sets behind you. It was a lovely relaxing end to the day.
The 26th was a packed though mostly leisurly day. We started with a visit and guided tour to the haunted prison. It is the oldest prison in New Zealand dating back to 1862, was the only one to have hanged a woman, and was only closed in 1993. It is said to be haunted, the most famous haunting perhaps is a cat named Basil. We did see Basil, a real flesh and blood feline, but the story behind it is a little bit creepy. There was an inmate in cell 26, a rather gentle man in terms of prisoners, named Basil. He adopted a cat somewhere along the way, but because he never bothered anyone the guards and wardens let the cat stay. Basil himself had been injured somehow so his moustache grew on only half of his face, it was ginger in color though the rest of his hair was darker. A couple of days before Basil passed away, his cat disappeared. About two weeks later, a kitten wandered onto the jail site. It had dark fur atop its head and the markings of a half moustache in ginger. The cat lived out its days at the prison, and then as a rather elderly cat it one day disappeared. A few days later, a kitten with the same markings wandered onto the prison site and stayed there until as an old cat it repeated the pattern. The current cat (also named Basil) showed up the same way, shortly after the elder cat disappeared. They all show up on their own, and all have the same half moustache. The prison was briefly set up as a backpackers hostel after it closed its doors to inmates in '93, but it is no longer used as such. Some of the men who stayed there claimed to have been "touched" while in the single stall showers, and those who slept in what was the old infirmary (about the only place the prison nurses ventured) claimed to smell womens perfume wafting through the dorm when there were no women on site. Perhaps the most creepy story happened to the current prison owners. They run a "spooky" tour at night and have these creepy dummies in some of the cells. well in one of the solitary confinement cells, she had placed a dummy on the bed, the door closed behind her and locked her in the cell. Aparently it was pretty easy to get locked in that cell so she thought nothing of it. She had the key in her pocket so she unlocked the door and let herself out. She kept the key in her pocket for the remainder of the night. After the tour, she went to take the dummies out of the cells and close up. When she looked at the solitary confinement cell, the dummy had been tossed to the floor and there were fingernail marks ripped into its back. The door was still locked as she had left it and the key was still in her pocket. She never did figure out how that happened. There was one room where they had set up a bit of a maze in a dark cell with no windows. We were game to go through it, and had started when suddenly I looked behind me and was alone as far as I could tell. I called to Miles and was like "are you still behind me?" "nope, I'm back at the door, I'm not going through there" Well shit. I was stuck in the dark and had no idea where the hell I was, so I figured I may as well go through. Wasn't too keen on it though. Miles (who I will admit is a bit more sensitive to those kinds of things than I am, if you choose to believe in such) said it just felt wrong to go in there for something as frivolous as a maze. Something just felt off, so he got out. Well that creeped me out. The guide said (after the fact naturally) that she refused to go into that room. Why do they always tell you these things after the fact??? Anyway, the prison was definitely interesting, both the haunted aspect and the historical. Aparently it was the "safest" place to buy drugs for the longest time too. The prisoners had quite the drug trade going on, and one drug lord in particular had an agreement with the wardens, and his was the only cell never checked for drugs. They showed us cells where prisoners were on suicide watch, which was ironic as those were some of the most dangerous cells to have someone in that frame of mind in, with wire bedframes, electrical outlets and even a bare wire... kind of makes you wonder. I definitely got uncomfortable when led to the cell in which the last suicide had taken place. His note was still scrawled on the wall. On a lighter note, the cat pretty much led us through the whole tour and then chilled out in the hanging yard once it was done. Aparently thats her favorite place to hang out. Go figure. I found it interesting, that before entering the graveyard there was a sign that read "for cultural reasons, pregnant women and children under 5 should not enter this area". Maori believe that young children and pregnant women are more susceptible to being posessed by a poltergiest than are adults and older children.
After the prison we meandered through the quarry turned gardens for a bit then headed down the marine parade to play a round of mini golf (neither of us has the attention span for a real game of golf I don't think) and an icecream cone. From there we headed back to our hostle to change and go to the Napier Wine Center for a wine tasting. We were educated on the different growing regions on the North Island, then we got to go to the aroma room where we smelled different scents that are found and looked for in different wines. There was a brief section at the end where we had to sniff and try to identify some of the scents we had been introduced to earlier. I failed miserably only managing to get one. Miles did considerably better, he identified 5 or 6 out of the 8. We tasted 6 whites from around the area, and lo and behold, the ones that contained the scents we didn't like, weren't too agreeable to our palate either. Of the 6 there were 3 that we didn't mind, and probably only 2 that we would have had a glass of. Meh so we're not really wine connoisseurs, it was fun. We finished the evening with a really yummy supper at an unlikely place called the Hogs Breath Pub. It might not sound overly appealing, but they did a superb prime rib. We're planning on heading back to try their seafood platter :)
Anyway thats about all thats new on our end of the ocean.
Oh wait, weirdest thing, we stopped for breakfast at this little cafe yesterday, and we heard the Canadian national anthem on the radio there. How unexpected is that??? The cafe owner laughed when I told him I felt like I should be standing. Made fast friends with him over it though, hes a rather friendly chap!
Ok that really is all,
we'll be in touch soon
Love Miles and Brianna
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