Vintage 1930's City in New Zealand

You may think it unlikely and odd that in little ole NZ, the country sometimes forgotten off the world map, that there is a random as vintage 1930s city. Some think NZ is only full of sheep or grassy green meadows and hobbits...

Walking through Napier (in New Zealand) and overhearing Mexican and German accents I wonder how they managed to find themselves exploring just a small wee dot on the map. Considering we are well off the beaten track and lets face it a little frontier-ish (you will look out of place if you don't have jandals on, and ditch the blazer, you will not fit in at all). Cruise ships and NZ Tourism must be making some impact.

One thing that I really did notice when I came back from a Europe backpacking trip was how new New Zealand was. I was a bit of a classics nut at school so I always wanted to head to the more  history rich places of the world and soak it all in. It never occurred to me Kiwi's were still building our main infrastructure where other world cities are light years ahead. I was quite shocked about having to learn the metro system in just about every major city I went to in Europe - Wellington and Auckland are still developing a rail system. I guess we don't really have the population to really justify massive metro systems.

Imagine if New Zealand was populated and built at the Ancient Roman time! Ha imagine that! A Colosseum in Taupo and hippodrome in Christchurch. Oh dear! The mind is wandering :)

I guess what I am trying to make sense of, is that we do have interesting things happening in NZ and having a fully Art Deco city smack bang in the middle of it is pretty cool. The natural disaster of the 1931 earthquake was an awesome excuse to create a bit of a 'Phoenix from the ashes' and ensuring Hawkes Bay could rebuild in an even more modern and stylistic way. Because NZ is still so young and in comparison it occurred quite early in the history of making NZ, therefore had the opportunity to create a unique art capital of the world (exaggerating a bit?)! Although there are a few too many businesses or rest homes that are run/overrun by old fogies - it is fast becoming a awesome lifestyle to be in the bay.

Quite a unique place if I may say. Vintage baby!

Cheers,
Kiwi Dee xx

P.S. Kiwis are so frontier-ish that whenever I type in Jandals it keeps autocorrecting me to sandals, vandals or pandals!!

Extra PS. I realize New Zealand has the word 'new' in the word...

Art Deco in a Nutshell

History in words can be over whelming or just downright boring. So I thought why not make an Art Deco worldle - nice, quick and easy. Get the gist :) See below..

Love it :)

If you want to make a worldle yourself go to worldle.net

Cheers

Kiwi Dee xx

P.S. I love the word ziggurats. I was in a musical called Young Frankenstein (awesome funny show!) and one of the characters was named Ziggy and the girls that danced with him were called Ziggets. Also our robot vacuum cleaner is called Ziggy (Ziggy StarHousedust). Ahh 'Z' words. Tehe Ziggurats

Local Guide to Survive Napier Art Deco Weekend

Me and my gorgeous friend at Art Deco Weekend 2014

Every February, a happy mob of dressed up 1930s hooligans converge on New Zealand's Art Deco Capital for a weekend of splendour and party.

Follow the below as a simple insiders guide to surviving such a weekend.

• If it is a scorcher (i.e. hot sunny Hawkes Bay day) you will need a parasol (women), hat (men) and a good lathering of sun block.

• Have a Art Deco getup. You well and truly feel out of place if you are not dressed up for the weekend. If you are doing a last minute costume - ladies find some long pearls, a non figure hugging dress (dropped waist) and a head band (put on horizontally not vertically), gentlemen - find some trousers, suspenders and a light button up shirt. Shoes? Well I am a kiwi girl at heart and am most comfortable in jandals but ladies wear a low heels and men in dress shoes. Voila! 

• Have a weekend plan and then a Plan B in case of bad weather

• Book ahead for accommodation and special events because blimey it gets busy! Consider renting a house in Napier or go further a field and book accommodation in Havelock North and combine going to see wineries at that time.

• A local favourite is to watch the war birds (vintage fighter planes) do their aerobatics show. Find out what time they are flying and find a spot on Marine Parade for the perfect watching spot.

• Take snacks and water. Yes there are stalls there on the weekend but it is always good to have a muesli bar and some water on hand to munch on to keep your energy up!

Well there you have it. Simple :) Any more advice my friends?

Have a jolly good time!

Cheers,

Kiwi dee xxx