We took the FREE shuttle from the ship to the Napier Aquarium. Nice place but like many things in New Zealand they charge dearly for it.
The blind fish navigate by their own radar based on sound, currents, temperature....many different and complicated senses.
Coral reef fish that look very similar as in the wild. A needle nose butterfly fish (the yellow one).
A puffer fish is posing.
One of my favorites -- clown fish in sea anemone.
I think that this is a blue doctor fish.
More butterflies.
We have been trying to see a real live kiwi this whole trip. You pretty much need to be out in the dark and get lucky to see one in the wild. They are nocturnal and shy. They are a pretty big bird (can be up to 8 pounds) and are flightless. The male sits on the egg to protect it from the female. She tends to peck the egg -- must have had the equivalent of a teenager before. We did finally see a live kiwi behind glass. It was too dark in its habitat to get a picture.
Huge seahorses -- I love them. I have seen only 1 or 2 seahorses in the wild and never any this size. Was the one you saw this big, Sandy?
Would that human females could do the same thing!!! Just pass those embryos over to the guy and let him birth them!!! Yeah, right....we would have zero population growth!
Large rays.
Sharks in the oceanarium.
Close up of a barracuda.
Back in the center of town...Napier was totally destroyed in 1931 by an earthquake. The Depression and WWII delayed the reconstruction. They built a "tin city" of shops to keep them going until they could rebuild. However, once rebuilding began, it was totally rebuilt within 5 years... in Art Deco style which was the "architectural style" of the era.
Oh, no, Tom is in another 2degrees store!!!!!! We are still having difficulties; I know this is going to be a long time, so I start strolling....
From these pictures, one might think that Art Deco is rather "nondescript".....and it is, one building at a time, but the overall effect is unique.
A peek in to a furniture store....whatever the exterior architectural style, the interior decor is very contemporary.....we found this to be true even in the smaller towns.
We were entertained by street musicians throughout Napier. The ragtime band also featured a singer and we had an outside table across the street and enjoyed their music for an hour or more.
ALL of these wonderful costumed musicians, entertainers, retail staff and guides are VOLUNTEERS! They love their city and love to promote it to the tourists. We are the last ship of the season, so they were particularly gracious to us. I asked if they were happy to see the season end.....a resounding "NO!". Without exception, they love what they do and they are very proud of their recovery....we thought of suffering Christchurch and hope that they will have the same jubilant attitude in years to come.
Celebrating the "flapper" in bronze as well.
And LOOK! where they shop for their stylish clothes!!!!
It is the first cathedral to see each new day because it the closest to the west side of the international date line.
St. John the Evangelist, the Anglican Cathedral, as pictured pre earthquake
Same Cathedral today.....on the same site.....but, as we have seen, New Zealanders like contemporary. The controversy continues in Christchurch as to not only what their "new" Cathedral will look like, but more importantly, where will it be located!
This lectern is the only thing left in tact from the original Cathedral. The earthquake occurred during a service in the Cathedral....miraculously, only two people were killed as a result. The town, on the other hand, suffered 256 casualties.....to date, the largest death toll from a natural disaster in NZ.
It says: "The New Napier Arch"....
Passing beneath the arch to the seaside
Beautiful park on one side of the path and beautiful beach on the other.....Napier has both man made and natural beauty!
These pine trees line the beach for miles....and survived the earthquake!
Honoring the fishermen, the backbone of the local economy.
Upon our return to the ship, there were more volunteers there to wish us a Bon Voyage! And the ragtime band had relocated to the pier to play as well! It was great fun to be warmly welcomed and enthusiastically entertained! Thank you, Napier!!!
