Technology – Meh!

Technology – Meh!

From Masterton we continued north on the SH2.  The countryside seemed to be a lot gentler than before, mainly flat fields and the odd bit of woodland.  And although the mountains are never far away, the inclines are gentler too.  It is also noticeable that the towns we’re passing through are larger than those we came across in the south.

Another characteristic of this area is that there are few picnic sites at the roadside; they are all signposted off the road.  In the end, we followed one of the signs and ended up in a village called Norsewood.  The streets had names like Hengist Street, Odin Road, and Viking Street, which roused our curiosity.

Every place we’ve been to has a museum, and Norsewood is no exception.  The main difference is that their museum is all around the village; many of the buildings carry notices telling you their history.  Apparently, back in the 1870’s, it was decided that this would be a great place for Scandinavians because they were “experienced farmers and woodsmen accustomed to frugal living and hardships”.  The first two boatloads of immigrants were mainly from Norway, and the village still retains a Scandinavian flavour.

Having solved that mystery, we continued on to our main destination for the day, the city of Napier in Hawkes Bay.  After checking in to the Kennedy Park Resort, we set off to walk into the city centre to see what the “Art Deco capital of the world” looks like.

The centre of the city was rebuilt in Art Deco style following an earthquake in 1931, hence its title.  The style is concentrated in a fairly compact space, which is also a shopping area.  This means that with a lot of the buildings the bottom half is a modern shopfront, but the top half is 1930’s style.

It was when I tried to take a photo of one of the buildings that disaster struck.  The memory card was full.  But when I tried to look at the index there was nothing on the card.  Courtesy of the tourist information place we made a bee-line for the nearest camera shop.  While waiting for the owner to be free, I noticed they sold memory cards and it occurred to me that I didn’t know where the card is in my camera.  Eventually I found it, took the card out, put it back in again and the camera was fixed!  I thanked the owner for his help and we left!

A lot of Napier seems to close at 4pm, but we had time to visit Creative Arts Napier – CAN – where Diane found her new car, view the very modern Anglican Cathedral and indulge in a smoothie and cookie each.