Depending on which hemisphere you are in! It is Summer Solstice here in the Antipodes, “down under”! We got up early to catch the sunrise on the ‘longest day of the year’ (most hours of daylight in the 24 hour day). We drove up to Te Mata Peak, the highest point around, to see the sunrise.

Beautiful sunrise over Hawkes Bay.

Sunrise illuminating the flank of Te Mata Peak.

We continued our tour of Art Deco architecture today, walking around the CBD with all the other tourists and Christmas shoppers!

There are so many examples of the Art Deco style it is overwhelming!

You are allowed to enter the lobbies or vestibules in several of the buildings to see the interior details.

The lines are so clean and the motifs so angular. Napier has so many examples of this style because the February 1931 earthquake and resulting fires destroyed most of the town’s central business district. The town was quick to begin rebuilding soon after so most of the business district was rebuilt between 1932 to 1939! A drive to renovate and restore the iconic architecture was begun in 1983 when several buildings were slated for demolition. The community rallied and the process is ongoing. There are several buildings that still need TLC but Napier has turned the destruction and rebuilding due to a tragic earthquake into a tourist mecca through foresight and dedication to preserving their legacy!

We spent the day today exploring Napier, first heading to the Botanical Garden, then the CBD with the Self Guided Tour brochure from the Art Deco Centre.

The Botanical Garden is in a natural open bowl with a stage at the center of a grassy slope. The walkways go up and around the hillside planted with trees and flowering bushes. A stream flows down the hillside to a pond at the bottom. The original cemetery for the town is on the hill on one side of the Gardens and is filled with many European pioneers. The quail on top of the obelisk is real and flew off after I got the picture!

Some Art Deco motifs found around town. Maori design was incorporated in some design like the ceiling of the bank.

Our goal was the Black Reef Gannet colony at the black reef tip of the cape, one of 4 colonies on Cape Kidnappers.

We walked up to the Gannet colony slowly and they pretty much ignored us!

We were able to see pairs of Gannets going through their mating rituals as well as big fluffy chicks being guarded and fed by their parents!

There is a larger colony up on the top of the cape, another half hour hike beyond, that is accessed only by wading through sea water at this tip of the cape which we did not attempt! We sat on rocks watching the small waves lap over the rocks of the shallow reef, the birds flying to and fro, and ate our sandwiches. We watched a younger couple arrive and navigate the trip through the water around the tip which was still thigh deep even at low tide! We started back, now in full sun, and explored some of the narrow canyons opening onto the beach through the high cliffs.

We made it to the Black Reef Colony and back before 11am! We were ready to call it a day!

Researching for this post led me to THIS ARTICLE, apparently this hike is very risky and no longer encouraged due to the risks of rockfall, even landslides, and misjudging the tide!