Checking into a motel yesterday had been a smart move, it absolutely chucked it down with rain all night.
We had a lazy morning before driving for 3 hours to Napier, the Art Deco capital of the world. When we arrived it was raining on and off but at least it wasn’t a downpour anymore. There are no campsites easily accessible to Napier town so we checked out a couple of hotels. Napier is one of the more expensive places and a lot of the hotels were a similar price so we figured in for a penny in for a pound and we negotiated a good price on a lovely room in the swanky Masonic Hotel which felt very decadent but also very enjoyable.
We spent the afternoon walking around town taking in the Art Deco architecture and learning a little about the 1931 earthquake that totally flattened the city. It was nice relaxing afternoon and I was glad to come here but I don’t feel it needs to be revisited in the future, in fact discovering 5 stuffed animatronic singing possums in a shop was the highlight, which says a lot!