Napier

Day 4 of the Test

Another day at the cricket in a game we are destined to lose !!

Day 5 of the Test

Got up early and went onto Marine Parade Napier

Amazing ribbon of light sandwiched between the sea and cloud

Then a quick trip around the city to photograph some of the many fine art deco building in Napier

A large amount of the Hawkes Bay and especially Napier was destroyed by an Earthquake and subsequent fire in 1931.

Almost all of the cities buildings were rebuilt 1932-34 in Art Deco style .... Napier considers itself the art deco capital of the world

The test was lost by lunchtime and we made the uneventful drive back to Auckland.

Just one week until my Round the World Trip

Tension is building

A busy Easter Monday started with a drive down the road to Te Mata Peak to catch a sunrise. Ended up a bit cloudy but still some interesting photos

Te Mata Peak is a favourite of Paragliders but at 7 AM we were joined only by a few tourists a couple of runners ( one 50 something maori guy running in workboots was a surprise !) and a group of teenagers who turned out to be American Mormon Missionaries

Stopped in Havelock North for a great cooked breakfast and then back to join the Taits - marvel at Taities amazing supermarket carpark skills and off to the cricket which was going downhill a bit !!

McLean Park the venue is pretty packed all test because of the number of English supporters (adding great atmosphere may I say) and because they are staying nearby and arriving in coaches and plenty of accomodation can be found in walking distance we were able to find free parking within 2 minutes walk of the ground and this added to a 15 minute drive on the Napier Hastings Expressway means it was by far the most convenient ground I have ever visited for a test. We even got over the limit of buying only two beers at a time pretty quickly.

After the Test we went to a $100 a head dinner at the Hastings RSA - MC Ian Smith - speakers John (Shake) Wright former NZ cricketer and Indian Cricket Coach and David (Bumble) Lloyd - ex England Cricket Coach - We tried to recoup the cost by drinking as much as possible but I still remember some of Bumble's great stories (a lot featuring Darren Gough the fat boy from Barnsley). Walked back to the hotel probably twice the distance we needed to !!

Day 3 - Barmy Army chants were getting more excited as the game progressed in their favour.

We moved away from yesterday's spot in the stand and found some even more excitable English fans. One was watching the test on his laptop rather than watching it live .. we found that very strange.

A very fine dinner that night at an African Restaurant .. Taity did seem to get lost in the Bwanas (Mensroom) for sometime though

Woke at 5 AM and went for a walk around the streets of Tokoroa for 45 minutes - later told I was barking mad by Aucklanders but hardly a soul to be seen and certainly no problems

Two hours drive including the Napier - Taupo Highway. Foggy but 12 degrees Celcius when we left Tokoroa and got down to 5 degrees Celcius on the highway before climbing back up to the late teens as we got into the Hotel at Hastings. Omahu Motel highly recommended ... what ever we needed the owners tried to oblige .. met the Taits who had stayed with family Friday night but would also be in the hotel and headed down the road to Napier for the start of the Test

Great start to the test .. NZ on top, Tim Southee on debut striking with the ball .. didn't last to much longer though.

Back to Hastings for the obligatory beers and restaurant meal at the the Corn Exchange ..

A fortnight before my big overseas trip and what am I doing driving down to Napier (approx 400 km) for a week to watch Test cricket. can I afford the time away from travel planning ... No .. but it is cricket and there is no cricket test in Auckland this year and with Easter being during the Third Test a few Aucklanders decided to make the trip.

21st Easter Friday late afternoon picked up Flash (David Gordon) and after a detour back home to pick up my forgotten cellphone it was off in surpisingly light Easter Traffic to the thriving metropolis of Tokoroa 200km down the country.

Tokoroa is a Timber Town with a reputation of being rough and ready. Chose this because Easter Friday accomodation fully booked in places like Napier and Taupo. I arranged it a month ago and my call was the first the new owners had had .. they didn't know anything about getting credit card details then and hadn't progressed much further in the month in between . We decided to find somewhere for a beer, stumbled into a private Working Mens Club and were half way through the first beer before noticed the locals staring at the "Dorklanders" .. Managed another beer before leaving as an early start to the Hawkes Bay next day for the test Start at 10.30 AM