(May 12th) My first official day in Napier I booked a walking tour in the early afternoon to learn a bit about the town and its history. We all gathered at a small shop which was only a 5 minute walk from where I was staying. We started the tour off by watching a 10 minute film about Napier’s history singling in on its devastating earthquake and how they dealt with it. The 1931 Hawke’s bay earthquake almost wiped Napier off the map. A series of fires broke out and engulfed the town leaving not much behind. The aftershock of the earthquake caused more problems then there already was, Napier wasn’t livable and it seemed that it wasn’t worth to rebuild. Thankfully they fought to stay and rebuild the town and with the improvement of adding strengthening techniques to the buildings.
Napier hasn’t changed a single thing, when I arrived it felt like I had gone back in the past. The artwork and architecture was so different and beautifully done. Each building had a unique touch to it which is nice to see since buildings nowadays are very uniform.
Once the tour ended I stayed at the store to buy a postcard. While I was in line I ended up chatting with a lady who was also on the walking tour with me. I was wearing one of my volunteer shirts I bought in Zambia which started our conversation about my travels. When we were all done at the store she invited my out to lunch with her and her husband. I had no other plans that day so I decided to go with them. We went to a restaurant down the street which was a really nice place. I found it amazing that the people I met and ended up having lunch with in New Zealand were from Kingston, Canada just about a 4 hour drive from where I lived. I asked them questions about what made them decide to travel and their lives. In return they had thousands of questions about my life, my travels, and how I managed to pull off this 5 month trip.
At the end of lunch I was going to pay for my share but they insisted on paying for me because well I was slowly becoming broke. They were very sweet and I walked with them to their next tour meet up spot. We said our goodbyes and I went back to my hostel.
I got their e-mail so they could send me the pictures they took and they showed me some pictures of the tour they went on which was amazing.
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