In 1931, New Zealand’s deadliest earthquake devastated the cities of Napier and Hastings. At least 256 people died in the magnitude 7.8 earthquake 161 in Napier, 93 in Hastings, and 2 in Wairoa. Many thousands more required medical treatment.

After the earthquake they decided to rebuild the town and due to not so much funding the decided to incorporate the design also in the houses itseld, Art Deco was introduced. It is a style of design and decoration popular in the 1920's and 1930's characterized by designs that are geometric and use highly intense colors, to reflect the rise of commerce, industry and mass production.

I am not really into Art Deco, as I think it is a strange mix of whatever you could think of, the amount of houses in Napier though makes it well worth doing the tour. The tour ended with a video about Art Deco in general, and I am still not convinced :-).

Next for me would be cheese and wine tasting and tonight the netball game.