Well considering we dawdled around the coast, we were actually late docking, must have been someone in our way, lol. So all the tours were delayed and from having been brought forward half an hour yesterday our tour was an hour later than expected today.

We are docked at a working port, with tons of radiata pine logs waiting to be shipped out. We watched the unloading of trucks during breakfast, very deft and quick, stacking the logs in long piles, everything running like clockwork. The trucks loaded with logs are constant, they just keep coming. It’s one of the busiest ports in NZ, not only timber, but lots of varieties of fruit and vegetables also exported through here.

In sunshine, we caught the Hawkesbury Bay Express, an on-the-road train and trundled around the streets of Napier. It had been levelled back in 1931 by a massive earthquake, so the new town was built in the art deco style by architects who were forward thinking and had some common sense. The driver/tour guide said it only took 2.5 days to put telecommunication fibre throughout the whole town as the infrastructure had been planned well back in the thirties. The size of the roads and awnings also played a large part in the designing. There had been a huge fishing bay before the earthquake, which vanished when the land was raised several metres and it’s now used for agriculture and horticulture.

We left the train in Napier and had a wander around the shops. There are lovely gardens all along the shore. It’s a lovely little town, 57,000 inhabitants, lots of trees and hills!

After a late lunch we have been entertained on our balcony by the band down on the docks and a selection of vintage cars appeared for photo opportunities.

Wellington tomorrow.