Sunday 18 February 24

With this being the last day of the Art Deco Festival we both definitely felt in “wind down” mode…

And with the sun still doing what it does best we tried out the Bistro/Bakery across the road from our hotel, housed in another fine example of Art Deco architecture, this being the former HQ for Napier Fire Brigade…

Once again, as has been our experience during our 2 months in The Land of The Long White Cloud, the food presented to us was of the highest quality, 5 stars every time; UK, you could learn something from this…

Given that it was already 24C at 9.15 we both thought the name of the Bakery – where we used the “sitooterie”, of course – most appropriate…

…and it clearly looked like our wardrobe mistress had gone down the traditional “Blue for a boy, Pink for a girl” route too…😉

We had noticed in the AD program that a Divine Deco church service was being held just 5 minutes from our bakery, so we duly went along.

During the service/sermon it became very clear that the 1931 Earthquake had had not only a devastating affect on the people, buildings and infrastructure of Napier and Hastings, but had also given a huge opportunity to deliver brand new modern cities that NZ could be proud of for many years to come, such was the nature of Human Spirit bonding in the face of such adversity.

Much appreciated at the time, and long since, was the help by those aboard HMS Veronica and 2 other warships.

Similarly, when Cyclone Gabrielle struck on Valentine’s Day 2023, it was the armed services, especially the NZ Navy, that threw their not inconsiderable weight behind the whole of the wider Hawke’s Bay area.

It is of no surprise, therefore, that there exists today a very close tangible bond between the inhabitants of “The Bay” and the Navy.

The Waiapu Cathedral built of stone, was first consecrated in 1885…

…but after it was destroyed in 1931, a temporary wooden church was built whilst plans were being drawn up for a permanent replacement…

For the festival the service also included a 20 strong choir plus a string quartet for whom the musical director of the Cathedral had composed several very sophisticated jazz arrangements to accompany the Lord’s Prayer, The Kyrie and the Agnus Dei, which must have been a first for most of the congregation 🎶☺️

I personally found the service very moving with it’s message of Strength in Adversity plus the architecture of the Cathedral, as it now is, very attractive in its simplicity…

We then made our way back to the Soundshell arena and Sun Bay where a service honouring the NZ Navy’s help during the earthquake took place, including the sounding of the original bell from the HMS Veronica and a spine-chiling rendition of The Last Post from the bugler…