I had heard a lot about Anna’s and my next destination. People say that this city is Hawkes Bay’s heart and its architecture is unique in New Zealand. I planned my whole trip after the special event that this city is celebrating each and every year.

Our next stop was Napier.

Arriving in this beautiful city, I felt the special atmosphere of this place. The Marine Parade and city center can be explored by foot and it is interesting to see all the little antique shops, cozy cafés and extravagant boutiques.

For me as a big Gatsby fan it was one of the most special places to visit. All around the city you find buildings of the Art Deco Era which remind you of the roaring 20s and 1930s.

Apart from the Art Deco Style you can find many nice corners and art all over the place.

And even the public toilets have a nice facade.

Our campsite was in the suburban area which led us to a special street in the first night. Knowing that we would stay for two nights, we were able to go out because we did not have to be up early and I did not have to be sober to drive to the next destination as we could reach everything by foot.

Spending time in the Irish Pub we tried to make plan for the next couple of days and walking further we discovered a place that suited us perfectly. A bar specialised in gin.

Being overwhelmed by the variety of different gins and tonic waters we needed quite some time to decide on our drinks.

The whole place is full of quotes snd sayings influenced by the word gin and we enjoyed our time on the balcony with the view on the harbour.

We were already on our way back, when a fishermen we saw earlier in the Irish pub invited us on his boat.

Five minutes later Anna and me would find ourselves on a boat surrounded by professional fishermen. They did not mind to answer all the questions we had about this job. And the more time passed by the more people joined us. Some colleagues who had the same route and some friends from old fishing-times joined the group. And there we were, in the middle of fishermen from the North and South Island, taking a coffee, tea and some drinks in the middle of the night.

Walking back to our car Anna and me asked ourselves how we managed to meet these friendly and special people.

The next day we went to the Napier prison. We were quite proud to include some cultural education in our trip. Against all pictures that might occur in people’s heads when thinking about visiting museums, Anna and me really enjoyed the audio guide tour and all the information that was given in the building. At the end you could dress up as a prisoner and take some funny pictures in front of the famous wall.

Returning to the heart of the city I got more excited. Ever since I first heard of New Zealand, I also heard of the special event that is celebrated in Napier in February. And from the second on my friend had told me something about this back in 2015, I had caught fire.

The Art Deco Festival shows the great variety of remarkable things of Gatsby’s age. Taking place in a city that is known for its Art Deco houses, you really feel as you have travelled back in time. You pass by all these nicely dressed up people, hearing the sound of the old car’s engines and the city is full of live jazz and swing music. Everything reminds you of this special time in the past.

My friends know how much I am into the Golden Age and so for me a dream came true. For two days I was part of Gatsby’s world.

There are parades and special guided tours through the city to all the famous places that show the Spanish mission style, simplified classic and of course the art deco.

Napier is not only known for its variety of buildings in these styles but also for the integration of Maori symbols in their architecture.

What we can see nowadays is the reconstruction of the city, after the massive earthquake of the third of Feburary 1931. Back then the city decided to build up all the buildings following the the great Parisian exhibition “Art Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes” which was shown in 1925 and gives this era its name. The Art Deco style should show the optimism of the roaring 20s in the frustrating 30s. At the end of this decade Napier was the most modern city in the world.

And today there are still fountains, factories and houses with geometric shapes, Central American motives and feministic symbols of liberty.

Anna and me left the city in melancholy because we would have stayed even longer. But we knew that if we wanted to see all that was on our list for the East coast, that we needed to move on.