Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
from 40 minutes to three hours. Also along this road you'll find the
Opouahi
and
Bellbird
Bush Scenic Reserves
, which both offer rewarding walks. See
www.doc.govt.nz
for info on all
of these reserves.
Off Waipatiki Rd, 34km outside Napier, Waipatiki Beach is a beaut spot boasting a low-
key campsite and the 64-hectare
Waipatiki Scenic Reserve
. Further down the line,
White Pine
Bush Scenic Reserve
, 29km from Napier on SH2, bristles with kahikatea and nikau palms.
Tan-
goio Falls Scenic Reserve
, 27km north of Napier, has Te Ana Falls, stands of wheki-ponga (tree
ferns) and native orchids. Again,
www.doc.govt.nz
has the low-down on these reserves.
Between White Pine and Tangoio Reserves the
Tangoio Walkway
(three hours return) follows
Kareaara Stream.
The highway surfs the coast for the last 25km, with impressive views towards Napier.
Hawke's Bay wine country starts in earnest at the mouth of the Esk River.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Napier
POP 57,240
The Napier of today - a charismatic, sunny, composed city with the air of an affluent Eng-
lish seaside resort - is the silver lining of the dark cloud that was the deadly 1931 earth-
quake. Rebuilt in the popular architectural styles of the time, the city retains a unique con-
centration of art-deco buildings. Don't expect the Chrysler Building - Napier is resolutely
low-rise - but you will find intact 1930s facades and streetscapes, which can provoke a
Great Gatsby
swagger in the least romantic soul.
History
The area has been settled since around the 12th century and was known to Maori as Ahur-
iri. By the time James Cook eyeballed it in October 1769, Ngati Kahungunu was the dom-
inant tribe, controlling the coast to Wellington.
In the 1830s whalers malingered around Ahuriri, establishing a trading base in 1839.
By the 1850s the Crown had purchased - by often dubious means - 1.4 million acres of
Hawke's Bay land, leaving Ngati Kahungunu with less than 4000 acres. The town of
Napier was planned in 1854 and obsequiously named after the British general and colonial
administrator Charles Napier.
