Our next stop in New Zealand after Rotorua was Napier, a town which is famous for having been rebuilt in Art Deco style in the 1930s following the destruction of many of its buildings in an earthquake. Our trip via Intercity bus to Napier was rather eventful. Hawkes Bay, where Napier is located, suffered torrential rain at the time, and there were landslides across the mountainous roads that blocked all traffic. We just made it before the road became impassable due to a landslide. When we arrived in Napier, I expected our accommodation to be in town, walking distance from the bus stop. Unfortunately, it seemed that our travel agent had lost the plot, and booked us at a motor inn miles out of town on the freeway. It gets even better - when we arrived at said accommodation, we were told that we did not have a booking. It appears that between us booking the holiday and taking it, the business that ran the motor inn had been sold, and the sellers ne...
