A Super Surprise!
04 February 2019 | Napier, North Island, NZ
Maggie
We are in Napier, an artsy town on the beach 6 hours south of Auckland.
It was destroyed in 1931 by an earthquake and subsequent fires.
The entire town was rebuilt in 4 years with an emphasis on art-deco which still prevails today, including an annual Art-deco festival similar to our Mardigras in the States, and buildings covered in amazing murals.
We chose this town for two reasons:
figured there was more chance of Nev finding a pub to watch the Super Bowl, plus it's the main wine producing region of the North Island.
What we weren't expecting was the charming company of our hotel owner and his delicious stories and wine!!!
His granny was Churchill's chauffeur during the Second World War and his pub is covered in Churchill memorabilia and quotes which I loved!
He and his wife are New Zealand's top car racers, a popular sport here, but he doesn't drive unless he's racing!!
He's a car nut and owns a Rolls Royce that used to belong to Queen Elizabeth!
He took us to his private club for the last 10 minutes of the game, the club known as the last bastion of male chauvinism in New Zealand where women are only welcomed by invitation!!!
His personality was charming,
his hospitality so generous and genuine and warm that I had to tell a little of his story so we would remember,
name and Hotel have been kept confidential to protect the innocent involved!!!
Lol!!
His presence filled the gap left by the Rams loss in the Super Bowl!!
Such unexpected fun 😘😘