She survives the prison

Yesterday I got a coach down from Taupo to Napier. The weather has deteriorated somewhat although it's not as cold, just rather cloudy. Napier is a very interesting town, rather like something out of a disney movie. They town was distroyed in an earthquake in the 1940s and so was rebuilt in an art-deco style which it retains today. It certainly makes the town a very unique place. It's also on the coast so there are some great views out to see and it is the wine country of New Zealand so as you drive in their are numerous vineyards.

I spent last night in a converted prison up on a hill about a 5 minute walk from the centre of napier. It only ceased being a prison in 1992 so a fair amount of it is authentic; all the buildings are still how they used to be.





"The yard"
Although it wasn't the most modern backpackers i have stayed in, it actually turned out to be one of the best ones. Becuase it's only 50 beds (and only 12 were occupied last night) it's very friendly and easy to sit in 'the yard' in the evening and all talk together. Even the showers were quite good, outside so cold, but the water was very hot and came out pretty powerfully! I didn't actually stay in one of the cells, instead I was in one of the administration buildings just outside the cells which was a big dorm.

They used to do executions at the prison and the 'hanging yard' has now been converted into the place where you dry your laundry!

I've got a couple of hours to wander round napier before my 5 hour bus down to Wellington where i'm spending the next couple of days before my flight down to Queenstown on Wednesday. Hopefully i'll upload some pictures of Napier later as there certainly is some very interesting architecture!