Napier, New Zealand - Hawkes Bay - Beach Town Resort

December 30, 2010 - Napier, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand...beach resort town at Hawkes Bay...

This is a very beautiful beach side resort town, almost have the same ambiance as Catalina Island, the City Centre is located right off the beach, surrounded by cute shops, although most were closed, the Kiwis know how to celebrate the Holidays, they take off work from December 23rd to January 10th, it was only a handful of small shops open this time of the year...

The Napier Dome is perhaps the most well known landmark in Napier, right across from the Beach Amphitheater where they celebrate the New Years and Fireworks.. 

The Napier Beach Amphitheater is enclosed by these roman pillars surrounding the stage where famous performers have done concerts..

Sandy at the Breaker's restaurant parking lot which is right below some of Napier's view Hillside homes...

 Breaker's restaurant at Napier is a favorite hang out for the locals... I would compare the food just like Fridays, burgers and comfort foods, indeed very tasty is their beer battered Fish & chips, for some reason I was a little disappointed that they did not have Tartar sauce or Malt vinegar, instead they serve their chips with tomato sauce or mayo... WARNING! the price is almost $20 per dish...

At Breakers, ordering at the bar, they serve liquor and local wines as well as beer and other beverages, sorry, strawberry lemonade is not in the menu...

Sandy deLeon and Nilda deLeon seated at the bay window table to soak some sun and enjoy the park scenery across the street.

Hastings, New Zealand - Food & Flowers

December 29-30, 2010 - Dinner with Kayvin and Nilda de Leon...

 New Zealand's CrayFish - bigger than our Maine Lobster, this one is only a 7 pounder, they grow as much as 12 pounds, can't imagine eating a 24 pounds crayfish, this 7 pounder took us 2 dinners to finish...

 This one was caught by our friend Kayvin, he had 4 of these and we can only handle one - yummm.... too much cholesterol...

 Live fresh green New Zealand Mussels, sold in every grocery stores as well as all other local fish and crayfish...

 My sister served us the best, sweetest and most delicious cherries... crunchy & yummy...

These beautiful flowers belong to my sister's neighbor, just full of bloom, vibrant and bright, I was tempted to cut them and make flower arrangments or something, luckily, my sister prefer silk flowers (they dont die...)

 Another gorgeous flower, the African Daisy, tall long stems and feathered petals...

Perhaps the most surprising floral discovery of this tour was this giant Protea bush, again grown like a regular garden plant, these blooms would probably cost a tidy sum in the florist market... I remember for my daughter's wedding, I was checking out the salmon protea at the LA FlowerMart, each stem cost about $3.50 per stem, and that was whole sale price...

Hastings, New Zealand - a very laid back town on the East side of the North Island of New Zealand

December 29-30, 2010 - Hastings, New Zealand....

 This is the city of Hastings, a quaint little town, the hub of the city is their city centre where all the businesses and shops are located. The Clock Tower is a Hastings landmark at the heart of the city.

 The shops at Hastings are all small and yet very friendly country style hospitality, everyone says hello to you as you meet them on the streets, people seems happy and un-hurried...

 The city shops sorrounded by fountains and man made lakes, aside from driving on the left side of the road, we felt at home here.  The weather was perfect and everyone was walking around in shorts and sandals.

 Hasting's Clock Tower with the sheep statues is the main attraction of this country setting town...

 The shops are lined with hanging purple petunias throughout the main shopping district, very clean and almost deserted, since we got there 2 days before New years, most of the shops are closed for the holidays..

 K-Mart store was a welcome sight, we were thrilled to find out that most of our franchise stores are everywhere in New Zealand.

 Even the aisles look and arranged the same as our stores in the mainland US, here Sandy and my sister checking out the cosmetic section of the store.

 At first I thougth this was their Wendy's, it turned out to be their ice cream shop like Baskin and Robbins, except the selections were limited...

 That's Kayvin filling up his antique car for the New Year...

 This is Hastings after 5PM, all the shops closes, except for their Dairy Stores (convenient store like 7-11)..

 Typical Hastings home, tiny English cottages with 1 car garage seemed the norm, very few homes with 2 car garages.

 My sister, Nilda and Sandy preparing to sit down for a meal..

 My sister washing and preparing the cherries for lunch..

 Sandy talking to our girls on our Magic Jack, that worked great, almost like we were just next door talking to them in California.

 Nilda Daken and Sandy de Leon, posing infront of the city centre.

 My sister and I infront of the Clock Tower & fountain..

 Sandy and my niece, Jonilyn, we surprised her on this visit to Waikaparau, North of Hastings, approximately 40 miles away, so she was dressed very casual..

 My sister's flat, this is a 2 bedroom and 1 bath home with 1 car garage... I was shocked to find out that they dry their clothes and laundry outside in the sun, not a very familiar sight...

Sandy standing outside the Flat as we were getting ready to leave for our city visit...

Taken December 29th, we made a dash to the City Centre to pick up some items for our New Years Eve...Standing at the Clock Tower Gardens, these Maori Totem Poles are displayed for their native arts..