2011 New Year Eve Dinner and Dancing at the RPA Club Napier, New Zealand

December 31st, 2010 - New Year's Eve Dinner celebration at Napier, New Zealand...

 Enjoying the New Year Dinner at the RPA Club in Napier, Nilda de Leon, Sandra deLeon and Kayvin...

 Kayvin is joined by Jonilyn Domingo and partner, Tamway...

 After dinner, we hang out at the Red Carpet Sports Bar in downtown Napier, where, Tamway belows out a Maori love song...

 Gambling is legal in New Zealand and Australia, there's slot machines in almost every night club or bars as well as their hotel lobbies and casinos..

 I couldn't say not to everyone who was asking me to sing a song or two...

 NIlda deLeon sings her heart out at the Karaoke Bar...

 While waiting for midnight, we passed the time with dancing total strangers and friends who came with us to celebrate the new year..

Napier City Shops, New Zealand 2010

December 30, 2010 - Napier City Shops and boardwalk....

Sandy and Nilda enjoying the leisure stroll along Queen Street shops, lined with cafes, bistros, and one of a kind shops, Napier offers every visitor their own attractions, their people...

 Outside Cafe and Bistros dot the main streets of Napier making this resort town quaint and  very inviting, the people greet you on the streets with warm hellos (G'daay) while boasting the local crafts and curio items...

 One of the few Steakhouses open this time of year in Napier, Charlie's offers gaming dishes that to a novice traveler is something exotice such as the  Venison steaks, Lamb steaks & other not so familiar dishes..

Napier Beach, New Zealand - Hawkes Bay - Beach Town Resort

December 30, 2010 - Napier Beach, at Hawkes Bay in New Zealand...Summer during the Holidays which was very unusual to us...

Napier beach is lined by gravel like beach sides, the water temperatures were warm and almost inviting to go swimming during New Year...

Napier beach Marina, found at Hawkes Bay, this sleepy resort town is such a delight to visit during the holidays, simply no crowd to contend with...

 Napier's beach front homes along the Marine Parade Avenue, across from the National Aquarium which unfortunately has been closed down and somewhat neglected old building..

 Marine Parade Amphitheater is right on the beach, houses music and show conerts, well celebrated is the New Year's fireworks display where thousand of locals and tourist alike flock to this area and revel the coming of the new year...

 I am walking along the Marine Parade Amphitheater as we explored the beachside attractions the city has to offer..

 Marine Parade Avenue beach walkways offer a visiting traveler the true nature and the laid back spirit of Napier's beach side attractions...

The Marine Parade PAR Mini Golf - a very popular destination for visiting travelers lots of family activity and very affordable.

 

Sandy as we parked along the PAR Mini Golf on Marine Parade Avenue, the red jeep in the background is my sister's transport, cute and petrol (gas) saver.

 Napier's Visitor Center right on Marine Parade offers shopping, tour destinations, sights and brochures for the visitors.

 Napier's Sunken Garden, is a tranquil haven for those who just want to absorb the city's freshness and laid back 'NO hurried' lifestyle... Just a few miles(kilometers)  from their Botanical Garden, offers local plant varieties and English Garden setting...

 Sandy deLeon and Nilda deLeon enjoying the beauty of the sunken park.... how coulod you not? It is right along the beach, just drop your shirt and go swimming..

 I was a little overdressed for the locals this time of year, most visitors are in their short & sandals, since I really did not know what to expect, I thought I was dressed casual enough...

Sandy admiring the pebble beach of Napier, we don't come across this kind of beach in California... this tells me that the island is still very young, the water was very inviting and we had to fight the urge to go swimming... since after all, it was freezing in California...

 Art Deco Visitor's Center building is lined with Maori Totem Poles on the water fountain in-front of the building..

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...