Napier Wit

    On Sunday we lucked into Napier's Art Deco Festival weekend. For a couple of hours we strolled, snapping photos of buildings that were constructed immediately after the devastation of the 1931 earthquake, and of the citizenry who were out in full force in period costume, with hundreds of period cars and hundreds of canvas gazebos wherein people had set up the most elegant tea service picnics you can imagine. 

    There were dozens of young boys in bare feet, caps and suspenders who participated in a Go-Kart derby (what N. Americans call a Soapbox Derby). It had all the charm of Edmonton's original Klondike Days. We saw a pipe and drum band on the beach, the Twin City Stompers played, and the Bay Harmony barbershop men's chorus sang in the open air on the Parade. 

    There was a special moment to ring the bell from the Veronica, a ship that was in harbour when the earthquake struck, wasn't bottomed by the rising sea floor, and was able to provide the first assistance to the stricken city. 

    Army and Navy cadets paraded and an officer affirmed their dedication to be forever at the ready in case such an event was ever repeated, while five Air Force planes flew a display of aerobatics overhead.

    My own photos are here.  Google and other media photos sites also carry a huge selection of fascinating photos. 

    We continued to the home of Isabel and David Worboys and their daughter Narelle, in Dannevirke, which translates as "Dane's Work". We're 20 km down the road from Norsewood. Both towns originated as early settlements of Danes and Norwegians - they could be sistered with New Norway.

    The Scandinavian connection is not the only one which seems to provide parallels to my family: Isabel is a retired teacher who plays piano and cello; David, also a retired teacher, plays classical guitar. Narelle is interesting as a parallel with Heather and Alana, too - some of her ancestors are Lesmahagow Gilchrists, and odds are we share genetics, but we don't know the direct link between our family trees; but like Heather and Alana, she lives with a gluten problem. 

    She's also a talented writer and singer with a blog site here: http://www.songuine.blogspot.co.nz/.  There is a list of her youtubes here, and you'll be able to hear her singing. 

    The 20th was a gray day today - a museum day - so that's all we did during the day; but in the evening we had a very enjoyable musical evening. I got Isabel and David to begin working on their first duet together. We played and sang Dona Nobis Pacem - Deborah just happened to have the sheet music for it for ukulele and cello on her laptop. We sang songs with Narelle, and I accompanied Isabel on the piano as she played Humoresque on the cello. I've added five photos to the tail end of the Napier photo album.

Next stop: Wellington