On February 3rd 1931 a huge earthquake hit Napier. Unluckily for them it almost totally flattened the town and killed at least 256 people. Luckily for their future status as one of the top tourist spots in the North Island, almost all of it was rebuilt over the next couple of years at a time when the prevailing style of architecture was art deco. It is, therefore, chock a block with charmingly preserved buildings, decorative features, paraphernalia and other art deco flimflammery.

We took an exceptionally good guided walk around some of the better buildings and features led by an art deco aficionado who galloped us around town so fast I barely had time to take a photo before, whoosh, we were off to the next destination. We had to be quick though as there was so much to see. Our motel is on the seafront, with a great view and only a short walk into town. Most surprisingly, as we enter the room, we are greeted by The World's Largest Spa Bath ™, crouching like a giant toad in a not so discreet corner of our bedroom. It's actually bigger than our bed. Later that evening, after assiduously filling TWLSB with copious amounts of hot water we slid in to the soapy depths. Just as I was about to languidly reach out and press the button to set off the underwater bubbles, Bri leapt crossly from the bath like a scalded cat and, looking rather pink around his lower limbs, claimed that he had obviously only just foiled me in my attempt to irreparably scald his manhood and refused to get back in, claiming that he preferred everything in moderation - boiling water being one of those things. I must admit I may have overdone it a bit on the hot water front, as even I had to get out a few minutes later and lie faintly on the bed whilst a small heat haze hovered around me for the next hour or two. Bri lay next to me looking rather smug and rosy.

Most of New Zealand's tourist accommodation has an unhealthy check out time of 10 a.m., which seems rather rude to me. A bit like going round to someone's house only to have them turn around after the first couple of hours and saying 'nice to see you, when are you leaving?'. However it turns out to be more than helpful to us as I doubt we would ever get going without being tipped out onto the streets just as dawn is breaking. And so we slithered, pinkly, out of the Pebble Beach Inn Motel and Spa Bath Experience shortly after breakfast and hit the road for Lake Taupo just as the milkman's cart rounded the bend and the paper boy went whistling by on his bike.