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My last morning in Napier was lovely. The sun was out and there was blue sky all around, which was really nice. I got dropped off with all my baggage at the bus station, and so was able to wander around free of suitcase - yay!
I thought I'd have a last look at the wonderful Art Deco architecture, go into the museum, and then have a last look at the sea here.
The museum was really, really good. Quite small, but their exhibit on the 1931 earthquake was done really well. They had lots of information about earthquakes, and what had happened in the Napier one. They also had some little video interviews with 3 people who had survived, which were really interesting. One lady said that she and her sister were playing in school and suddenly the ground shook and the school just crumpled. She said that she didn't feel frightened or worried or anything, but all that her and her sister thought was to get home. They met their mum on the way back and she was crying and was desperately frantic and that's when they started to feel that something terrible had happened.
The other lady had gone to Auckland with her mum and siblings and had telegrammed their dad in Napier, to pick them up at the train station when they arrived. However, whilst on the train, the train driver told everyone what had happened and that they wouldn't be able to get into Napier or Hastings (as Hastings - the neighbouring town - also had an earthquake at the same time) so they would have to set the train down a little way out of the city. This ladies mum said that she was sure that a bus or some sort of carriage would be there to take people into town, which just showed how little people knew about earthquakes and how devastating they were.
After a little while, apparently the dad came along to fetch them and the lady said that he was in mis-matching shirt and trousers and she'd never seen him in anything but an immaculate matching suit before so she knew something was wrong. He was also covered in dirt and looked completely frantic. Apparently he'd been at work and had helped everyone get out of the building before going to fetch his wife and children from the station.
The last man that gave an interview said that he was working on a farm a few days before and said that on the 1st of February, he tried to get the cows into the shed to be milked. However, they just stopped and wouldn't go any further and he didn't know why. An older lady tried to help him, but apparently she looked at the sky and said that an earthquake would be coming! He thought that she was just a bit daft, and didn't think anything of it. The next day, he was down by the sea and he said great big waves were crashing around him and still he didn't connect it to what the lady said. He connected it after the earthquake hit, and then he became fascinated by geology and nature and earthquakes.
It was such an interesting exhibit - I learnt about earthquakes today!
I was glad that I had a good morning as I wasn't looking forward to being on a bus for 5 hours in the afternoon, going to Wellington. However, it wasn't too bad as I did nap through most of the journey! The bus was crammed full of people - every seat was taken! There were also a couple of little kiddies on the bus and one little girl was not happy about being on that bus! She wasn't too bad at first, but then she just started getting really grizzly and was wailing and fake crying. I think it was fake crying anyways, because she soon stopped when other people paid attention to her! One of the other passengers went and sat with her for a bit, and she seemed to like that!
I was also sitting next to some German girl who was just madly taking photographs out the window. It was as though she'd not seen the outside before, or she'd never seen trees or forests or lakes or water. Don't they have trees and water in whatever part of Germany she came from? Or had she been locked up in a window-less basement for all her life and packed in a crate until she got to New Zealand? It was quite wierd and highly annoying! Whenever we drove past a nice tree-lined hill - she'd take at least 5 photos. Then another 5 photos, then a few more. It was getting to the point where I wanted to pin her to her seat so I could see out of the window instead of just seeing her stupid blonde head and arm and hearing the digital whirr of her camera!! Christ. If we'd been on that bus a little bit longer and I might actually have wopped her one in the face!! 563 photos later and she finally finished! I was so glad that the sea was on the other side of the bus, so at least I'd get an un-obstructed view! I did half wonder whether she'd leap or try and climb over me to get photos on the other side though - thankfully she didn't!
I'm just glad I'm not her parents or loved ones who'll have to sit through those photos!! I wonder if she's like that with everything? I thought I was snap-happy - I'm nothing compared to her!!
I'm also feeling like a right wall flower as I'm currently sitting on my bed in my pyjamas whilst my room mates (also German - is there anyone left in Germany? I seem to have met a lot of Germans on my travels so far) are getting dolled up to go to the bar downstairs. It's $4 for everything tonight apparently. Great - I'll be hearing drunken-ness quite a lot later then!! Blahhhhhhh! I'm so old!!
Though, there are 6 of us in the room - me in my pyjamas, one girl fast asleep in bed (I didn't even realise she was there when I came in until she uncovered herself about half an hour ago but she's still spark out), one girl from Oman who I met when I got here, and the three German girls.
The girl from Oman is funny. She's a student, waiting to move into a new apartment on Saturday. I was saying I thought I was old just now - she thought I was still in High School!!! Christ on a bike! I came in, and we just started chatting away. She asked if I was travelling, and I said yes. I said I'd given up my job to come away and all that sort of thing, and I also told her my age whilst we were talking about something else. (Whilst I'm typing, I think one of the Germans is trying to make the air around her stay still she's using so much hairspray but at least she's doing it out in the corridor so I'm not getting gassed). Anyways, when I said my age, she did this double take, I think she almost got whiplash!! Her mouth dropped open and she just looked so shocked. I mean, I know I look young and I'm short, but I don't think I look too young anymore. Anyways, I asked her how old she thought I was and she said that she thought I was still in High School. She said it sounded wierd that I had given up my job and had come away travelling as she thought I was still so young. You'd think a light would flicker and perhaps get a bit brighter as I'd been talking, but obviously not. She's a student, studying commercial law as well.
I was also just babbling on about people being so much younger than me and going out drinking and so on. Hahahhahaha! Her brain must have been going on overdrive if she thought I was only 16!!
I guess it's better than that girl in WH Smiths thinking that I was only about 11. If you don't know that story, I'll tell you another day!
Anyways, tomorrow I am planning on getting up early-ish and having a good old sight see around town. I want to go on the cable car up to the botanical gardens, and then go to Te Papa which is the Museum of New Zealand. It's meant to be very good and is open late tomorrow too - and it's free - yay!!
There are some quite nice bars around here too, but I feel so conspicuous going in there by myself :(
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