A night in Napier Prison

After such a bad start to our visit to the North Island, we were glad to find that Napier is a very pleasant town. After the whole town was flattened in an earthquake, the buildings were all re-built in Art Deco style, and there are tall palm trees lining the streets. The whole effect is very unusual and pretty to find in this country, and it doesn't really feel like anywhere else we've seen in New Zealand. The sea is a beautiful turquoise colour, the sun is shining, and we finally had smiles on our faces again. After consulting our various guide books, we decided to stay in a hostel rather than camp 3km outside the city at the nearest campsite, so Skry chose the destination for our first night - Napier Prison. This cost us $54 for a double bed in an otherwise empty four-bed cell (we were guaranteed the room to ourselves) with a toilet cubicle and sink in one corner. The jail was still in use up until very recently, early 90s if I remember rightly, and it certainly looks like it still has a lot of the original features. Our door was a huge clanking metal one with a grill in the top half, although we did have a curtain for privacy. All the rooms had signs over the doors, like Parole Board, Psychiatric Ward, Conjugal Visitation, and the kitchen still looked like an industrial sort of kitchen that could cook for many people at once. It wasn't the most luxurious place I've ever stayed, but it was certainly different.

After finding our bearings, we wandered into town to get some dinner, and ended up at the Mongolian Barbecue. This is a sort of self-service place - you choose a bowl of meat or tofu, then add whatever sauces and spices you want, and whatever vegetables, before it is all tossed together onto a vast hotplate and then scooped back into your bowl. I had chicken in sweet soy (wok oil, sesame oil, plum sauce, hoi sin sauce, garlic, and ginger), with noodles, carrots, baby sweetcorn, and onions, along with a big glass of lemonade and an icecream cone, for $15. Pretty good value.