Easy Napier: Hawkes Bay Express

Description

Be sure to read the Special Notes further down this page for important requirements and restriction.

What you will visit:
The Hawke's Bay Express
The unique Hawke's Bay Express is a modern road train that's styled like an old-fashioned steam engine, but it travels on road, not rail, so you can get up close and personal with the city and the region. Inside, you'll find a romantic, old-time atmosphere straight out of the opulent art deco era. As the bell rings and the whistle blows, you'll be transported back to a time when first-class meant swing music, polished wooden floors and crimson-tasselled curtains.

What you will see along the way:
Once all are aboard, you'll head out along the scenic Marine Parade with seascape views of Cape Kidnappers. As you trundle through the city center of Napier, you'll view some of the world's the most stunning examples of art deco architecture and hear a commentary outlining the history of the 1931 earthquake and the city's subsequent art deco rebuilding. The tour then heads over Bluff Hill, an older area that contains early settlers' homes, and into Ahuriri. Once an old port village, it's now a haven for summer tourists.

Photo Opportunity:
National Tobacco Company
While many businesses suffered during the Great Depression, the tobacco industry was not one of them, so when the calamitous earthquake of 1931 hit Napier, levelling many of the town's buildings, Gerhard Husheer of the National Tobacco Company had the funds to commission a replacement building in grand style. Husheer tapped renowned architect Louis Hay to design his new building and even sent the first plans back, deeming them not fancy enough. Today the stunning masterpiece has been painted in colors authentic to the era and is open to the public on weekdays.

Special Notes:

The train carriages are not air-conditioned but have large opening windows.

There is no room to store wheelchairs or walkers on the train