Merry Christmas to all of you!!
I have got the best Christmas present in the world – COVID-19 positive!
You all know the bad things about it so I won’t repeat. The good thing about it is I get to spend some (more) time on my computer and finish off some work that I need to finish while in isolation. What a quiet and peaceful Christmas. LOL! We all have to stay positive, right? 😀
I bought a bus ticket to Auckland for 29 December but unfortunately, I can’t go now that I have COVID. The bus company doesn’t want to give me any refund. Reason? Because I bought a ‘standard rate’ ticket. I was speechless when I read that email reply from them. In other words, the bus company encourages people to travel with COVID. It’s not that I lied about it. I have evidence to show to the bus company. I will have to sort it out later. Alternatives. Solutions. There are more solutions to problems. Think positive. I am ‘allergic’ to the word ‘positive’ now. 😀
Napier is a small town. I don’t know if it can be called a ‘city’. When I first went to the city centre (CBD), I stood there, thinking ‘is this the city centre? Am I at the right place? Did I get off at the right bus stop?’ It feels smaller than Reykjavik. But quite a number of celebrities, like Elton John, UB40, Oasis who will come in January 2023, etc. have chosen to perform here. If you are a millennial, you probably don’t know them. You probably know someone from Blackpink though. In fact, one of the members from Blackpink (not Lisa) secretly came to Napier around two months ago. I am not surprised. Two of the members have connections with New Zealand.
Te Mata Peak is one of the places you must go. There is no public transport to that place. You need to drive or hire a taxi or something to go there. Public transport is really a problem in this little town. Buses run every half hour during week days, every hour on Saturdays and every 2 hours on Sundays. Cancellation is common as well. According to the bus company which is owned by the Regional Council here, the cancellation is due to shortage of bus drivers, and illness. Public transport around town is buses, buses and buses. Nothing else. Speaking of being environmental friendly, I would probably vote Hong Kong instead of Napier. At least, most of the people in Hong Kong use public transport versus here most of the people drive their own cars, except those who can’t or not allowed to drive, like those with sickness such as epilepsy. But with this kind of public transport service in place, these people can’t benefit at all.
By the way, the wind in Napier is very strong. At times, it’s so strong that it feels like a storm. So, maybe it’s not good for paragliding. The weather here is also very unpredictable.
Other than hiking which is one of my favourite activities (though I am a slow walker), I have also been to some events like the parade in Hastings.
Hastings is another city near Napier. It is bigger than Napier but both cities look pretty similar. I think they are called twins.
So, what is Christmas like here?
A charitable event was also held in a school where nicely decorated Christmas trees were displayed.
Some commercial places like a ‘shopping mall’ also organised some sort of Christmas events. Children can take photos with Santa at Santa’s Grotto. I am a child too. So, guess what I did? 😛 Yes, photos with Santa. I was even more enthusiastic than the two children I went with. 😀
More updates about my adventure in Napier will be coming soon.
I will reduce the number of blog entries from now on.
For those of you who are new to my website, you can find my past travel blogs here. It covers 90% of the countries I have been to, across the 6 continents. Enjoy. 🙂
Again, wish you all a merry Christmas and stay healthy.
25 December 2022
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Merry Christmas to you, too, and get well soon. Many greetings from Southern Germany
Thank you so much, Stefan.