Jay and I spent the day strolling around Napier, snapping pics of the Art Deco buildings and all the street signs with author's names (of which there were many).
We stopped for lunch at our favourite sushi place...and then onto our favourite cafe, Cappadonna, for birthday cheesecake!
Waiting to dig into some sushi, sporting my birthday gifts from Jay (a Ramones hoodie and a lovely tiki necklace made from New Zealand jade, aka "greenstone." Thank you, Jay. : )
Some time ago, I joked about how, for my 30th birthday, it would be cool to have a proper party with party games and hats (you know, just to to show how un-30ish I am). Later in the evening, we were all sitting around the TV room when someone flicked the lights off. Then, lo and behold, Liesil whipped out the party hats (even managing to get one on Basil!) and everyone started singing as Sheree came through the door with a cake full of candles - so many that I was starting to get a bit overheated! You know you're getting old when your birthday cake makes you sweat more than sitting in the dentist's chair waiting for a root canal (which I've never had, but I can imagine it would be quite the sweat-inducing procedure).
Tomorrow, sadly, Jay and I are leaving the prison...but for good reason. I have a job interview in Auckland on the 21st (but more on that later)!
When we came to Napier Prison back in March, we were asked to stay for three weeks...but we loved our time here so much we ended up staying for almost four months! It would take ages to write about every little thing we've seen and done since we've been here, so instead, here are a few highlights:
Ringin' in the Roaring Thirties with my Prison Family! The evening before my birthday, we got all the prison gang together (those of us who were still around, anyway) and went for dinner at one of our favourite restaurants, a delicious Turkish place called Kilim. (The people who work there are super nice and ever since one of the employees found out we're Canadian, he asks us about Vancouver almost every time we go in, haha...he seems a bit obsessed with the place. This guy has also given us free Turkish delight and baklava on occasion, so he's ace with us!) It was indeed a very international birthday dinner.
From left: English John, Irish Joe, Jay, Me, Tomas and Nacho (the Chileans), Sheree and Grace (the Kiwis), Liesil and Steve (the Americans), and Swedish Ylva.
Discovering Hell Pizza. Hell, I guess you could say, is the "hottest" pizza joint around. Hell is a New Zealand-based pizza chain (with a location, I just found out, in Vancouver, BC...wooooo!) with sinfully delicious food. Their standard pizzas are named after the Seven Deadly Sins (Lust, Greed, Envy, Wrath, Pride, Sloth and Gluttony...with cheese!) while other pizzas have names like "Mordor" - a nod to Lord of the Rings and my personal favourite. Hell has the coolest marketing and the pizza boxes even fold into lil' cardboard coffins for you to stash your leftovers! Eating in Hell while living at prison, close to Cape Kidnappers. There's something wrong with that, idden dere?
Hell Pizza box!
Check out Saddam Hussein, Muammar Gaddafi and Osama bin Laden on the front window.
Fun and Games. Just because we're "inmates" doesn't mean we don't have a good time. Sometimes we played Cops and Robbers (how fitting!) at night around the prison's dark grounds. Sheree always had something up her sleeve, like the "Prison Olympics," where she made us play catch with water balloons; Fluffy Bunny with pink and white marshmallows (which seem to be the only colour of marshmallows you'll find here in NZ); eat melted Snickers bars from diapers (which looked gross but tasted delicious); and more - sometimes, I think, for her own twisted entertainment! Sometimes, we managed to bust out of the prison for a bit of fun. Every Thursday evening, we would all go to the "Cri," located in Napier's largest Spanish Mission/Art Deco style building, for the weekly pub quiz. Some of us went for the booze, others for the free squid rings, fries and fish, and others just because we like trivia. Whatever the reason, we always had a great time - and a couple of times, we even managed to snag the bar tab.
The Thursday pub quiz crew, looking very intense (from left): Greg (a random dude who floats from team to team each week); Irish Joe; Jay; Me; and German Stef. Photo courtesy of Stef G.
Much More Music! Not too long after I arrived in prison, I started getting into the ukulele (Sheree is mostly responsible for this, as she always seems to be toting one around and we sometimes had lil' jam sessions in the office). So in April, toting bags full of groceries, I caved and popped into the Music Machine and finally bought one. A nice bloke from Liverpool helped me out, and sold me the uke and a hardshell case for a few bucks off. Besides sounding pretty, the uke is also a nice souvenir from New Zealand, as it's decorated with the country's flag.
The tuning pegs are connected to lil' dolphins on back...Awwwww : )
Discovering the Kiwi Touton. One day, Jay was chatting with Sheree when she started describing a type of Maori fried bread that you could buy at the Sunday market just down the street. Jay, thinking it sounded strangely similar to a touton, went down to check it out and lo and behold, there it was!
All the Cuddly Critters. Sometimes, the prison felt like a zoo of sorts. While Basil is the "top cat" around here, Marion's adorable dog, Finn, often tried to steal the spotlight.
Oh Basil!
Hanging Out on the Marine Parade. The Marine Parade is probably one of Napier's most beautiful features. There is a paved path running right alongside the ocean that Jay and I used to run on every second morning. Around here you'll also find the Pania of the Reef statue, which is apparently "one of the most photographed tourism attractions in the country.
The Saturday Farmer's Market in Clive Square. Clive Square has a beautiful park, which includes an automated set of chimes, shaped like a harp, that plays the most beautiful music throughout the day.
Creepy Days and Spooky Nights. Living at a supposedly haunted prison, you know there's lots of spooktacular fun to be had. One night, we even had a team of local paranormal investigators camp out at the prison. We followed them around a while as they investigated the hanging yard and other supposedly haunted hot spots with all their high-tech gear in tow. On a few occasions, we were asked to help out with the nighttime ghost audio tours. A handful of us dressed up in scary garb and hid in the cells and hallways throughout the prison, in the pitch black, waiting to jump out at unsuspecting tourists. It was good fun while it lasted and a couple of visitors were so freaked out they never even made it into the prison proper - so we must've done a good job!
Calum the Scot, scary Sheree, creepy Cat and me (in the white dress with glowing eyes) wait to terrorize unsuspecting tourists!
Jay, looking all demented, as usual, hehe....
As I said before, I could ramble on about my time in prison (that never ceases to sound funny to me) for ages...but I'll stop here and just say it's been awesome - and the main reason for that is my fellow inmates aka, my prison family. Thanks for making this adventure so much fun, and I hope we all cross paths again!
From left: Jay, Me, English Cat, German Stef, Little Nacho (the Chilean), Minnesota Bill, Big Nacho and Tomas (the other Chileans), and Steve and Liesil the Americans.
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