Because Hastings was destroyed in the 1931 Napier earthquake along with Napier it was rebuilt in the stunning Art Deco style popular at the time. The town contains several excellent examples of this
The clock tower that contains the bells from the post office that collapsed during the quake. It chimes every hour on the hour
The main shopping street, Heretaunga Street, contains the bulk of the Art Deco architecture, so if your an enthusiast you can go past a walk down Heretaunga Street
The occasional art deco house scattered around town.
Located in the centre of the city are Hastings' iconic Sheep. These sheep have, over time, migrated around the city, currently they are checking out the clock, as seen to the right.
Hastings has also had millions spent of redeveloping the CBD central business district so looks beautiful. Several major features are:
The new centre city fountain
The hand at the south end of Karamu Road outside the library
Olive trees planted along Heretaunga
Art works
Many more significant art works were designed at the local Cicada Works cooperative workshop at Whakatu
The grills around the fountain
The performing stage beside Westpac bank
The curved streetlights
Other things to see in Hastings include:
The unique train track that runs through the middle of the CBD
The apple trees in blossom
Hastings picks up the Hawkes Bay channel. Its channel 51. It can be a bit hard to receive clearly but with enough jiggering a set of bunny ear aerials will pick it up.
The Chinese gardens down Nelson Street are very nice. They can be found in Cornwall park with its large fountain. The gardens celebrate Hastings' partnership with its sister city, Guilian City in China
