Ahuriri · Hawke's Bay

Online courses in Napier

Napier is a coastal city in Hawke's Bay, about 18 km north of Hastings, with an estimated population of around 66,400 in June 2025. Its port is the main export outlet for north-eastern New Zealand, handling fruit, wool, frozen meat and timber, and the wider region grows more apples, pears and stone fruit than any other part of the country. Hawke's Bay is also New Zealand's second-largest wine region after Marlborough, so farming, orcharding and food processing are part of everyday life in and around the city.

The 1931 earthquake reshaped Napier twice over: the town centre was rebuilt in Art Deco style, and land that was once the Ahuriri Lagoon was lifted out of the sea. What remains of that lagoon, the Ahuriri Estuary, is used by more than 70 species of resident and migratory waterbirds. South-east of the city, the Cape Kidnappers gannet reserve is managed by the Department of Conservation, and the council looks after several older public gardens, including the Botanical Gardens on Napier Hill and the Kennedy Park rose gardens.

Close by: Hastings, Taradale, Havelock North, Clive.

Photography in Napier

Art Deco Trust walking tours (opens in a new tab)
The Art Deco Trust, based at the Art Deco Centre in the former Women's Rest on Memorial Square, runs guided walks and car tours of the buildings rebuilt after the 1931 earthquake.
A guided route through the city's Art Deco streetscape, useful for architectural and urban photography practice.
Hawke's Bay Photographic Society (opens in a new tab)
A club formed from the Napier Camera Club of about 1978, meeting at 7pm on the last Tuesday of each month (January to November) in Taradale, with monthly competitions, workshops and field trips.
Visitors are welcome at club meetings, which offer critique, competitions and local field trips.
Kahukura – Hawke's Bay Museum (opens in a new tab)
The museum at 1 Tennyson Street (previously known as MTG Hawke's Bay) holds a collection that includes historic portraits by photographers such as the Burton Brothers and George Pulman, and has an exhibition on the 1931 earthquake.
A place to study nineteenth-century portrait photography and the documentary record of the 1931 quake.

Photography Courses you can study from Napier

Animal & wildlife in Napier

National Aquarium of New Zealand (opens in a new tab)
A council-run aquarium on Marine Parade, open since 1976, whose Penguin Cove doubles as a rehabilitation centre for sick or injured little penguins (kororā). Its guided tour includes a nocturnal kiwi habitat, tuatara and behind-the-scenes areas.
A place to see marine animal husbandry, penguin rehabilitation and native species care up close; the aquarium also lists a volunteer page worth checking.
Cape Kidnappers / Te Kauwae-a-Māui Gannet Reserve (opens in a new tab)
A DOC reserve on the Hawke's Bay coast that is home to nesting gannet colonies. The track from the beach to the plateau colony closes each year from July until the week before Labour Weekend.
Seabird students can observe a breeding colony in season, keeping to DOC's minimum five-metre distance from nesting birds.
Ahuriri Estuary (opens in a new tab)
The estuary on Napier's northern edge is a feeding and resting area for more than 70 species of waterbirds, including bar-tailed godwits/kuaka that arrive from arctic breeding grounds. A DOC walking track and boardwalk start from Humber Street, off Pandora Road.
An easy, flat place to practise bird identification and watch estuary wildlife throughout the year.
SPCA Napier Centre (opens in a new tab)
The SPCA's Napier centre is at 31 Mersey Street, Pandora, and takes volunteer and foster enquiries by phone and email.
Fostering or volunteering is a practical way to gain hands-on companion animal experience; current roles are listed on the SPCA site.
Cape Sanctuary (opens in a new tab)
A privately funded 'mainland island' conservation project on the Cape Kidnappers peninsula, running since 2006, which now holds a population of around six hundred Eastern brown kiwi. Guided tours cover dune restoration, species translocations and seabird projects.
A working example of predator control, translocation and kiwi management that can be seen on a guided tour.

Animal & Wildlife Courses you can study from Napier

Beauty in Napier

Beauty Courses you can study from Napier

Agriculture & farming in Napier

Hawke's Bay A&P Show (opens in a new tab)
Run by the Hawke's Bay A&P Society, founded in 1858, the show is held each October at the Tōmoana Showgrounds in Hastings. Its competitions include halter cattle, beef and lamb, pigs, young stock judging, shearing and wool handling, and fleece.
A chance to watch stock judging and shearing and to talk with the region's farmers in one place.
Napier Port (opens in a new tab)
The port describes itself as the gateway for exports from Hawke's Bay and the lower North Island. Its 2026 nine-month results pointed to growth in container cargo led by apples and meat.
Following the port's results is a practical way to see how local farm and orchard produce reaches export markets.
Hawke's Bay Farmers' Market (opens in a new tab)
A weekly Sunday-morning market at the Tōmoana Showgrounds in Hastings that has run for more than twenty years, with growers and makers selling seasonal produce directly.
Somewhere to meet local growers and producers and see what is in season across the region.

Agriculture & Farming Courses you can study from Napier

Landscaping & horticulture in Napier

Napier Botanical Gardens (opens in a new tab)
Council-run gardens on Napier Hill, reached from Spencer Road and Napier Terrace. Early planting included Pinus radiata on the slopes between Enfield Road and Napier Terrace.
An older public garden on steep ground where mature trees and terraced plantings can be studied.
Kennedy Park Rose Gardens (opens in a new tab)
Rose gardens opened in 1951 on ground that was part of the Ahuriri Lagoon before the 1931 earthquake; the collection now numbers around 5000 roses.
A large single-genus collection for observing rose cultivation, pruning and seasonal care.
Centennial Gardens (opens in a new tab)
Gardens at the foot of Bluff Hill, where Coote Road meets Marine Parade, built in 1974 on a former quarry.
Shows how a disused quarry was turned into a landscaped public garden.
Ōtātara Outdoor Learning Centre (opens in a new tab)
A nature-based learning space on EIT's Taradale campus that teaches ecological restoration and biodiversity management; a horticulture group planted about 350 native species on a bank there in 2019. It is increasingly used by local community groups, schools and hapū.
Community groups can register interest in using the site, which offers native restoration planting to observe.

Landscaping & Horticulture Courses you can study from Napier

Annual events near Napier

February
Art Deco Festival Napier
Several days of vintage cars, period costume and events in front of the city's Art Deco buildings.
October
Hawke's Bay A&P Show (Tōmoana Showgrounds, Hastings)
Cattle, sheep, pig, shearing and equestrian competitions in one place.
November to February
Gannet viewing season at Cape Kidnappers
DOC's recommended window for seeing the nesting gannet colonies.

Studying from Napier: questions

Where can I see wildlife near Napier?

The Ahuriri Estuary on the city's northern edge is used by more than 70 waterbird species, the National Aquarium on Marine Parade cares for little penguins and keeps kiwi and tuatara, and the DOC gannet reserve at Cape Kidnappers is best visited between early November and late February.

What kind of farming and growing happens around Napier?

Hawke's Bay is New Zealand's largest producer of apples, pears and stone fruit and its second-largest wine region. Napier sits at the centre of a major wool trade, and Napier Port exports fruit, wool, frozen meat and timber.

Are there annual events in Napier for photography or agriculture?

The Art Deco Festival is held in Napier every February. The Hawke's Bay A&P Show, with livestock, shearing and equestrian competitions, is held each October at the Tōmoana Showgrounds in nearby Hastings.

Which public gardens does Napier have?

Napier City Council looks after the Botanical Gardens on Napier Hill, the Kennedy Park rose gardens, the Centennial Gardens at the foot of Bluff Hill, Clive Square and the Marine Parade gardens.

Compare every course available from Napier · Nearby city guides: Palmerston North, Hamilton

Sources for the local information on this page

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