Wednesday Write In: Hop on the new Hopper bus

Hop on the new Hopper bus

Paris, London and New York have hop-on-hop-off tourist sightseeing buses.

Now Napier has a similar hop-on-hop-off suburban bus service that connects the tourist attractions of Napier, Ahuriri and Westshore.

If you want to visit the Art Deco Shop, hop on the new Hopper bus.

If you want visit St John's Cathedral, hop on the new Hopper bus.

If you want to shop in the CBD from Ahuriri or Westshore, hop on the new Hopper bus.

If you are a student at Napier Girls' High School and live at Ahuriri or Westshore, hop on the new Hopper bus.

If you are a tourist and want to visit the Rothmans Art Deco Building in Ahuriri, hop on the new Hopper bus.

If you want to enjoy a leisurely lunch and drink overlooking the inner harbour on West Quay, hop on the new Hopper bus.

If you want to enjoy the Ahuriri Estuary walkway, hop on the new Hopper bus.

If you enjoy coffee and lunch in the Ahuriri village, hop on the new Hopper bus.

If you want to go for a walk along Hardinge Road, hop on the new Hopper bus.

And finally, if you want to enjoy fish and chips on the beach at Westshore, once again hop on the new Hopper bus.

I know that, like the Napier City Council, the Hawke's Bay Regional Council is not in the business of providing tour buses for Napier, but bus route number 15 has to be one of the best "things to do" tourist attractions in Napier.

Thank you to the Hawke's Bay Regional Council and Go Bus for providing a much-needed new bus service for Napier, Ahuriri and Westshore.

B Davis,Napier

Wildlife cost cutting

Scientists tell us that financial cutbacks and indifference will threaten species of NZ wildlife and lead to extinction.

This shortsightedness is glaringly evident in the closure of the once iconic Marineland here in Napier.

The Maui and Hector dolphins, unique to New Zealand, are dropping alarmingly in numbers and are facing extinction and nobody - government local or national, Greens, or assorted hand-wringers - has a solution to the problem.

All over the world endangered species are being sheltered and bred in safe environments: Tigers, pandas, a host of creatures - some of which number more in their "Noah's Ark" sheltered environments than in the wild.

But the thinking here that is saving endangered land animals doesn't extend to dolphins, in spite of the fact they lived for up to 30 years in Marineland - far longer than in the wild - and that successful dolphin breeding programmes take place elsewhere in the world.

And so Marineland remains as closed to such rescue possibilities as do the blinkered minds of those in authority both in Napier and in government. Not good enough.

Russ Spiller, Napier