Catching up after a few days in Hamilton

Hedgehog - another NZ invasive
species besides Canadians

After our last adventurous weekend, this past week has been pretty tame. We spent the entire week in Hamilton. Karen worked away at the NIWA office (National Institute for Water and Atmosphere). The NIWA office is right on campus, a 8-10 minute walk from our house. Karen has been coming home for lunch most days. A nice break for her and Marshall and I.

Marshall and I have been doing a lot of walking, exploring our part of the city. On Thursday we got him registered for school--Knighton Normal School. Classes for this term start on February 7th and end April 2nd, which is really good timing for our stay here. Knighton is about a 1 km walk from our house. Being so close to the university, they get a fair number of visiting/international students so Marshall will not be unique, although the administrator told us Knighton does not get many Canadian students. We are glad Marshall will be going to school for a bit. First, I think he is starting to find some of the days a little long, particularly because he has to hang out with me all day, all the time. Second, we want him to take something away from our time here and making friends at a new school will be a good way for him to do this. Marshall, being Marshall, is not too keen on the NZ school idea but we are pretty confident he will enjoy it. Maybe not the actual school part, but definitely hanging out with kids his own age.

Hamilton Rose Gardens

As part of our explorations on Thursday, Marshall and I found the outdoor pool on campus, which is open to the public from 12-6. Kiwis love their sports and a lot of their facilities are in good condition. The pool is no exception. (Marshall and I went on Friday). It is a true 50 m pool that you would use for training/swimming laps. Half of it was open for general playing around. There is also a neat "dive pool". It is a circular pool about 10 m across and has a depth of 4.3 m. Rather than a diving board, it has a small trampoline that you jump off of. Marshall and I were doing pencil dives off of the side, trying to reach the bottom. 4.3 metres is pretty deep--our ears popped.

On Thursday evening we went out for drink with Ian Hogg. He is from Canada and has been a prof in the Biology Department at the University of Waikato for the past 15 years. Being a faculty member, Ian was able to help us get our home on campus. We have plans to visit with him and his family during our stay and Karen will be giving a seminar(s) to the Biology Department some time in March.


I am the one on the left, not middle

Friday night we went to the Hamilton Botanical Gardens for a picnic dinner and a tour/walk around. The Gardens are a noted Hamilton attraction and we now know why. They are extensive and very impressive, with many different types of gardens, such as a Chinese garden, Indian garden, Modernist garden, Maori garden, etc. Karen's favourites were the Japanese garden and the rose garden. While at the Gardens we met the man who designed and carved most of the Maori Garden. It is quite new - 4 years old. This garden is not spectacular plant-wise. What makes it interesting are all the carvings of different Maori ancestors from the Waikato region (where Hamilton is located). I do not know much about Maori culture, but individual ancestors-specific people are an important part of their lives.

Saturday we spent touring/shopping in Hamilton as a family, getting ready for our big camping excursion. On Saturday night we were out at Sharon and Chris's acreage just outside of Hamilton for a fun dinner and tour of their small farm, cows, alpacas, ducks, chickens, eels, and fruit trees. They have been spoiling us.

Kidd Family New Zealand observation:

They grow big trees here!

Manna Gum Tree (Eucalyptus) - You can just make Marshall and me out near the bottom.