Hamilton Zoo

We were on our way out of town after a great adventure in Hamilton when we spotted the sign for the Hamilton Zoo. Early morning seems to be great times to visit the zoo and this morning did not disappoint. So with a wide-eyed child, we wandered into the zoo to see what this little gem had to offer.

Although Thomas didn't last long, we were able to enjoy some spectacular sights, many of which we did not have the opportunity too at the Auckland zoo. Unlike the view of one of the rhinoceroses at Auckland, there were six rhinoceroses out and feeding that morning and they were not the least big shy, being out in the open for all to see.

Another elusive critter from the Auckland zoo is the spider monkey. We normally can see them lazing in trees or hiding below the observation post, but in Hamilton, they were up and wandering around the grounds looking for food.

After both those great sightings we moved into an open plains habitat which was home to bison, ostrich, zebras, cheetahs, giraffes, and wild dogs. It was early feeding and and all the animals were out foraging. The giraffes, as usual were the stars of the show, as the crowded around feeding boxes and using their long tongues to gather food. One cheeky one even opened the top of the box to get better access. Thomas slept through it like a champion; with all the sounds and smells as well as an extremely bumpy path.

Not everyone was up and foraging though. The African wild dogs were clearly enjoying a sleep in, one of which refused to lift his head to anything, not even the zoo worker who wandered by. Not everyone can be a morning person.

Out of the plains and into the wetlands. We found ourselves in the aquatic version of Alfred Hitchock's Birds. I have never seen or heard quite so many ducks. They were almost literally everywhere; on railings, water, even some on the pathway. Some of my favourites, the paradise shell ducks were also their squawking like an old married couple, but the highlight was definitely the mandarin ducks with their highly colourful plumage.

We also got to see a New Zealand falcon, one of the birds of prey I had not seen yet since my arrival either in the wild or in a zoo.

The primates were also very well represented at this zoo, with siamang eating in the trees, chimpanzees lazily hanging around in the early morn, adorable cotton top tamarins being...adorable, and cheeky Capuchin monkeys trying to figure out how they can get out of the cage or some sort of hand outs from the very interested tourists.

The two biggest highlights however, where the red pandas and the Himalayan monal. Although we had seen many red pandas before, the enclosure in Hamilton was home to what seemed to be at least five pandas, all of whom were running around, eating, and generally in the open, unlike the Auckland zoo. It was a great opportunity to really see them and their behaviour up-close.  The Himalayan monal was quite possibly one of the most beautiful birds I had ever seen. It's iridescent, almost metallic looking feathers made it look like the most intricate and spectacular sculpture brought to life.

We finished up with a few aviaries containing many sleeping birds we had seen before so we hurried through a growing crowd and back to the car for the trip home to Auckland. A nice send off for our Hamilton trip and likely a place we will visit again soon.

Hamilton Balloon Festival

With Thomas in the front pack, we headed by bus to the Waikato University grounds to see the balloon festival. Although there were not as many balloons as the Sussex festival back home, we thought Thomas might enjoy the night glow if he managed to wake up. When we arrived it turned out that this was not nearly about the balloons as it was a fair, with rides, music, and the most unbelievably long lines for the food and coffee vendors.

Despite the unbelievable crowd and lines, we got a warm drink and waited for the balloons to start inflating. There were a lot of beautiful coloured balloons that started up as the sun was setting and it looked like it would be a great show.

As it got darker and we made it through the long lines for the bathroom, the carriage and elephant balloon were nearing full inflation up front and centre. We also noticed the heavy clouds rolling in.

Thomas did indeed wake for the show but with such huge crowds and so much noise he unfortunately could not concentrate on anything for long and we are not sure he even saw the balloons. As with most things in his life, we try to expose him to as many experiences as possible and he will get from it what he can, but there will be plenty of other opportunities later to experience them again!

And just as the dinosaur egg balloon started to near complete inflation it was clear the other balloons were deflating and the rain began. Light at first, it built up to solid sheets of light rain coming down on the festival. We found a quiet place to give our little one a feed before we headed back to catch a but into town.

Finally back at the hotel, we unpacked our warm bundle of joy and got ready for bed.

Hamilton Gardens

In March, we took a small vacation to Hamilton. Not a long trip or a far trip but we thought we would take Thomas and do a few experiences. The first one on Saturday was the Hamilton Botanical Gardens.

It was a really nice botanical gardens, much like the one in Adelaide, in that it was more an example of different garden styles than different plants and their morphologies. The first part was gardens around the world so we wondered through Japanese Zen and water gardens, Indian, Italian, English and Chinese gardens. There is definitely something intriguing and mesmerizing about the oriental gardens. My personal favourite has always been the Japanese water gardens, the way it doesn't try to manipulate nature in any great degree. It has an elegant and yet natural feel to these gardens that conjure a sense of serenity as you sit and enjoy the view. I also love the use of water as well as rock in these gardens, both an integral part of nature that we often leave out in western style gardens.

These oriental gardens also included some amazing architecture, from the very ground we stood on to the numerous walls, tea rooms, and pagodas that brought a bit more authenticity to the gardens that made you almost feel like you were in an the countries where these styles are prominent.

The architectural components were even more heavily integrated into the Indian and Italian gardens. Walls, buildings, and heavily structured gardens, fountains, and walkways. The buildings on the far end of these gardens not only offered optimal view of the garden setting, but also a wonderful view of the Waikato River that runs below the gardens. Both of these places were wonderfully set up to accommodate weddings and indeed there were numerous wedding parties coming and going on the day.

As much as I do enjoy a well structured garden sometimes I find a garden goes from architecture supporting a well planned out set of plants as was seen in the previous gardens, to a more architectural designed space that is more about the artistic placement of the structural elements and the plants are just an accent. The modern garden was more of the later and probably my least favourite. Nature is amazing and for me (not everyone obviously), a garden is about showing off the plants, not the structural elements, or at the very least having both complimenting each other.

Aside from the wedding parties we were also inundated with people dressing up for some sort of cosplay event. From popular television and movies to anime and video games, there were all kinds of characters and costumes abound including what seemed to be an Anne of Green Gables costume.

Next were the Maori, herb, and kitchen gardens. The Maori garden was adorned with wood carvings over a Kumara field, which was definitely interesting to see, however we found ourselves distracted by a roaming choir practicing.

The herb and kitchen gardens were much as you would expect, filled with herbs and vegetables, respectively. The kitchen garden was a nice walk, but the shining part was the herb garden, filled with plants that were very familiar taking up residence in our spice cupboard, some that were familiar but not what we would have considered herbs, and others we had never heard of before. My favourite was sneezewort, which was used in herbal medicine for many ailments, but none that necessarily have to do with sneezing.

At this point, someone started to wake and was definitely hungry so we hurried through the few remaining gardens, being followed by the choir. So along we pressed through the intricate tudor garden with well trimmed bushes in mesmerizing shapes and the tropical garden that resembled the wonderful gardens we had seen in Cairns.

Finally with a fully awake and smiling baby, we found a place to eat while we listened to the choir sing Africa by Toto. Excited from all the sounds of the choir, we packed Thomas back up into the car and headed to the hotel where we would get some food and wait for the activity, the balloon festival.