24 degrees, overcast
We left Taupo reluctantly – really nice place and we could have spent at week or so there. We reached Hamilton by about 11.30 which was too early for our hotel room to be ready so we stopped at Hamilton Gardens. A Kiwi lady we met at Tongariro recommended these, and what a find.
There was no charge to park or entry fee into these beautiful formal gardens which outstrip anything we’ve seen in the UK. There were 16 or so gardens laid out in different styles ranging from English Flower Garden to Japanese, Tropical, Tudor and Conceptual. They were all stunning but the best one was the Mansfield Garden based on a scene from a novel by Katherine Mansfield – set in an English country house garden. The planting was stunning and the attention to detail for the scene setting was perfect.
In the Chinese garden we passed through the Arbour of Lingering Fragrance, which was an awful lot nicer than the Bog of Eternal Stench we passed through yesterday.
We spent a good couple of hours here along with some strange oriental people! One couple were taking photos of the woman in various poses in each garden almost as though she was a model and another young lady, wandering around with her partner, had a white painted face like a Geisha, complete with a pointy straw hat to keep the sun off.
Popped round to a supermarket to get our Christmas day supplies. The supermarket was surprisingly empty! Did some laundry at the hotel laundry so now all set for a relaxing Christmas Day and Boxing Day, just got to travel another 4 hours up to Paihia tomorrow.