Things to do
This weekend Jill and I are going away for a few days. We are very lucky as our youngest son Rob and his wife Lisa who live in the South Island are paying for us to have a few days away, so we are going to Wellington.We are taking a rental car from Hamilton as ours is getting a bit old for the trip now, and will be staying in a motel in Petone, across the harbour from Wellington City, where we stayed just over a year ago. Rob is paying for the car and motel and has given us a substantial amount of money to pay for petrol, food , Alfie's accommodation at a cattery and any extra expenses while we are away. He wants to "give something back" which is nice, and is appreciated by us.

This week I have been trying to do other things on the computer, and neglecting my blog. Sorry about that. I have had two people contact me wanting Family Tree information, which I am trying to supply, I am trying to read up on the history of shipping on the Waikato River pre- 1940 ( there is no regular shipping on the river now) for our History Group, looking for things to see and do in Wellington, and keeping up with other things. So some things have been neglected lately.

As we go away on Sunday there will be no blogs from me or your bogs read by me as we will not have a computer. We will be back at the end of next week.

Thanks for your comments on my recent blogs. I hope you are all surviving your Northern Hemisphere winter those who live there. I hope Australians, NZers and anyone else who are suffering adverse conditions are managing to return to some normality soon. I see some of you in the north are getting an early taste of spring. Our temperatures are getting cooler as our poor summer begins to decline. Autumn isn't far away, and with it who knows how the coming winter will be?

I hope to have photos of our journey by car and our stay in Wellington, so should have something to show later. Hope to be blogging again in a few days. See you then.

Permanent furniture and humpy bridge at Hamilton Gardens

A small flower  garden at Hamilton Gardens

Open air tearoom area at the Gardens

A solo sparrow at the Gardens

A white dove at Hamilton Gardens

Waitin' for the bar to open...

Happy hour! Wheeee!

Hamilton Gardens on a Tuesday 

After taking our Hamilton Lake photos Geoff and I  visited the Hamilton Gardens. Here are some pictures taken there.

We stopped at the tearoom for a drink and attracted the sparrows. At least Geoff did because he decided to feed them. But we enjoyed their company anyhow.

Morning walkers around the Hamilton Lake

Reflections, sun among the plants

A fallen tree in the water

Someone's old abandoned dugout canoe

Sailing away

More Hamilton Lake pictures

Just a few more of the photos taken at the Hamilton Lake recently. 

Shag on a dead tree branch at Hamilton Lake

More shags on a dead tree at Hamilton Lake

A reflective view across Hamilton Lake

Cloud reflections on Hamilton Lake

Tree reflections on Hamilton Lake

A little plastic row boat on the lake

A lovely waterlilly in the lake

Photos on a calm morning at Hamilton Lake

My friend Geoff and I set off around town this morning to take scenic photos. We visited Hamilton Lake (Lake Rotoroa) first off because the waters were unbelievably calm and mirror-like. Here are some of the photos that I took.

Down by the river side

Raft race for charity on the Waikato River

Some of the participants

Rub-a-dub-dub

Hamilton's European history began right here about the mid 1800's. 

Hamilton's skyline and Waikato River 

 "Wotcha pointing that at me for?"

Sailing down the river

Today Jill and I decided we would have lunch at Memorial Park which sits on the east bank of the Waikato River. After lunch we went for a walk around Memorial Park, Parana Park next door and the  riverside walking path. During our walk we saw a charity fund raiser of people floating down the river from one location to another. It brought back memories of my younger days when we used to make rafts and several company social clubs would race for fun. A challenging and enjoyable way to spend a summer's day.

Last of the Sculpture Park Photos

 Bird of Paradise Plant

 Cactus

 Sculpture called "Growth" made of Nylon Rope and cable ties.

Artist's name is Pam Oliver

 Small Stone Bridge

 Exotic plantings in the Park

 A sculptured Wooden Seat - not part of the sculpture display

 Stairway to a lower level

 Some exotic trees and large quarry rocks

 More exotic trees

 A lovely white lilly at the Sculpture Park

Waitakaruru Sculpture Park and Arboretum 2

The Park is contained in an obsolete quarry

The location has been beautified with small water features. This one contains

lovely water lillies

There are an assortment of shrubs and trees as well as the occasional

changes to the sculpures on display.

This small yellow flower was brightening the overcast day.

An interesting mask-type sculpture was a bright coloured character...

...as was this pair of Easter Island-looking heads.

We found this log sculpure a bit of a mystery though .

 Though strange to look at this wind chime sculpture emitted a pleasant quiet, hollow chiming sound.

I was fascinated by this spiders web built around a collection of shrub branches.

Another family was visiting when we were there and the children enjoyed making their own sculptures using parts supplied for the purpose.