Hamilton Park

We were in Taupo on Christmas Eve, and spent Christmas Day driving back up to Auckland to catch a late plane to Christchurch. We stopped for a while in the town of Hamilton because they had a rather large park, appropriately named Hamilton Park that was open. Now, you’ve got to picture that this is summer. Christmas traditions in New Zealand include barbecues on the beach or in the park and the rain wasn’t going to stop any of them from their plans so…the place was packed with picnickers hiding out in small areas that afforded some shielding from the insistent rain. The park is a honeycomb of gardens created in numerous different styles. We wandered through the themed section; old English, Japanese, Chinese, Italian, and others. It was wonderful to meander through the paths to encounter a total change in presentation and vegetation. We didn’t even remotely get a chance to stroll through the entire garden (it’s huge).